The International Shakuhachi Society

- Recording: Zen Music - II -

Zen Music - II

Zen Music - II

Notomi Judo I

Victor, Japan - SJL-2062

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Shakuhachi	Shamisen	Koto
1 (Listen)	Shika no Tone (Kinko Ryu)	鹿の遠音	13'22	Notomi Judo I
	This is one of the best-known pieces in the classical shakuhachi musics. It symbolically depicts behaviors of deer, it is said, contrary to the common nature of many other classical shakuhachi pieces which served functionally in the religious rituals. It deals with a pair of female and male deer that call each other deep in the mountains in autumn. It is therefore further thought to express the human marital love. Deer calls are to be heard realistically, at least to some extent, in the descending melodies in staccato near the end of the piece. In this recording, the first performer is Haruhiko on the right channel, and the second Judo on the left. This performance is often played in solo. Another fact of performance practices to be noted is that repeat signs for small portions in the traditional notation are seldom strictly observed any more, as is understood in this particular performance.
2 (Listen)	San'ya Sugagaki	三谷菅垣	07'34	Notomi Judo I
	San'ya is a name of place, and Sugagaki denotes some instrumental musics particularly for strings. This piece seemingly derives from a piece of koto music and is arranged. It has apparent metric characters probably because of this origination, while other classical shakuhachi musics are non-metric or have free rhythm in general. This piece also is apart from religious nature or function. This performance is a heterophonic duet.
3 (Listen)	Kokû Reibo	虚空鈴慕	42'39	Notomi Judo I
	This is among the three oldest pieces in the Honkyoku tradition and therefore is important. Koku means 'the empty sky', and Reibo 'longing for the sounds of bells'. It is religious in nature, composed to express the unearthly feelings in hearing bells ringing exquisitely in the sky and yearning for them.