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- Jaku -



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This is a Modern piece . Jaku is also known as: Tranquility. This piece was composed for koto by Miyashita Shuretsu in 1966 .

Jaku appears on the following albums:

    AlbumShakuhachiKotoShamisen
    Best Take 7 - Tazuko Miyashita  (Listen)
    Miyashita Tazuko
      "Tranquility (Jaku)" Work for koto, 30-stringed koto and shakuhachi composed 1966

      This piece received the Education Ministry's Artistic Encouragement Award at the 1966 Arts Festival. This chamber-music style piece embodies a unique musical mood to symbolically express the bliss of entering Nirvana. A purely instrumental work for 30-stringed koto, 13-stringed koto and shakuhachi, the piece is a meditative atonal work in five sections.

      The austere and profound theme-the tranquility of nirvana (salvation)-is highlighted throughout the piece with abundant nuances. The piece employs the subtle tonality of the 13-stringed koto to create a delicate mood, while the broad range and multi-faceted timbre of the 30-stringed koto are borrowed to eloquently enhance the expression of the work's central image.

      The introduction crystallizes the spirit of the entire piece in a duet between the 30-stringed koto and the komuso-style low-pitched shakuhachi.

      The first section is further subdivided into three-parts for the 13-and 30-stringed kotos. The 5/8 meter canon for the stringed duet at the beginning of the section stands out in particular.

      A lasting impression is left on listeners in the second section, in which an atonal passage for the koto is accompanied by a bell and the deep strains of the low-pitched shakuhachi.

      The 6/8 meter trio dance piece-style taken in the third section evokes a unique mood, with the high-pitched shakuhachi setting out a romantic melody against the backdrop of the rhythmic portamento stringed accompaniment.

      The piece comes to a climax in the fourth section, as the meditative sounds the low-pitched shakuhachi emerge from the stillness and tensely harken to the melancholy sound of the stringed instruments. This call-and-response, representing the transcendation of sorrow and the entrance into Nirvana, leads to a tranquil denouement.



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