Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/40

Rh warlike annals, the Jōruri performer chose events from every-day life, singing some parts and reciting others, the recitation being, of course, without music. The Jōruri won the nation's heart at once, and soon had numerous professors, both male and female, of whom the most celebrated devised new styles and gave distinguishing names to them. The Biwa-bozu always recited from memory, and the stirring passages of the subject were delivered in a manner bearing much resemblance to the "patter" songs of modern Europe and America, the lute's rapid shower of notes being poured out so as to punctuate the passage of the recitative rather than to accompany them. This was pre-eminently the martial music of Japan, and continues to be so, partly because deeds of bravery and devotion have always been the theme of the song, partly because a strain of rattle and dash infuses the whole performance. The Jōruri appeals rather to plaintive and pitiful moods. Many of its passages are tearful, and the singer is expected to simulate emotions not permitted to the Biwa-bozu. A score containing a species of musical notation as well as the words of the Jōruri is placed before the performer on a lectern, and the samisen is tuned in a low minor key. It may be noted that both the Biwa-bozu and the Jōruri performer often sing from the chest, instead of limiting themselves to the head-voice usually characteristic of Japanese singing. The lutist is frequently blind,