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At the founding of Tokiwazu, another student of Miyakoji Bungo no Jo first went with Tokiwazu Mojitayu and then set up an independent school of narrative singing under the name Tomimoto Buzendayu I (1716 - 1764). The Tomimoto style reached its peak with Tomimoto Buzendayu II (1754 - 1833) who had a beautiful, high voice, which was displayed in many pieces with great elegance, a grand scale and vocal virtuosity. However, in the time of Buzendayu II, a young singer gradually grew dissatisfied and founded the Kiyomoto style of narrative singing under the name Kiyomoto Enjudayu I (1777 - 1825). Passion was so great and the stakes so high around these great stars that Enjudayu was assassinated one day while returning from the kabuki theater. While the culprit was never discovered, to her dying day, Enjudayu's daughter was convinced that he was killed on the orders of the Tomimoto people.
While Tomimoto is uniformly refined and elegant, Kiyomoto adds a great variety of other musical styles, street songs, imitation of Shinnai, and "chobokure," a kind of witty patter with a quasi-Buddhist atmosphere. The early 19th century was a time for a sort of realism on the Kabuki stage, bringing in all kinds of common characters that never would have been mentioned before, thieves, beggars and peddlers of all kinds. This is reflected in the mood of Kiyomoto, so, for example, in Yasuna, the character's love is described totally in terms of the relationship between a patron and a courtesan in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters, terms that would have been very familiar to the Edo audience.
JTRAD 032 -
Yasuna is probably the most famous piece of early Kiyomoto. It was first performed in 1818 as part of a series of dances all showing different characters. Although the character and much of the text are taken from Ashiya Doman Ouchi Kagami (see JTRAD 024), knowing the original story is not really very important. What is important is the image of a very handsome man, dressed in very formal court wear, carrying the kimono of his dead lover and running through the fields in madness searching for her.
The recording contains the very opening of the piece before the entrance of the character. It shows how fluid and emotional the singing is compared to the much more classical style of Tokiwazu.
Text:
Love, O love! I am like an empty void. Ah, a forbidden love! The wind of love comes and blows my sleeves. It blows and separates a loving couple. I have lost my senses, as when a storm wind blows through the cherry blossoms, scattering the petals madly. My heart is full of emptiness. Wherever I go, I ask where my loved one has gone. But they do not speak. It is like a gush of water that shatters great rocks. My chest is full of tears. I wander sleeping on a single spread kimono sleeve; I wander, my love unrequited.Performers:
Kiyomoto Toshizudayu (Lead Singer), Kiyomoto Hoju (Lead Shamisen)