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Danmono: A Type Of Japanese Koto Music, Jonathan Richard Besancon

Honors Theses

Sokyoku (koto music) in Japan before the end of the seventeenth century is represented by only two genres: sets of solo songs with koto accompaniment which are called kurniuta, and koto solos called danrnono. Danrnono and kurniuta were the beginning of the sokyoku tradition which developed through the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868). It is the solo genre of sokyoku, the danrnono, which is the subject of this study. This genre is the most important of the few examples of Japanese music which are independent of literary influence. The danmono repertoire is also rather curious because it is limited today to only …