Study on the Direction of Emerging Theatre in modern Japan: focusing on the musical direction of shin-pa theatre

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02287
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Aesthetics and studies on art
• Research Institution: Kyoritsu Women's University
• Principal Investigator: Tsuchida Makiko 共立女子大学, 文芸学部, 准教授 (30466958)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 新派 / 音楽演出 / 新興演劇 / 近代日本 / 黒御簾音楽

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study was to clarify the process of establishing music direction for the Shimpa theatre, literally, the new school. (1)First, a database of Nakamura Hyozo's former collection of music materials was created to lay the foundations for the research. (2)Next, the following was clarified; ①In the pioneering period when Kawakami Otojiro began his career, music direction, which at the outset was probably Kabuki-like, quickly became a pursuit of realistic music direction with sound effects as the main element; ②In the Meiji and Taisho periods when the shimpa established its golden age by dramatising family novels, music direction was elaborated from an early stage, and sound effects played a role to depict scenes and characters' emotions. The establishment of the originality of the shimpa's own musical direction can be seen in this period. ③Even after the war, the musical direction in Shimpa was very delicately devised and changed to fit the times.

Free Research Field

日本音楽史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年の近代日本演劇研究において新派が様々な方面で注目されている状況を踏まえ、本研究では新派の音楽演出の確立過程や特徴を探った。新派自体が非常に多岐にわたる演劇であるため、全貌の解明にはまだほど遠いが、川上音二郎の初期の演劇における新派らしい音楽演出の芽生え、家庭小説の劇化作品にみる音楽演出確立の過程、そして戦後の新派を支えた繊細な音楽演出の実態を、ある程度具体的に明らかにすることができた。旧さと新しさの両方を兼ね備える新派の音楽演出の歩みは、近代日本の歩みとも呼応するものであることから、本研究成果が近代日本文化の本質の追求に何らかの形で寄与できるのではないかと考えている。