(能の素晴らしさ）

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Greeting:  Special Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Hashitsume for giving me a chance to see your Noh song performance  and other Noh play performance for the first time in my life.(10/2/2005)

They recited the story of  "THE MAD WOMAN AT SUMIDA GAWA"
Sumidagawa is the story of a woman , mad with grief, who goes on a journey searching for her lost son. She encountered a mysterious Ferryman, who tells of a boy left for dead, she finally finds his grave. His ghost suddenly appears but she cannot hold him before he returns to the tomb, leaving her weeping in despair.

My impression:  The classical Noh song's  text is either sung or recited in an archaic and conventionalized, yet poetic, form of the language not easily understandable even to a Japanese audience.

The Noh perfomance is accompanied by three or four musicians on flute and drums, as well as a small choir of eight singers.  They performed the story of "The robe of feathers". So fantabulous!
The chanting style of singing has a similarity of shomyo, traditional sutra chanted  by japanese Buddhist monks.

Guttural cries from the musicians are the interesting feature  of the play.

日本民話を英語で読みましょう！Japanese ancient tales and legends

舌きり雀　The  Tongue-cut  sparrow	中将姫物語The legend of Princess Chujo
鶴の恩返し　The crane wife	雷を捉えるThe legend of Chiisakobe-no Sugaru
かぐや姫　The tale of the bamboo cutter	羽衣　The robe of feathers
毒飯　A poison	雪女　The snow bride
京都かえると大阪かえる Two frogs	松山鏡　The mirror of Matsuyama
狢　Mujina	桃太郎　The legend of Momotaro
葬られた秘密 A dead secret	食人鬼　The man eating demon
ろくろ首 Rokuro kubi	播州皿屋敷 Okiku's well
牡丹燈籠 The peony lantern	耳なし芳一The story of mimi -nashi -Hoichi