Japanese Masterpieces for the Shakuhachi?



david
Member
Japanese Masterpieces for the Shakuhachi?
I don't know if this is in the right place. I have been listening to one of my favorite shakuhachi recordings..Japanese Masterpieces for the Shakuhachi. My liner notes I have and have tried to find don't tell me anything. How can I find out who is playing on each track and what size/type flute they are using? Or is this information just not available?
david
Jeff Cairns
Professional Member
If you search the shakuhachi BBQ you will find reference to a method to determine the base pitch of a given shakuhachi in a recording. As for type of flute, it's rarely indicated in Japnaese recordings and seems to be a mute point. If you know the player, then you likely know the 'type' of shakuhachi they are playing as few players actually jump from type to type. And by type I assume you mean with ji or not, or kinko/tozan/myoan. If you don't know the player, then...enjoy the music.
Dean Del Béne
Member
liner notes

The Music

1) Koku. Two shakuhachis and a gong at Meianji, Kyoto, originally the headquarters of

the Fuke sect, play this long piece. It was composed by a priest named Kyochiku in the

12th Century while meditating at a temple in Nara. In a dream he found himself floating

in a boat. Suddenly tick mist rolled down the sky and blocked his view of the moon. On

hearing the moving melody of a flute, he reached out for his favorite bamboo flute to

accompany the ethereal melody. The music is long and simple, and the listener is

expected to forget everything and "sleep in nothingness."

2) Sekihiki no fu. The name of a Chinese poem (The feeling of the Red Wall), which is

sung at the beginning of music. Composed by Seizan Shibata for 3 sizes of shakuhachi, -

the longest being 2 ft. 4 in., the bell is played by the same performer with a 3-hole

shakuhachi.

3) Matsukaze. (The Wind on the Pine Tree). The pine tree represents men, cherry and the

plum trees, women. This piece is famous for its panting technique (komibuki), the

symbol of the wild breath of the samurai. A member of the Tsugaru family in northern

Japan composed it about 300 years ago.

4) Ajikan. The realization of Buddhism or the state of enlightenment. The first letter is an

"A", the beginning of both Eastern and Western alphabets, derived from the Sanskrit

"nothing". In Buddhism there is a code of "nothingness", and this music conveys, "all is

nothing and nothing is all". Composed by Nyozan Miyagawa, one of the most beautiful

Buddhist pieces.

5) Oshusanaya. Stylistically quite different from the others, it describes valleys in the

Oshu (northern Japan), and is indicative of the folk music of that area. Played in the

Kikusui style with a 3 ft. 3 in shakuhachi.

6) Sagariha (Drooping leaves) this is perhaps the oldest and most fundamental work of

the ten pieces making up Kimpurvu music. The rhythm also suggests waves.

7) Kyushi Reibo for solo shakuhachi is one of the religious pieces of music composed in

memory of Buddha's death. Kyushu is the southernmost island of Japan. Being closest to

China, the most ancient cultures prospered there and many shakuhachi masters went on

pilgrimages there. Conceived by one of the pilgrims who visited there and impressed by

the reibo (spirit) of Buddha. The shakuhachi used here is 2 ft. 1 in. long.

complete file
http://www.lyrichord.com/linernotes/LYRCD7176US.pdf
kerry
Member
"david""david"
who is playing

Kikusui Kofu. There is a nice article and photos in The Annals of the International Shakuhachi Society Volume 2 about him.
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