The International Shakuhachi Society

- Recording: Fascination of the Koto 5 -

Fascination of the Koto 5

Fascination of the Koto 5

Yonekawa Toshiko

King Record Co., Ltd - KICH 2058

1997

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Shakuhachi	Shamisen	Koto
1 (Listen)	Fuyu no Kyoku	冬の曲	20'23			Yonekawa Toshiko
	Composed by Yoshizawa Kengyo II. He composed numerous koto pieces using the tanka poems included in the Kokin Waka Ryu. This particular piece represents the progression from early winter to the end of year. The composer invented the tuning specific to these pieces by adding semi-tone progressions to an enharmonic (without any half tone steps) tuning of the gagaku koto. We can understand the composer's attitude towards the restoratoin of koto musc by his use of the old, imperial collection of poems, his breaking away from shamisen music, and his use of gagaku elements.
2 (Listen)	Uji Meguri	宇治巡り	20'35	Yamaguchi Goro	Ota Hisako	Yonekawa Toshiko
	Uji is a place situated in the south of Kyoto which produces high quality tea. The text refers to the four seasons of Uji and 22 brand names of good tea. This large scale composition has two large scale instrumental interludes (tegoto) where both insturments show their virtuosity, often in the form of call and response.
3 (Listen)	Yaegoromo	八重衣	28'50	Yamaguchi Goro	Inoue Michiko	Yonekawa Toshiko
	The text consists of five tanka poems included in the collection "A hundred poems by a hundred poets", all treating garments in connection with the four seasons. A long virtuosity-oriented instrumental interlude (tegoto) is placed between two poems of garments in autumn. Another shorter interlude is placed between the former and the latter parts of the poem dealing with the garments of winter. Insect sounds are imitated in this interlude as a symbol of the season.