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Godan Ginuta

五段砧

[Genre]Sokyoku
[Style]Kinuta mono
[School]Ikuta Ryû - 生田
[Composed]Mitsuzaki Kengyō - Koto

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

This work originally composed for two koto(s) is considered the highest point of instrumental development in the sokyoku genre of the nineteenth century. The title means 'a composition consisting of five sections (godan) based on the rhyme pattern of kimuta.' Kimuta originally means a wooden block used in former times to press and soften newly woven cloth. Kimuta as a musical piece, however, is an instrumental piece based on the rhythmic patter derived from the soft tapping sound of the fulling block. Sandwiched by two short songs (maeuta 'introductory song' and atouta 'concluding song'), this highly instrumental piece virtually actually shows the tegoto-mono form. The tegoto is composed of two independent pieces, namely Sandan-jishi and Godan-ginuta.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

Of flowers,
The mountain-cherry at Yoshino.
Of fall leaves,
The maples at Takao.
Of pines,
Those at Karasaki.
Of mist
That at Toyama.
My love always
Wears green.
How gentle she is!
When I daydream
My thoughts turn to her.

The pine is green,
The pine is green.
It never changes,
Ever green.
Hana wa
yoshino yo
momiji wa
takao
matsu wa
karasaki
kasumi wa
toyama
itsumo tokiwa no
furi wa sansa
shiorashiya
tonikaku
omowaruru

(tegoto)

Matsu wa tokiwa yo
matsu wa tokiwa yo
itsumo kawaranu
toshinoha goto ni

Godan Ginuta appears on the following albums

Album Artist
Play ButtonAll the Best from Japan

Art of the Koto - Volume I Koto : Fukami Satomi
Koto : Yoshimura Nanae

Ensemble Nipponia - Japan Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Music
A frequently performed koto duet from the mid-19th century, this formally constructed work features angular rhythms that derive from the sound of the kinuta (a set of wooden blocks for beating silk). "Godan" means "five variations." The Japanese variation technique was developed in the 17th century, originating With the famous piece Rokudan no Shirabe; it includes not only modifications and decorations of the basic theme, but also compression and expansion of thematic materials. The last variation of Godan ginuta betrays its debt to the earlier Rokudan by including the entire first section of Rokudan in the second koto part, not unlike a cantus firmus in a Renaissance choral work.

Fukami Satomi - Sokyoku Jiuta Shu - 1 Koto : Nosaka Keiko
Voice : Fukami Satomi
Koto : Fukami Satomi

Hōgaku Taikei Vol. 4 - Sōkyoku - Shakuhachi 2 (LP 1) Koto : Yonekawa Fumiko I
Koto : Yonekawa Fumiko II

Ikuta Ryu Sokyoku Senshu Volume 03 (下) Koto : Kobashi Mikiko
Voice : Miyagi Kazue
Koto : Miyagi Kazue

Ikuta-Ryū Sōkyoku Senshū - volume 5 Voice : Matsuo Keiko
Koto : Matsuo Keiko
Koto : Matsuo Kazuko

Japan - Splendour of the Koto
Play ButtonKoto - Keiko Nosaka Koto : Nosaka Keiko

Koto Music of Japan, The Koto : Hagiwara Seigin
Koto : Mineuchi Ginshō
The Kinuta is primitive machinery for refining cloth materials. Though this machine no longer exists, the sound of the kinuta has often been described in poetry and music and suggests the sad monotones of the fall season. The rustling leaves and the voices of insects always accompanied the sound of the kinuta when autumn arrived.

Godan-Kinuta (kinuta in five steps) is regarded as the unequalled music of autumn. A number of works which simulate the kinuta have been composed, but none of these are comparable to this piece by Mitsuzaki Kengyo.

Koto no Miryoku - Disk 1 Koto : Yamauchi Kimiko

Kou Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II

Melody of Japan - Pathos of Autumn Koto : Hanabusa Harue
Koto : Miyakoshi Keiko
Koto : Yui Ensemble

Midare - Kazue Sawai Plays Koto Classics Koto : Kuribayashi Hideaki
Koto : Sawai Kazue
Play ButtonMusic of Japan, The - Vol I
Play ButtonMusical Atlas - Japan Koto : Ueno Kazuko
Koto : Matsuo Keiko
The Koto is a long zither made of paulonia wood. The back of the upper board is hallowed out to provide a thin and long soundboard. Thirteen silk strings are strung between the two ends of the body. Each string passes over a movable ivory bridge which determines the length of the sounding part. The player plucks the strings with three ivory picks attached by leather bands to the thumb, the index and middle finger of the right hand. The instrument was introduced from China in the 8th century and used in the orchestra of the ancient court music, the Gagaku. In the 17th century a blind musician, Yatsuhashi, created a new genre of music using the Koto as a solo instrument and for the accompaniment of songs.

This type of music was developed by his successors, mainly blind professional musicians. It became fashionable among the common people, especially among women. Koto music was combined with a genre of Shamisen song called Jiuta, also created by blind musicians, giving birth to the Koto and Shamisen ensemble. This kind of ensemble allowed the development of increasingly sophisticated styles of polyphony, and so did the Koto ensembles.

The piece chosen here, a Koto duet, is a representative masterpiece of the polyphonic Koto ensemble. It was composed by Mitsuzaki, a musician who died in 1853. Two kotos are tuned at different pitches; the main Koto (an the left) is tuned a fifth lower than the second one (on the right). The title of this piece comes from the form of the composition, which is in five sections (go-dan). The term Kinuta means a fulling block, since the piece reminds one of the sound of someone making felt. The third, fourth and fifth sections of the piece are recorded here.
Play ButtonRokudan Koto : Miyagi Kiyoko
Koto : Miyagi Michio
Play ButtonRokudan Koto no Meikyoku Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Yonekawa Fumiko II

Sankyoku - Hagi no Tsuyu / Sōkyoku - Godan Kinuta Voice : Matsuo Keiko
Koto : Matsuo Keiko
Koto : Matsuo Kazuko

Sankyoku Ensembles For The Shakuhachi Of The Kinko-School Vol II Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō
Play ButtonSeiha Hogakkai Play Favorites 04 - Mitsuzaki Kengyo Koto : Yuize Shin'ichi
Koto : Nakashima Yasuko

So - Japanese Traditional Music Voice : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Satō Chikaki

Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 10 Koto : Yonekawa Fumiko I
Koto : Yonekawa Fumiko II

Tomiyama Seikin - So Koto : Tomiyama Seikin I

Zoku Sō-Sangen-Shakuhachi ni yoru Mei Senshū - volume 5 Koto : Matsuo Keiko
Koto : Matsuo Kazuko