Tang-era piece: Panshe Canjun《盤渉參軍》

Tang-era piece:  Panshe Canjun

《盤渉參軍》

compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 25 March 2021)

In an effort to make this information more accessible, this document contains resources related to the Tang-era suite entitled Panshe Canjun《盤渉參軍》(Joining the Army" [in] Panshe [Mode]), which is in the Dorian mode on B, called Panshe diao (盤渉調) in Chinese and Banshiki-chō in Japanese.

It comprises two movements, encompassing 23 sections (called die 疊 in Chinese or jō 帖 in Japanese) in total:

1) 序 (Xu / Jo) - prelude/beginning, in 13 sections:

I. 12/4

II. 12/4

III. 12/4

IV. 8/4

V. 8/4

VI. 8/4

VII. 8/4

VIII. 8/4

IX. 8/4

X. 8/4

XI. 8/4

XII. 8/4

XIII. 8/4

2) 破 (Po / Ha) - "broaching"/breaking/developing, in 10 sections:

I. 6/4

II. 6/4

III. 6/4

IV. 6/4

V. 4/4

VI. 4/4

VII. 4/4

VIII. 4/4

IX. 4/4

X. 6/4

As preserved in a single Sino-Japanese source, the Hakuga Fue-fu『博雅笛譜』, also known as Hakuga no Fue-fu (literally "Hakuga's Fue Scores"), and properly known as Shinsen Gaku-fu (Chōshukyō Chiku-fu) 『新撰樂譜（長秋卿竹譜）』(literally "Newly Compiled Music Scores (Lord Long Autumn's Bamboo [Flute] Scores)") (966), this piece is called Banshiki Sangun『盤渉參軍（ばんしきさんぐん）』.

Aside from its grand scale, this suite is notable for its inclusion of a wide variety of time signatures encompassing both duple and triple groupings, including 12/4, 8/4, 6/4, and 4/4.

A transcription of the transverse flute part for the full suite was published by Allan Marett in 1981, but, as of 2021, this work is still awaiting its modern-day premiere in Tang period style.  As only the flute part survives, parts for the other instruments would need to be reconstructed if wishing to perform the suite in ensemble format.

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Bibliography

● Marett, Allan.  "'Banshiki Sangun' and 'Shōenraku':  Metrical Structure and Notation of Two Tang-Music Melodies for Flute."  In Music and Tradition:  Essays on Asian and Other Musics Presented to Laurence Picken, ed. D. R. Widdess and R. F. Wolpert (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1981), pp. 41-68.
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Tradition-Essays-Presented-Laurence/dp/052110596X

● Laurence Picken, ed., with Rembrandt F. Wolpert, Allan J. Marett, Jonathan Condit, and Elizabeth J. Markham, and with Yōko Mitani and Noël J. Nickson.  Music from the Tang Court, vol. 2.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 1985.

https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/music/ethnomusicology/music-tang-court-volume-2

https://www.amazon.com/Music-Tang-Court-Laurence-Picken/dp/0521318580/

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