The International Shakuhachi Society

Mama no Kawa

ままの川

This is a piece of genre Jiuta in the style of Tegotomono from the Ikuta Ryû - 生田 School. Also Known As : The River of Let It Be. This piece was composed for Koto by the person Yaezaki Kengyo. This piece was composed for Shamisen by the person Kikuoka Kengyo.

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

Although the title literally means 'The River of Let It Be,' such a river does not exist. As do the other river is name in the song, it puns on the stage of a love affair. The text refers to the despair of a courtesan who, having given up her struggle with faithless love, views her life in the floating world with sad resignation. The song is composed in the typical tegoto-mono form.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

Is a dream a floating world,
Or a floating world a dream?

Living in a quarter
Called 'Dream Village,'

Yet pining for a man from the
River of Memory.

Seduced by his honey-tongued
Sincerity one night,

I drifted with him
Along the River of Wedlock.

But his heart was
Cool as water,
And he visits me
With the fragrance
Of others
On his collar and sleeves.
Of all the nerve!
Awakened by the 'Kawai, kawai'
Of the morning crow,
Tears of vexation flow
Into the River of Let it Be.

(maebiki)

Yume ga ukiyo ka
ukiyo ga yume ka
(ai)
yume choo sato ni
sumi nagara
(ai)
hitome wo koi to
omoigawa
(ai)
uso mo nasake mo
tada kuchisaki de
(ai)
ichiya nagare no
imose no kawa wo
(ai)
sono mizu-kusaki
kokoro kara

(tegoto)

Yoso no kori wo
eri sodeguchi ni
tsukete kayowaba
nan no maa
kawai kawai no
karasu no koe ni
samete kuyashiki
mama no kawa

Mama no Kawa appears on the following albums

	Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
	Abe Keiko Record Set - 06		Fujii Kunie	Abe Keiko
	Araki Kodo III and Fukuda Eika - Collection of Famous Performances - 03	Araki Kodo III	Kawada Tou	Fukuda Eika
	Fascination of the Koto 3		Yonekawa Toshiko	Yonekawa Chikatoshi
The river of 'let it be' This is one example of the Kyoto style tegoto mono, a piece including a long instrumental interlude (tegoto). In the tegoto of the Kyoto style the syamisen and the koto were given equal inportance. The syamisen and voacl pars were composed by Kikuoka kengyo (1792-1847) and the koto part was composed by Matuno kengyo (1802-1871). The title means non-existant river named 'let it be'. The text refers to sad resignation of a courtsan.
	Ikuta Ryu Sokyoku Senshu Volume 07
	Night of the Garuda	Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
	Sankyoku Home Practice - Chuden 2	Aoki Reibo II
	Seiha Hogakkai Play Favorites 03 - Kikuoka Kengyo
	Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 33	Araki Kodo III	Kawada Tou	Fukuda Eika
	Togashi Noriko - 01	None		Togashi Noriko

The International Shakuhachi Society - 2013