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This is a Sokyoku piece in the Kumiuta style from the Ikuta Ryű school . This piece was composed for koto by Mitsuhashi Kengyo .

History (from Tsuge Gen'ichi)
This song cycle (kumiuta) consists of an introductory song followed by six songs. The text, based on a Chinese poem (Shang-yang pai fa-jen) by Po Chu-I (772-846), is about Mei-fei, one of the three thousand beauties at the palace of the Emperor Hsuyan Tsung of the T'ang dynasty (8th c.) and how she lost the Emperor's favor when a matchless beauty, Yang Kuei-fei came into the palace. The title means 'The Nightingales at the Palace.'

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)
Morning mist in spring
At the Hua Ch'ing palace;
Deep are the colors
Of the willow
And the cherry.
Beautiful!
In scented sleeves of brocade
She awaits the emperor.

The nightingales
At the palace
Sing amidst the flowers.
Swallows in the palace caves
Sing 'Rain is coming.'
How envious I am-
Would that I could leave
All to my heart's desire.

Your heart has been taken
By that beauty
From the house of Yang.
But for her
You see no one.
How resentful I am,
Having been put
So far aside.

At sixteen,
In the spring of my youth,
I was selected.
At sixty, in the fall of my life,
I am sent away
Growing old and lonely in bed,
I weep aloud-
Oh wretched life!

The beauty of the lotus
Has failed.
The jewel of dew
No longer gleams.
Now I want to hide.
Should I be seen
Even a stranger
Would laugh.

Wavering on the wall
The candle
Barely flickers
Throughout the night.
When I hear the rain
Against the windows
I am still less
Able to sleep.

Like flowers
And like birds
Woman is praised
In verse
And prose.
But in the midst
Of these brilliant fashions
I alone, wither.

Miya no Uguisu appears on the following albums:

Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 05  (Listen)		Yamase Shoin II