A Study on Historical Development of Younger Children's Songs in Japan : How their vocal range changed?

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Other Title
  • 幼児＜子ども＞の歌に関する一考察 : 幼児＜子ども＞の歌の音域をめぐって
  • ヨウジ<コドモ>ノ ウタ ニ カンスル イチ コウサツ : ヨウジ<コドモ>ノ ウタ ノ オンイキ オ メグッテ

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Abstract

This study tries to answer a question: why so many younger children's songs do not suit their vocal range? The author's previous study which utilized questionnaire method to preschool teachers reveals that all the best five younger children's songs they selected for kids were composed beyond their singing range. In order to answer the question, the author examined historical development of younger children's songs in Japan. With the establishment of modern education system in 1872, shoka (school songs from Ministry of Education) became part of the primary school curriculum. First created as gogaku (traditional music of the Japanese imperial court) based hoiku shoka and next developed into awkward translations of Scottish folk songs, the words of shoka tended to be didactic, stressing loyalty to the emperor or praising the beauties of nature and the Japanese spirit. They were hard to sing for younger children, since words had little meaning for them and had broad vocal register. Doyo were first written in the Taisho Era (1912-26), when Japanese intellectuals began to call for children's songs of high artistic quality. Renowned composers such as Yamada Kosaku (1886-1965) and Motoori Nagayo (1885-1945), collaborated with such eminent national poets as Kitahara Hakushu (1885-1942) and Miki Rofu (1889-1964) produced many songs of enduring value before doyo movement lost momentum in the late 1930s. Doyo had highly humanistic and child-centered texts compared to shoka. Musically speaking, however, the singing range of doyo was also too broad for younger children to sing. Possible reasons for this discrepancy were (1) a systematic study of the child voice was still developing during the Taisho Era; (2) composers were eager to create artistic songs styled after German Lieder; (3) educational, rather than musical, importance of children's songs were stressed, as the cases of Yamada and Motoori may demonstrate.

Journal

  • 教育学論集

    教育学論集 (64), 99-112, 2013-02-11

    創価大学教育学部・教職大学院

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