What is Gagaku?
[[File:Gagaku orchestra01.JPG|thumb|right|300px|{{Center|Traditional [[orchestra]] at [[Kyoto]] [[Palace]]}}]] '''Gagaku''' is [[wikt:classical|classical]] [[Japan]]ese court [[music]].<ref name=Ortolani40>Benito Ortolani, ''The Japanese Theatre: From Shamanistic Ritual to Contemporary Pluralism'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995), p. 40</ref> Gagaku was brought to [[Japan]] from [[China]] in the [[8th century]].<ref name=Ortolani40/> The meaning of Gagaku is literally 'elegant music'.<ref>''Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education'', Volume 3, eds. William M. Anderson; Patricia Shehan Campbell (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2010), p. 202</ref> Most of the music that survives is classified as ''Togaku'' (music from the [[Tang Dynasty]]).<ref name=Buckley160>''The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture'', ed. Sandra Buckley (London; New York: Routledge, 2002), p. 160</ref> They are performed as [[dance]] [[wikt:piece|piece]]s and [[concert]] pieces.<ref name=Buckley160/> In modern Japan, ''Gagaku'' is performed at [[Ceremony|ceremonies]] like that of [[New Year]] or a [[wedding]] held at a [[Shinto shrine]]. ==Instruments== Gagaku [[Musical instrument|instruments]] consists of [[Woodwind instrument|wind instruments]], [[string instrument]]s and [[percussion instrument]]s.<ref name=Ortolani50>Benito Ortolani, ''The Japanese Theatre: From Shamanistic Ritual to Contemporary Pluralism'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995), p. 50</ref> There are three type of wind instruments. They are [[Sho]], [[Hichiriki]] and [[Ryuteki]]. There are mainly two kinds of stringed instruments, [[Koto]] and [[Biwa]].<ref name=Guile8>Melanie Guile, ''Japan'' (Chicago, IL: Raintree, 2004), p. 8</ref> Also there are three kinds of percussion instruments, [[Dadaiko]], [[Shoko]] and [[Kakko]]. The wind instruments usually carry the [[melody]].<ref name=Ortolani50/> The two [[wikt:huge|huge]] [[drum]]s called ''dadaiko'' are a [[wikt:colorful|colorful]] part of a Gagaku performance.<ref