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- Chikurai Gosho 1 - Funda -

竹籟五章 第一章 芬陀

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This is a Modern piece . This piece was composed for shakuhachi by Moroi Makoto in 1964 .

Chikurai Gosho 1 - Funda appears on the following albums:

    AlbumShakuhachiKotoShamisen
    Five Pieces for Shakuhachi Chikurai  (Listen) Mitsuhashi Kifu

      Chikurai means the sound or bamboo. It also means the sound or wind across the bamboo forests and the sounds or shakuhachi and fue (Japanese flute) Makoto Moroi (1930-) started composing shortly after the Second World War. He introduced European avant garde music to Japan and composed many works in avant-garde style. In the 1960's he showed interest in Japanese traditional music.

      Five Pieces for Shakuhachi Chikurai was inspired by traditional shakuhachi music. This work consists or five movements. Funda (fun means aroma), composed at Funda-io Sesshu-ji Temple, clearly shows a contrast between the traditional and the modern styles. Sochiku (fresh bamboo) is marked by its fresh tremolo technique Kyorai (sound or mental void) is a slow expressive movement. Hachiku (bamboo cutting) is characterized by staccato, a new technique in Japanese music. In this movement the individual character or the performer stands out remarkably. The grand finale of this work is Meian. This word means "light and darkness" hut it is also the name or a temple famous among shakuhachi players. This finale contains four main motifs or the other four movements.

    Five Pieces for Shakuhachi Chikurai - Makato Moroi  (Listen) Sakai Chikuho I

      FIVE PIECES FOR SHAKUHACHI, "Chikurai" by Makoto Moroi
      By chance, I met and made acquaintance with Mr. Chikuho Sakai, I., (now, Old Chikuoh), and listened to him play many of the major traditional music of Shakuhachi at his own home. It was in spring, 1964. I was deeply impressed by modernity of sounds and tone construction of the traditional Shakuhachi music, and decided the same night to write some compositions for Shakuhachi.

      Then, I had a job of going to Osaka once every month, and, taking this monthly opportunity, I began to write down one piece a night with both Mr. Sakai and his son, confining ourselves in a room.

      The very first night we worked in one of the inner rooms of Funda-in Sesshu-Ji Temple in Kyoto. My creative spirit was greatly stimulated by fantastic harmony of Shakuhachi sound and gray quietude of the temple garden fully lit by the moon.

      From then on, sometimes I stayed at Master Sakai's home, at a local inn on the shore of Japan Sea, and elsewhere, and I kept writing.

      The earlier problem for myself, the difference of notation, was soon solved by well-harmonized cooperation of I and II Sakais, who introduced to me a special notation system of Chikuho School, called "Ho-Fu-E". I worked freely as my creative ideas flew out, and am confident that they were expressed and settled in my works for this mystic instrument. As I was never conscious of writing a Japanese music in its traditional sense, I have done many a tone making which required master-minded performance, unprecedented in the traditional method.

      The title, "Chikurai", means the sounds of bamboo blown by wind, hence, an alias for Shakuhachi itself. Therefore, the title of this composition can be simply regarded as "Five Movements for Wind".

      The 1st Movement was written at Funda-in Sesshu-Ji Temple in May, 1964, the 2nd Movement in June, the 3rd Movement in July, both at Mr. Sakai's home, and both 4th and 5th Movements were written at the seaside inn in Tsuruga.

      The First Movement, "Fun Da": This movement was written in May, at the Funda-in Sesshu-Ji Temple in Kyoto, with I and II Sakais. "Fun" means a good scent. The word has nothing to do with the Buddhist term "Fundari". As this movement was written first, I am confident that it is influenced most strongly by the original classic number both for spiritually and for the form. A prelude.

    Saichi  (Listen) Yamamoto Hozan

    Take-Ikkan  (Listen) Aoki Reibo II

      Part 1

    Tamafuri - New Aspect for Japanese Instrument Shakuhachi  (Listen) Mitsuhashi Kifu



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