Home People Pieces Recordings Bibliography Schools Glossary Sites & Events Teachers Join the ISS Log In

Hana

[Genre]Shinkyoku
[Also Known As]Blossoms
[Composed]Yamaguchi Gorō - Shakuhachi - 1963
Yamaguchi Gorō - Koto - 1963

Hana appears on the following albums

Album Artist
Play ButtonBest Take 2 - Tadao Sawai
Play ButtonChallenging Eternity Disk 03 Koto : Miyashita Tazuko
Shakuhachi : Kitahara Kōzan II
Play ButtonFascination of the Koto 1 Voice : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Yonekawa Megumi
Flowers. No. 60. Composed in 1969. The text is a tanka poem written by Yosano Hirosi (1873-1935). Th epoet uses the image of flowers to suggest the fragility of the human mind. Two koto parts and two vocal parts make an interesting ensemble piece.

Hana - Shakuhachi; Nihon no Shijo Shakuhachi : Miyata Kōhachirō
Shakuhachi : Yamamoto Hōzan

Hozumi Tsurezure Volume 3 Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō
Koto : Yamaguchi Hozumi
Koto : Ōtani Tosumi

Koto no Kyoshu Nihon no Merodi-shu Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Tsujimoto Chikatoyo
Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko II
Shakuhachi : Suginuma Sachio
Koto : Yonekawa Megumi
Play ButtonMusic of Japan Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko
Shamisen : Toyohisa Shizuko
This is also a work of Rentaro Taki. The original piece is a two-part chorus and is written by the techniques of purely Western music.

The present recording is an arrangement for koto, shamisen and orchestra. The two solo instruments play the soprano melody alternately.

The word hana means flowers in general. But, it frequently stands for cherry- blossoms because, as known to all over the world, the cherry-blossoms is the most representative flower of Japan. The poem describes the beautiful scenery of the cherry- blossoms along the river- side of the Sumida in Tokyo. Hanami, or cherry blossoms viewing, is one of the merriest events of the year in Japanese life.

As it has been sung as a musical lesson at middle schools for more than 60 years, its melody and word is well-known to almost every Japanese.

Nihon no Shirabe Koto : Sawai Tadao