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Hototogisu (Yamada Ryū)

郭公

[Genre]Sokyoku
[Style]Uta mono
[School]Yamada Ryū - 山田
[Also Known As]Mountain Cuckoo
[Composed]Yamada Kengyō - Koto

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

The hototogisu is one of several pieces of Japanese cuckoo. Since the song of the hototogisu traditionally signaled
the arrival of summer in Japan, it was eagerly awaited. The text of this piece likens the long-awaited first notes of the bird to the arrival of one's lover.

Yamada Kengyo's major compositions are mainly narrative in style and dramatic in character. However, he also wrote numerous light, lyrical pieces which touched the deepest sentiments of the people of his time. Hototogisu is the best
known of these.

The instrumental interlude (ainote), employs the first section (dan) of Rokudan no shirabe in the second koto part. This compositional device was later borrowed by several composers of the Yamada School.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

A summer night
Ends quickly -
Barely time
To see the face
Of the moon.
I regret parting with it.
Unable to sleep
In his silent absence
I repress my longing
By whispering words of patience
To my pillow.
If this man
Continues to bring me suffering
I will one day confess my resentment
But for now I will wait.
He is far above the clouds
On Mount Matsuchi (1).
How impatient I am now,
Like a gusty wind blowing in Sekiya (1).

Even on boat trip
Down the Ayase River (1),
Through pitch-black night
I listen for his call
Under rain-laden skies
Of the Fifth Month.

You cannot know
The anxiety of waiting.
In emulation of
Those ancient men
Of refined taste,
I wait through the night
In the dewy grasses
Of Shirahige Forest (1)
Hoping, always hoping
For a single song from you,
Hototogisu!

(1) Mt. Matsuchi, Sekiya Village, Ayase River and Shirahige Forest are all located in the basin of Sumida River. Mt. Matsuchi, in particular, was famous for its abundance of hototogisu.
(maebiki)

Natsu no yo no
akuru ma hayami
karisome ni
miru hodo mo naki
tsukikage wo
oshimu to suredo
inegate no
makura ni kakotsu
hodo wo sae
taete shinobe to
otozurenu
uchiya tsurasa no
hito naraba
urami mo haten
kanikakuni
ikumoi ni tooki
matsuchiyama
kokoro sekiya no
sato fuku kaze ni

Ame motsu sora no
satsuki-yami
yami wa ayase no
kawafune ni
ukine shitsutsu mo
kikamahoshi

(ainote)

Kakubakari
matsu towa nare mo
shirahige no
mori no shitatsuyu
kusa-gasu ni
yo no miyabi-o no
akogarete
kimi inatsu yowa ni
kawaranu wa
tada hitokoe no
hototogisu

Hototogisu (Yamada Ryū) appears on the following albums

Album Artist

Hozumi Tsurezure Volume 1 Voice : Yamaguchi Hozumi
Koto : Yamaguchi Hozumi
Voice : Kimura Chizumi
Shamisen : Kimura Chizumi
Shakuhachi : Matsuyama Ryūmei

Kou Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II

Sankyoku Ensembles For The Shakuhachi Of The Kinko-School Vol II Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō

Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū vol. 2 (三曲合奏大全集2) Koto : Takano Kazuyuki
Koto : Nakamura Ryokkō
Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II
Shamisen : Hisamatsu Kimihiro
Voice : Nakada Hiroyuki

Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū vol. 2 (三曲合奏大全集2) Koto : Nakamura Ryokkō
Koto : Takano Kazuyuki
Shamisen : Hisamatsu Kimihiro
Shakuhachi : Ikeda Seizan II
Voice : Nakada Hiroyuki

Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 49 Koto : Nakanoshima Kin'ichi
Voice : Nakanoshima Keiko