Sixth Dan

The title of a koto piece. It is an abbreviation of "Rokudan no Shirabe." It was composed by Yatsuhashi Kengyo (1614-85). It is an instrumental piece consisting of six paragraphs, and is called "danmono" or "chomono" along with "Hachidan no Shirabe" and "Kudan no Shirabe." While there are many vocal pieces in koto music, this piece was composed as a purely instrumental piece, but in later years, opening and closing songs were created, and it is often performed with these. In terms of musical composition, each section has 52 beats, and the melody is divided into five, four, and three beats, making it a complex meter. Each section starts slowly, gradually speeds up, and ends slowly again, in a typical Japanese tempo progression. Along with "Midare" by the same Yatsuhashi Kengyo, this is one of the most popular pieces of koto music.

[Kiyoko Moteki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

箏曲(そうきょく)の曲名。『六段の調(しらべ)』の略称。八橋検校(やつはしけんぎょう)（1614―85）作曲。六つの段落でできた器楽曲の意で、『八段の調』『九段の調』などとともに、「段物」「調物」とよばれる。声楽曲の多い箏曲のなかで、純粋な器楽曲としてつくられたが、後世、前唄(まえうた)と後唄(あとうた)がつくられ、それらをつけて演奏する場合も多い。音楽構成としては、各段とも52拍あり、旋律のまとまりは五拍、四拍、三拍などあり、複雑な拍子構成になっている。各段ともゆっくり始まり、しだいに速くなり、ふたたびゆっくり終わる日本的なテンポ進行になっている。同じ八橋検校の『乱(みだれ)』とともに、箏曲のなかでももっともポピュラーな作品。

［茂手木潔子］

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