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This is a Sokyoku piece in the Uta mono style from the Yamada Ryû school . This piece was composed for shakuhachi by Koide Ichijûrô . This piece was composed for koto by Nakanoshima Kengyo .

History (from Tsuge Gen'ichi)
In the late Edo period, a princess from the Date family (of Uwajima, Shikoku) was married to a titled man of the Matsudaira family (of Shimabara, Kyushu). Upon the unexpected early death of her husband, she, being an accomplished koto player, received a fine koto as a gift to console her in her deep sorrow. The koto bore the name Matsukaze ('Wind in the Pines'). The young widow spent the rest of her life playing the koto and writing waka poetry.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)
The shadow
Of the judas tree in the moon
Lengthens.
Wind blows
Along a sandy path
Which is so polished
In the bright moonlight,
It seems like day.
The spreading vista
Has neither cherry blossoms
Nor fall foliage.

Autumn grows old
At the thatched-roof hut by the bay.
The fishergirl
Is unable to sleep.
Aged by the saltwater,
Her garments chill her.
And the sound of the fulling-block
Is so sorrowful!

Like the sedge mat of Tofu Village,
You took up most of the room in bed.
I was content with the rest.
Recalling the happy times gone by
When we were so close
To one another,
I feel even more
Wretched.
My sleeves drenched
With wave upon wave of tears.
Pulling his sleeves
As he was leaving,
I wished 'If only the
Autumn nights were longer.'
Tears of regret at parting
Never cease.
Names recalling the sea
In speaking of the koto.
The wind blowing
Through the pines on the beach.

Sound of nature -
And the wild geese
Above the clouds
Join in the music.
Descending.
They add their voices.
The sound of the waves
Purifies my heart
'Music of the Autumn Winds'
Must have resembled this.

How delightful!
My splendid koto
Accompanied by the sound of
The 'Wind in the Pines'
Should have been played
To prove a thousand years
Thy life may last,
As long as its strings,
Never ending!
Mount Mikasa
Would enjoy thy love
Even eight million years.

Matsukaze (Yamada Ryu) appears on the following albums:

Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 54  (Listen)	Notomi Judo II	Nakanoshima Kin'ichi
Yamada - 03  (Listen)