Aki Kaze no Kyoku
秋風の曲
This is a piece of genre Sokyoku in the style of Kumiuta from the Ikuta Ryû - 生田 School. This piece was composed for Shakuhachi by the person Mitsuzaki Kengyo. This piece was composed for Koto by the person Mitsuzaki Kengyo.
History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):
| Originally a solo koto piece, consisting of an instrumental prelude (jo) of six sections (dan) followed by six songs in the kumiuta form; this piece is a combination of dan-mono and kumiuta. The text is a free translation of a Ch'ang he ko ('The Song of Everlasting Sorrow') by Po Chu-I (772-846), a Chinese poet, which deals with the tragedy of the Emperor Hsuan Tsung and Yang Kuei-fei, his favorite beauty during the T'ang dynasty of China (8th century). The title means 'Autumn Wind' which blows in the town of Ma-wei, where the heroine was killed. |
Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)
| Great beauty Is elusive, However much You seek it. And the daughter Of Yang Is beautiful Beyond compare. Hair silken as the clouds Face as fair As the restful aronia. The Emperor Never once left her presence And spent his days In contemplation of her. But today Her green flowery palanquin Flees in haste From the nine-fold inner room. Under an uncertain sky Chased By the fall winds. The heavenly strains Of court music... How sad now, This night of Ma-wei, Where only the pounding of hoofs, Only the sound of the wind, Remain. In the West Palace And South Garden Autumn grasses Are covered with dew. On the palace stairs, Dead leaves Pile up - Who will sweep them away? Frost-flowers bloom On the tiles of the roof That once sheltered The Emperor's life-love. Alone In robes of jade, How could he sleep here In peace? | (jo) Motomuredo egataki wa iro ni nan arikeru saritote wa yooka no me koso taenaru mono zo kashi Kumo no binzura hana no kao geni kaidoo no nemuri to ya ookimi no hanare mo yarade nagame akashinu Midori no hana no yukitsu modiritsu ikani sen kyoo kokonoe ni hikikaete tabine no sora no akikaze Geishoo-ui no sengaku mo bakai no yuube ni hizume no chiri wo fuku kaze no oto nomi nokoru kanashisa Nishi no miya minami no sono wa akikasa no tsuyu shigeku otsuru konoha no kizahashi ni tsumoredo tare ka harawan Ennoo no kawara wa shimo no hana nioorashi hisui no fusuma hitori kite nadoka yume wo musuban |
Aki Kaze no Kyoku appears on the following albums
The International Shakuhachi Society - 2013