Talk:Kouta (music)

Info added

Hi Ineffablebookkeeper. I was almost to create this article, but I found that you were working on a very good draft. I added some info that I found that I hope can be helpful for you.

The source that I'm checking says that kouta means 'short song'. 'Little' and 'short' give a similar idea. I think you should mention both translations. The author also pointed out that kouta was popularized outside of pleasure quarters such as hair salons and public bathhouses in the early seventeenth century.--Thevictorator95 (talk) 01:31, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

Hiya - thank you for contributing! I specified 'little' as it seems to give more distinction from hauta, though on balance both translations should be included.

I'm still trying to figure out the timeline of their development myself - the few sources I've got vary in their origins, but one of them, Little Songs of the Geisha by Liza Dalby, seems to give a more detailed timeline than most:

1. Prototype shamisen introduced to Japan in 1600. Soon used to accompany native folk songs; songs accompanied by the shamisen later develop into the style known as utaimono
2. Small songs collectively known as kouta develop, with a different character for uta used, meaning "song", not "poem"
3. Shamisen first used as accompaniment for early forms of kabuki some time before 1650; this music was known as kouta or hauta
4. These songs develop into nagauta as kabuki develops, short songs being too short to carry the longer dances of kabuki, and nagauta becomes its own style, heavily linked to kabuki, by 1740
5. Kouta and hauta continue to be sung in the geisha districts and pleasure quarters; they're still a relatively low-class pursuit, which may explain their popularising outside of the pleasure quarters. The rising merchant classes patronised geisha, who played kouta, but were too low-class to afford the services of the more traditionally-musically-learned oiran and tayū, who through their class status would not have learnt kouta, nor would their high-class guests be supposed to listen to them. It makes sense that the merchant classes likely popularised them wherever they went, including hair salons and public bathhouses
6. Late 17th century kouta are noticeably excessive in erotic expression, leading to government reform and the development of the utazawa style of the 18th century; if you take a look at the article Iki (aesthetics) and Kimono#History, I wouldn't be surprised if these crackdowns coincided with the crackdowns on extravagant dress that happened around this time - which, if you look at Geisha#History, led in part to the rise in popularity of geisha, who really championed and developed kouta
7. [small section in the book here for the divide between kouta and hauta which I don't think I wrote down]
8. By the Meiji period (1868-1912), kouta were a set style, and had overshadowed hauta and utazawa in popularity. New songs and stylistic schools arose after this.

However, I'm going to go through the other sources I've got and see what they detail, as I think the musical style kouta originated from differs between sources. I'd really like to get the History section watertight before submitting the draft for approval, yknow? It'd save some stress in the future, I think. Thanks! --Ineffablebookkeeper (talk) 10:58, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

Specific origins of kouta

Below is a bit from the draft article I figured could be sorted out after submitting:

[Below: One source says kouta came from karimono. Another says katarimono. Dalby says utaimono. What's the truth?]

• Utaimono – style of gagaku, "Vocal music based on native folk poetry" per gagaku article
• karimono – ???
• katarimono – ???

I'll probably come back to it myself, but any help would be useful.—Ineffablebookkeeper (talk) ({{ping}} me!) 20:10, 10 May 2023 (UTC)