I recently decided to start including National Anthems from around the world in my trumpetensemblemusic.com site. My most recent arrangement was a wonderful composition from Mexico and I am very pleased at how it turned out. Due to the fact that I have had a fascination with Japan for several reasons, including my practice of Karate, I thought it would be fun to write an arrangement based on the National Anthem from Japan. Upon first listening to this “shortest and oldest anthem in the world” I was very disappointed. My first opinion was that it was too short, the beginning was weak and the ending was even weaker.
After an hour or so I finally found a way to arrange it which showcased the best features of the melody. Eventually I discovered that the anthem sounded better as a strict canon or round than it did as it is originally written and currently performed. Finding out this feature perked my interest and I began to dig deeper into the piece.
Due to my great respect for the Japanese craftsmanship and attention to detail, I was very surprised at how little material I had to work with. The length was a problem as well as the basic quality of the melody. I understood the pentatonic scale concept, but this piece had very little material to work with. The first thing I did was visit YouTube to listen to existing recordings. I was even more disappointed. THEY DIDN’T SOUND ANY BETTER.
After hours of testing and moving things around, I started to realize that there was more to this melody than first appeared. The thought kept coming back to me that there must be something I’m missing. Then it came to be. The melody alone made no sense. The beginning was weak and the ending was weak. Could it be that it was written to be played with something else? That is when it hit me. This might work as a round or canon. I entered the simple melody into my Finale program and pasted it in two measures later and it worked. This must have been originally written to be performed as a round or canon. The two voiced canon played beautifully together. Then I pasted in a third part following each of the preceding entrances at two measure intervals. It worked with three and even four voices. I was on a roll. What would happen if each voice entered only one measure apart? That worked also. Then, just for kicks, each entered at two beat intervals. Bingo! We had a winner. My faith in the meticulous habits of the Japanese was restored once more. It was obvious that the composers originally wanted this to be performed as a round or canon. The question now was, why isn’t it performed in that manner?
Kimigayo examples
1. Single melody
2. Fully harmonized
3. Canon at interval of one measure
4. Canon at intervals of two beats with tag at end
Further searching began to expose other related facts about the piece such as the Japanese government employed a German, Franz von Eckert, to harmonize the song. That answers the question, “why is a German listed as one of the composers”? Note the simple harmonization, especially in the opening and closing measures, where the only harmony consists of octave doubling of the melody. This is very consistent with Japanese musical taste and tradition.
One of the most moving performances I was able to locate on the Internet was this one-
Four persons were named to a committee to revise the National anthem for Japan. Among them was Hiromori Hayashi, who produced a melody that was finally selected because of its use of the traditional scale of gagaku, a type of Japanese music that had been performed at the Imperial court for several centuries. Sources still conflict over who composed the music. Some believe that the new melody was actually composed by Yoshiisa Oku and by Hayashi’s son Akimori.
I found it very interesting that the word “kimi” refers to the Emperor and the words contain the prayer: “May the Emperor’s reign last forever.” Perhaps the text forever could have been the reason the composers constructed a round or canon with their material.
Also interesting is the flag of Japan, a red circle on a white field. Could the construction of a round just be a coincidence or was this yet another clue to the composer’s original motive?
After deliberate investigation and tireless hours of reading, I have come to one conclusion; Whether it was intended as a stand alone melody or a melody to be performed as a round or canon, I like the piece and feel that my arrangement both honors and expands the possibilities of this simple, yet elegant piece.
To view the score and listen to my arrangement, visit our site now.
