Noh or Yokyoku reached its present form in the Muromachi Period due to the work of Kan'ami and his son Zeami. It combined the earlier dramatic form called Sarugaku Noh with the songs and dances of Dengaku and added Kuse Mai, a sophisticated song and dance form that was very popular at the time. The staging is very sparse and there are few characters, so the world of the drama is created almost entirely by the chanting and singing of the performers. Noh texts are very dense and poetic, thick with puns and literary allusions.
Some Noh plays shows events occurring in real time with living human beings, but the most famous plays are called "Yugen Noh" which show an encounter with a ghost or some kind of spirit of a famous person. In a typical Yugen Noh play, first the Waki or "secondary actor" appears. He is often a priest who travels to some famous place. He recalls the people of long ago that made that place famous. Then the Shite or "main actor" appears, often some humble person of that place. Only Shite actors wear masks, and very often the nature of the character changes drastically between the first and second halves of the play. There is a dialogue between the Shite and Waki culminating in very lyrical and poetic passages. The priest finds that this person is strangely well informed about the events of long ago. The person suggests that he or she is the ghost of that famous person and vanishes, asking the priest to pray for their salvation. In the second half of the play, the Shite reappears, now in his true form as the ghost of the character of long ago. This half of the play is also quite lyrical and poetic and usually culminates in a dance.
Shite actors, Waki actors and Kyogen actors are all separate groups with their own traditions and they never exchange roles. For example, a Waki actor never plays a Shite role. The same is true for the musicians. They all specialize in only one instrument and never play another instrument on stage. There is a chorus, but it is composed entirely of Shite actors. The chorus is not an independent character commenting on the scene, but rather, should be seen as a doubling of the Shite actor. A hayashi flute and percussion ensemble consisting of one Noh kan flute, one kotsuzumi shoulder drum, one otsuzumi or okawa side drum and, on occasion, a taiko stick drum, accompanies the play. When the taiko stick drum is used, for example in plays about warriors or supernatural characters, it is only used in the climactic passages in the second half of the play and until then, the player sits motionless on stage behind the other musicians. Many Noh plays have been transformed into kabuki dances and the hayashi flute and percussion ensemble plays an important part in kabuki music.
Since the climactic songs and dances of Noh can stand alone, this is usually what amateur students of Noh study. Most recordings of Noh preserve the pure singing and speaking of great masters of Noh. Consequently, there are very few recordings of Noh plays as they are actually performed with several actors, chorus and instrumental ensemble. With the exception of Sumidagawa, which alternates two actors, all the recordings here are short independent songs sung by a single performer. In the past, often these songs were sung on auspicious occasions so that most of these pieces are of a formal, congratulatory nature.
A full-length program of Noh consists of the ceremony Okina, and five Noh plays with Kyogen comic plays between them. Okina is a ritual that predates Noh and shows the dance of an old man, a symbol of fertility and eternal youth. The second half of the play features the Kyogen actor in the lively dance called Sambaso. In Kabuki, the Sambaso dance was adopted as a ceremonial dance and has been rearranged in innumerable ways. The Kabuki version of the percussion music for Okina and Sambaso can be heard in JTRAD 071.
The first Noh play is called "Waki" Noh. "Waki" means "side" and is called that because it comes to the side of the Okina play. This category of play usually shows gods and is not very dramatic, but is more like auspicious ceremony. Many of the short songs performed independently come from these plays.
The second category is called "Shura Noh" and the Shite main actor portrays a warrior. Many of these stories come from Heike Monogatari (The Tales of the Heike).
The third category is called "Katsura Mono" or "wig pieces" and feature female characters. These plays are especially delicate and poetic.

The fourth category is called "Kyoran Mono" or "mad pieces," and includes plays showing people driven mad by the loss of some loved one. But it is really a kind of miscellaneous category and all the plays featuring living human beings in real time belong in this category. This includes Sumidagawa and Ataka, the Noh play that is the basis for the famous kabuki play Kanjincho (The Subscription List).
The fifth category shows demons and other supernatural creatures.
Today, a full program of five Noh plays and the Okina only appear very rarely, but even a program of only two or three Noh plays will be arranged in this order and have Kyogen plays in between.

JTRAD 014

Sumidagawa is a fourth category play and is one of the most familiar stories in Noh because of the universality of its theme. It shows a mother (Shite) from Kyoto who follows her son who has been kidnapped by a slave trader and taken on the road to the east. She arrives at the Sumida river, now in the middle of Tokyo, but at the time, considered beyond the limits of civilization. Various people make fun of the madwoman, but a boatman (Waki) takes pity on her and takes her across the river. As they cross the river, she sees a crowd of people around a grave mound and learns that it is the grave of a young boy who fell sick and died on the road while being forced to travel to the east by a slave trader. The mother learns that this was her son. She collapses in tears, but the boatman persuades her to pray together with the others. As she prays, she thinks she hears her son's voice and she sees the image of her son. The image vanishes and she realizes that he is gone forever. The recording is of a passage in the first half of the play when the mother and boatman recall the famous poet Ariwara no Narihira, exiled here. This is an episode from the Heian period poetic romance Ise Monogatari (The Tales of Ise). Narihira saw some white seabirds and learned that they are called "capital birds." He said that if the birds indeed came from Kyoto, they should be able to tell him whether the woman he loves is still there or not. The mother asks the same question, but in this case, she is longing for her son. In this recording, there is no instrumental ensemble, but two actors take the roles of the mother and boatman so that it is a dialogue and the singing is also taken up by the chorus.


Mother (Shite): The exiled court noble Ariwara no Narihira came to this same river crossing and said, if indeed you are worthy of the name, I have something to ask you, O capital birds! Is the one I love in the capital still there or not? Boatman, those white looking birds are ones that we do not see in the capital. What are they called?
Boatman (Waki): Those are seagulls from the coast.
Mother (Shite): In the shallows and the bays they may be called plovers or seagulls, but here at the Sumida river, white birds must be called capital birds.
Boatman (Waki): Indeed I spoke wrongly. They say that there are those who live at famous places, but do not have the heart to appreciate it. I should have said they are capital birds.
Mother (Shite): The setting sun lights the seagulls in the offing.
Boatman (Waki): In the ancient past, Narihira asked as well...
Mother (Shite): Wondering if the one he loved was still alive or not.
Boatman (Waki): He longed for his lover back in the capital.
Mother (Shite): I have traveled east from the capital searching for my beloved son. The longing heart is the same.
Boatman (Waki): Longing for one's wife.
Mother (Shite): Longing for one's child.
Boatman (Waki): The longing is the same.
Mother (Shite): On the path of love...
Chorus: I too wish to ask the capital birds. I too wish to ask the capital birds. Is my beloved son still alive or not, somewhere on the road to the eastern provinces? But ask as she may, ask as she may, they do not answer: the capital birds here near the shallows. You should not be called birds of the capital, you should be called birds of the backward country. Truly in the river of Horie where the boats rush madly by, the birds that come to the edge of the water, crying out are capital birds. That is in the ancient capital of Naniwa. This is the Sumida River. I have indeed come far to the east. Boatman, even though the boat is very crowded, let me aboard. Boatman, O please, let me aboard.

Performers:
Kanze Tetsunojo (Shite), Umewaka Rokuro (Waki)

JTRAD 015

This is a first category or "Waki Noh." As a felicitous piece, it appears often at New Years and the songs from the play are often used to celebrate weddings. As a Shinto priest from Aso in Kyushu is traveling to Kyoto, at the bay of Takasago (near present day Kobe) he encounters an old couple raking up pine needles under a famous pine, the "aioi no matsu" or, "pine of abiding love." He wonders why there is another pine with the same name across the bay at Sumiyoshi (part of Osaka.). The old couple explain that the husband comes from Sumiyoshi, she is from Takasago and the two pines are symbols of love that does not change with time or place or with long separation. The old man disappears, saying that he will be waiting at Sumiyoshi. As it turns out, the old couple are actually the spirits of the pines. The Shinto priest travels to Sumiyoshi where he finds the old man waiting and the god of the Sumiyoshi shrine himself dances. This recording shows the way that songs from Noh plays are often performed, as independent pieces by a solo singer without chorus or instrumental ensemble.


The waves of the four seas are calm and quiet. The wind of the age brings the country to peace. This is an auspicious reign where even the branches of the trees do not rustle in disturbance. The twinned pines that grow old together are indeed auspicious. Truly, when one looks up at the tops of the trees with respect, one sees that they embody longevity and prosperity. In such an age, the people that live in it also are prosperous. Truly the blessings of our lord are great. Truly the blessings of our lord are great.
The bell of Onoe at Takasago sounds. It is dawn. Even though frost covers the tree, the branches of the pine remain an unchanging color, a deep green. When approaching the shadows of the tree at morning or evening,, no matter how much one brushes the tree its needles are never exhausted. The needles never disappear leaving the tree bare. The unchanging color is an image of a long reign, so it is known as the unchanging pine, among them famous is the pine of Takasago. It will be an example for generations to come to the end of time, how auspicious!
O Takasago! Raise the sails on the boats in this bay. Raise the sails on the boats in this bay. The tide rises when the moon comes out. O the faint glimpses of the island of Awaji in the shallows of the course over the waves! I go far, beyond the offing at Naruo. So I have arrived at Suminoe. So I have arrived at Suminoe.

Performers:
Kanze Motomasa (25th head of Kanze School of Shite actors) (Chanting)

JTRAD 016

The crane is said to live for a thousand years, the tortoise is said to live for ten thousand years. Together, they are a traditional symbol of longevity. There is no particular plot to this play, but simply shows a visit by the Tang emperor to his Moon Pavilion where two courtiers dance as the spirits of the crane and tortoise and finally the emperor dances himself before returning to the Palace of Longevity. This recording includes the singing in the final part of the play, but Gekkyuden (JTRAD 019) is actually the same play under a different title and includes the beginning of the play, so that together, this gives virtually the entire text of the play.


How numerous the examples of things that last a thousand ages. How numerous the examples of things that last a thousand ages. What should we begin with? First, the tortoise, green as the small Princess Pine. When it dances, so does the red-crested crane. They give one thousand years of long life to our lord. As they attend the sovereign in the garden, the lord's face spills over with joy. Their dance is truly delightful. The graceful sleeves of the robes of those sitting in attendance at the Pavilion of the Moon, the graceful sleeves of the robes of those sitting in attendance at the Pavilion of the Moon, how resplendent in many colors! O the sleeves as gorgeous as fields of flowers in spring. In autumn, they are the winged sleeves covered with patterns of crimson leaves in a cold rain. In winter, they are clear cold sleeves of snow. The sleeves that wave and flutter in dance are the light purple of the exalted sleeves of those that dwell in the imperial palace. They raise their voices in song, singing of the beautiful feathered robe of the angel. When they sing, their voices resound through all the mountains, rivers, forests and grassy fields of this land of our lord. When they dance of a thousand ages, a myriad of years, the palanquins and carriages of the messengers of our lord speed on their way. The Palace of Longevity gives long life to our lord. The Palace of Longevity gives long life to our lord. As the dance ends, our lord returns. Truly this has been an auspicious event.

Performers:
Hosho Hideo (18th head of Hosho School of Shite actors)(Chanting)

JTRAD 018

Shojo are a kind of mythical, sake-loving water sprite and this is a fifth category play about supernatural creatures. Some fifth category plays show fearsome creatures, but there are also much more benign characters like shojo as well. A very attentive son has a dream that says his filial piety will be rewarded if he goes and sells wine in the marketplace. Everything happens as in the dream, but there is a customer that comes every day and no matter how much he drinks, his face never changes. The sake seller is mystified and the man reveals that he is actually a shojo that lives in the sea and disappears. That night, the sake seller takes his wine to the beach and the shojo appears in his true form and drinks and dances in celebration. The shojo praises the sake seller's filial piety and gives him an inexhaustible wine jar. The recording is of a solo singer without chorus or instrumental accompaniment and is taken from the final part of the play.


Inexhaustible good fortune, inexhaustible good fortune! Lasting until the end of a myriad of years, sake of bamboo leaves. No matter how much one scoops out, there is always more. No matter how much one drinks, it never changes, this cup on an autumn night. The figure of the shojo spirit bends down to drink, then stands on the beach. He begins to stagger with drink. The sake seller has fallen into a drunken sleep and believes that what he has seen is a dream, but when he wakes, the miraculous wine tub is an inexhaustible spring just as he had seen in the dream. This abode of inexhaustible good fortune is truly auspicious.

Performers:
Kongo Iwao (25th head of Kongo School of Shite actors) (Chanting)

JTRAD 017

Oimatsu is a first category play and like most of those plays, ends with a dance of the god, in this case, a very old man with a white beard that is the spirit of the pine. A man is told in a dream to go to a certain temple and by a magnificent flowering plum tree, he sees an old man and a young man constructing a fence to protect the plum tree and an ancient pine beside it. The man asks them about the significance of the pine and the plum and they explain how from ancient China they have been symbols of longevity and prosperity. The two disappear and the man realizes that they are the spirits of the trees. As he waits, the old man appears in his true form, dances and gives the blessing of the gods.
This recording is of a short section performed by a solo singer without chorus or instrumental ensemble.


The spreading branches, O the spreading branches. The tender branches at the tip of the tree are like the flowered sleeves for a young tree. The branches below are the sacred sleeves of an ancient pine. The branches below are the sacred sleeves of an ancient pine. May they last for a thousand years, eight thousand years! May they last until pebbles have grown into great rocks! May they last until they are covered with moss, until they are covered with moss! The pine and the bamboo add their blessings. The crane and the tortoise give long life. May they protect our sovereign until the end of time! This is the teaching in the message from the gods. The wind in the pines and the fragrant plum blossoms bless us through the long spring. Truly this is an auspicious sight.

Performers:
Komparu Nobutaka (79th head of Komparu School of Shite actors) (Chanting)

JTRAD 019

Gekkyuden is actually the same play as Tsurukame (JTRAD 016) and is the title that is used when Shite actors from the Kita School perform the play. This recording starts with the beginning of the play, omits a short section where the courtiers representing the crane and tortoise are invited to dance, then concludes with most of the final section of the play. Combined with Tsurukame, this presents virtually the entire text of the play. Although this recording is of a single performer without chorus or instrumental accompaniment, the translation shows how this text would be divided in an actual performance.


Emperor (Shite): As the clear and bright spring has arrived, we will celebrate the four seasons.
Minister (Waki): At the Gate of Longevity, the sun and moon shrine down on our sovereign.
Emperor (Shite): All of the ministers and courtiers sit in attendance, the sleeves of their beautiful robes resplendent.
Chorus: They number in the millions.
Emperor (Shite): When they raise their voices in praise of the emperor...
Chorus: Their assembled voices...
Emperor (Shite): Echoes through the heavens.
Chorus: The sand in the garden of the palace is gold and silver. The sand in the garden of the palace is gold and silver. The palace is spread throughout with crystal, covered with multi-fold brocade and has jeweled doors. The passageways are of coral and crystal. By the pond is a tortoise and crane. It is none other than the paradise of Mt. Horai. How great are the blessings of our lord. (here a short passage has been cut which presents the dancers representing the tortoise and the crane.)
The graceful sleeves of the robes of those sitting in attendance at the Pavilion of the Moon, the graceful sleeves of the robes of those sitting in attendance at the Pavilion of the Moon, how resplendent in many colors! O the sleeves as gorgeous as fields of flowers in spring. In autumn, they are the winged sleeves covered with patterns of crimson leaves in a cold rain. In winter, they are clear cold sleeves of snow. The sleeves that wave and flutter in dance are the light purple of the exalted sleeves of those that dwell in the imperial palace. They raise their voices in song, singing of the beautiful feathered robe of the angel. When they sing, their voices resound through all the mountains, rivers, forests and grassy fields of this land of our lord. When they dance of a thousand ages, a myriad of years, the palanquins and carriages of the messengers of our lord speed on their way. The Palace of Longevity gives long life to our lord. The Palace of Longevity gives long life to our lord. As the dance ends, our lord returns. Truly this has been an auspicious event.

Performers:
Kita Minoru (15th head of Kita School of Shite actors) (Chanting)