Fascination of the Shakuhachi - 3

Yamamoto Hōzan
King Records - KICH 2063
2000

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Artist
1	Nebiki no Matsu	根引の松	24'58	Shakuhachi: Yamamoto Hōzan Koto: Tomiyama Seikin II Shamisen: Tomiyama Seikin I Voice: Tomiyama Seikin I
	Te-goto piece (a two-verse song with an interlude between the verses) composed hy MITSUHASHI Koto of Osaka in the ni-agari tuning. MITSUHASHI Koto composed the famed SHO CHIKU BAI, and NEBIKI NO MATSU is said to have been composed following the success of this earlier piece. The two compositions are certainly very similar, far more so than other famed pieces such as MINEZAKI's ZANGETSU and YUKI. The piece celebrates the arrival of the new year and is divided into three parts by a te-goro (interlude), each part containing musical elements of kagura, soukyoku, koro-kumi-uta and manzai. It also describes things particular to the city of Osaka, the central city of Kamigara (the western part of Japan and the country's cultural center in old days), in particular the new year in that region.
2	Hachidan no Shirabe	八段の調	08'51	Shakuhachi: Yamamoto Hōzan Koto: Yamamoto Hiroyo Koto: Yamamoto Shūya
	This koto piece is categorized as so-kyoku-dan-mono. It is also sometimes simply called HACHIDAN. Composed by YATSUHASHI kengyo, this is a very well-known dan-mono (dan type) or shirabe-mono piece, next in popularity only to ROKUDAN. It consists of eight dan (musical phrases), each dan containing one hundred and four notes. The tempo increases as the piece progreses from one dan to the next, until the end when the tempo drops back. Usually this is played as a solo piece, but YATSUHASHI kengyo, who was a master koro player in rhe Edo Era, composed a melody to accompany HACHIDAN for ensemble playing. Therefore, even though it was originally for the koto alone, it is sometimes played with sangen or shamisen. Both the Ikuta and Yamada schools play this piece.
3	Yoyo no Hoshi	夜々の星	21'15	Shakuhachi: Yamamoto Hōzan Koto: Miura Yōko Shamisen: Fujii Kunie Voice: Fujii Kunie
	A te-goto piece composed by MITSUZAKI kengyo with lyrics written by MINAGAWA Shien. The sangen is in rhe san-sagari tuning and the koto is in hira-chosi. The lyricist was a scholar of Chinese literature in Kyoto who had his own school by the name of Koudou-kan. He was also good at painting and music, and often haunted Gion, the "merrymaking" district of the city. MITSUZAKI kengyo is known as the composer of GODAN GINUTA, AKIKAZE NO KYOKU and other pieces which utilize only the koto and exclude the sangen, establishing the basis for the revival movement in the Bakumatsu Era. The lyrics desctibe undying love but are more subtle and respectable when compared with ha-uta (light popular song) such as KUROKAMI or YUKI, thus demonstrating knowledge and ability of Shien, an aristocratic scholar.