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This is a Sokyoku piece in the Kumiuta style from the Yamada Ryû school . This piece was composed for koto by Yamada Kengyo .

History (from Tsuge Gen'ichi)
‘Hatsune no kyuko’ (‘First Song of the Year’) is a unique and distinguished work in many respects. It was composed after Yasumuram the kengyo-general of the guild of blind men, had allegedly discouraged the composing of kumiuta without authorized permission. While it is the only work that Yamada, the founder of a new School of sokyoku, composed in the kumiuta form, it demonstrates a departure from conventional form. This kumiuta is performed only by Yamada School musicians.

All six songs in this cycle are based on events from the ‘The First Warbler’ (Hatsume) chapter of ‘The Tale of Genji.’ The kumiuta begins with a special opening pattern called shirabe on the koto, composed of three beats, typical of the Yamada School style.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)
Plum blossom fragrance
Steeps the bamboo screen;
The scent of the screen?
Alive with spring
The courtyard trees
And flowers
Beyond words!
Beyond words!

In Omi
In Omi
The mountain of renown
Is none other than Mirror Mountain
Reflected in the lake waters
Of spring
Its image is
Unchanging.

Today
Is Nenohi (1)
Of the New Year and,
That there be
A thousand springs,
People gather pine seedlings-
Their hearts
At peace.

Wonderful!
The warbler nesting
Amidst high,
Flowering plum trees
Flies back to the pine-
And the nest she left-
To visit her old home
In the valley.

In the gentle
Perfume-coaxing
Breezes
Of the evening,
The plum too
At long last is blossoming.
Such a delight to play
Kono tono. (2)

At dawn we dance
The otoko-doka. (3)
Today’s wine
Is not ordinary!
And passing
The cotton headdress
We sing
The Song of Ten Thousand Years.
(1) Day of the Rat, according to the Sino-Japanese zodiac
(2) Kono tono is the name of a saibara piece (vocal music of folk origin practiced in the ancient court with chamber ensemble).
(3) Otoko-doka is a boys’ stamping dance for the New Year festivities.

Hatsune no Kyoku appears on the following albums:

Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 06  (Listen)		Koshino Eisho I