Abstract
There is a confusion about the school to which the heikyoku tradition in Nagoya belongs among some heikyoku players. The reason for the confusion lies in the fact that there are certain differences between the heikyoku in Nagoya and the Maeda school heikyoku tradition handed down by a family from Tsugaru.
Present Tsugaru tradition started with KUSUMI Taiso who learned heikyoku from the Maeda school master, ASAOKA kengyo Chosaiichi at the end of the Edo period. There was another heikyoku school called Hatano school which centered in Kyoto. Because of the many differences, it has been thought that heikyoku in Nagoya must belong to this Hatano school. But in considering the following four points, it is clear that Nagoya heikyoku belongs to the Maeda school: (1) the text; (2) the vocal melody; (3) the instrumental techniques and (4) the lineage of styles passed on from teachers to desciples.
(1) By comparing the actual vocal narration of the Nagoya school with the written text of the Maeda school and the Hatano school, the oral text in Nagoya is much closer to the Maeda school.
(2) The vocal melody of Nagoya heikyoku has more ornamental movements and complicated vocal techniques than Tsugaru heikyoku. This has been regarded as a characteristic of the Hatano school. But five-line staff notations of the Hatano school heikyoku from the Taisho period and that of Tsugaru heikyoku from the end of the Meiji period have clarified that Tsugaru heikyoku was more similar to Nagoya heikyoku. At the same time, Nagoya heikyoku has increased its ornamental movements since the 1960s, thereby increasing the melodic differences between Tsugaru and Nagoya.
(3) The second string of the biwa is tuned a major third above the first string in Nagoya, as was the biwa of the last blind heikyoku player of the Hatano school. On the other hand, it was tuned a minor third above the first string in the Tsugaru tradition until the 1960s. The documents on biwa from the Edo period show that the pitch of the second string was not always fixed and the Maeda school also used the major third. So the difference of the tuning does not mean there was a difference of the school.
Sawari sound is used for the biwa in Nagoya, but not in Tsugaru. A document from the Meiji period proves that sawari was used by the blind players of the Maeda school but not by the amateur players. So the existence of sawari does not mean that the Nagoya heikyoku belongs to the Hatano school.
(4) There was an innovation of the notation system by OGINO kengyo Chiichi/Tomonoichi in Nagoya at the end of the 18th century. As he learned heikyoku from both schools, Maeda and Hatano, it was uncertain which school he taught to the disciples in Nagoya. One source tells that OGINO regarded himself as a Maeda school player, while another shows that his desciple in Nagoya, NAKAMURA kengyo, taught the Maeda school heikyoku.
Therefore we can conclude that heikyoku in Nagoya belongs to the Maeda school.
