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レオポルト・ミュルレルの「日本音楽に関するノート」について

A study on Einige Notizen uber japanische Musik written by Benjamin Karl Leopold Muller

国際文化学研究 : 神戸大学大学院国際文化学研究科紀要

40

25-72

神戸大学大学院国際文化学研究科

2013-07

2014-01-29

The purpose of this essay is to examine what happened when westerners first encountered Japanese traditional music and how their understanding gradually deepened by analyzing the article “Einige Notizen über japanische Musik” written by Benjamin Karl Leopold Müller（1824-1893）. Müller lived in Japan from 1871 to 1875 as oyatoi-gaikokujin, a foreign advisor hired by Japanese Meiji government. Müller was a medical doctor and a pioneer who taught western medical science at a forerunner of the Medical School of Tokyo National University. At the end of his stay in 1875, he also served as a court physician to Emperor Meiji. During his stay, he published an article on Japanese music in the Mitteilungen（bulletins）of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens（OAG）, Band I, Heft 6, 8, and 9. In the article, he described various genres of music using Japanese and Chinese instruments, based on his own observation of performance, information obtained from scholars and books. He gives a particularly detailed description of ‘Mikado-Musik,’or royal court music gagaku and he is an invaluable contemporary witness of the practice at that time. My analysis of Heft 6, 8, and 9 clarifies that Müller’s descriptive quality changes from the outer aspect to the inner essence, or from the surface to a deeper level of the music over time. For instance, extrinsic elements of musical instruments such as classification, structure, material of instruments, and symbolic concepts concerning music are introduced in Heft 6, while detailed musical characteristics of each instrument are given in Heft 8. Finally, in Heft 9, we find a more deepened understanding of the structure of music itself. He examines characteristics of rhythm, function of each instrument in the ensemble, and even the principles of traditional notation are explained, which shows his profound insight into the heart of gagaku. Another interesting aspect of the article is that it also provides information about the academic circle during the period. It is noteworthy that it was his active interaction with Japanese and German-speaking friends that enabled him to study and describe Japanese music in such details. It was Hiizu Miyake, who may have helped him as an interpreter to understand subtle elements of the music and introduce him to Japanese musicians. Miyake later went on to become a professor of the Medical School of Tokyo Imperial University. Two officials, Hisanari Machida and Noritane Ninagawa, of the Meiji government, who were interested in participating in world expositions and establishing a National Museum, provided him useful information on instruments and on a deeper understanding of Japanese history. Müller also kept strong connections with such important figures in a German society as Max von Brandt（the German Mister to Japan）, Viktor Holtz（a professor of education at Daigaku Nanko）, and Alfredt Westphal（a mathematics teacher at Kaisei Gakko）.

紀要論文