gagaku
Americannoun
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the select group of Japanese men who, as both dancers and musicians, perform the bugaku.
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the style of music played to accompany the bugaku.
Etymology
Origin of gagaku
< Japanese < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese yǎ elegant + yuè music; cf. bugaku
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 1973 he wrote “In an Autumn Garden” for the ancient court gagaku orchestra and “Autumn,” a second work for shakuhachi and biwa soloists with orchestra.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2020
For his album due Sept. 28, “Konoyo,” he collaborated with Tokyo Gakuso, a classical Japanese gagaku orchestra playing traditional instruments: reeds, wooden flutes, lutes, zithers, percussion.
From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2018
Mr. Hosokawa returned to Japan and researched gagaku, the ancient music of the Japanese court, while learning calligraphy from a Zen priest.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2011
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
