Shakuhachi - The Japanese Flute

Miyata Kōhachirō
Elektra Nonesuch Records - 7559 72076-2
1991, 1977

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Artist
1	Hon Shirabe	本調	03'54	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō
	This short piece corresponds to a prelude or overture, and today is often used at the beginning of a program. The term ‘shirabe,’ which appears frequently in titles of Japanese instrumental compositions, means ‘investigation,’ specifically with respect to the instrument's tuning. The written character for ‘hon’ means "central" or ‘primary,’ and with stringed instruments it alludes to the most frequently employed tunings.
2	San'ya (Don't know which version)	三谷	06'38	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō
	This piece is in arch form, with a central section higher in pitch and more agitated than the opening and closing sections. The title means "Three Valleys.” Both Honshirabe and Sanya are played on a 2.4-foot shakuhachi.
3	Tsuru no Sugomori (Don't know which version)	鶴の巣籠	06'21	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō
	Perhaps no other composition in the entire solo repertory has suffered so much mutilation as this haunting work. The title means "Tenderness of Cranes,” specifically referring to such tenderness as is expressed between parent birds and their young. Many of the special trill effects can be considered as imitation of bird sounds, although so many variants of this piece exist-not only in different regions, but among different schools and even different performers-that the reference is not always specific. In the hands of some players it has degenerated into little more than a vehicle for virtuoso display. The piece is played here on the standard (1.8-foot) shakuhachi.
4	Shika no Tône (Don't know which version)	鹿の遠音	07'54	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō
	This is one of the most famous shakuhachi compositions, and probably the most recent of the works heard here: it dates from the 18th century. Entitled "The Sound of Deer Calling to One Another,” the piece's special effects call for a particular kind of audible breathing in which the melodic line is never lost. Often the work is heard as a duet for two shakuhachi, and it is not certain which version is the original. It is played here on the standard-sized instrument {this particular composition is rarely, if ever, played on other sizes).
5	Akita Sugagaki (Kinko Ryu)	秋田菅垣	09'32	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō
	Akita is a region near the northern end of the main island of Japan: in ancient times it was largely unsettled wilderness. Since there is no certainty that any of the melodic ideas come from this province, it seems likely that the location was used in the title simply to suggest the remote and the inaccessible. Sugagaki is a term that occurs in a number of titles of 17th-century Japanese and Okinawan koto pieces in variation form: unlike most solo shakuhachi works. Akita Sugagaki is a loosely constructed series of variations. It is played here on the standard-sized instrument.