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Meikyo

明鏡

[Genre]Modern
[Composed]Kineya Seihō - Shakuhachi - 1950
Kineya Seihō - Shamisen - 1975

History (Aoki Reibo II):

Composed by Seiho Kineya in 1975. It was first performed on 7th October, 1975 at Tokyo Iino Hall, at the original concert for the new compositions of Seiho Kineya. It was then played by Seiho Kineya's sangen (a.k.a., shamisen, a three-string instrument) and Reibo Aoki's shakuhachi.

The comments by the composer on the published sheet music say as follows: "It is long since shakuhachi has taken the place of kokyu (a Chinese fiddle) as one of the "Sankyoku" (the trio of instruments with koto and shamisen). And now, the ensemble of shakuhachi with "Sokyoku" (koto music) type of instruments and players is thought to be the most natural and the most easy to be fused. I think quite exactly so, but when we consider how a shakuhachi is played in shakuhachi honkyoku, shuchu and Kinko-ryu styled play, the timing and breath are quite similar to that of shamisen music including "Nagauta" (Japanese long epic song) and there we can perceive the possibility of a new combination. MEIKYO was composed in order to provide material to test this thought of the composer. It starts from a slow part, moves to a light moving part, then moves to a part of alternate exchange of rather long phrases. The it moves to a very fast part and ends with a slow part that is different from the starting part."

(plated with an Itshaku-kyusun-kan: shakuhachi of about 58 cm).

Meikyo appears on the following albums

Album Artist

Aoki Reibo no Shakuhachi Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II
Shamisen : Nishigata Akiko
Play ButtonArt of Bamboo, The Shamisen : Baba Hiroko
Shakuhachi : Sugawara Kuniyoshi
This work of Kineya is built on a traditional base which centers on the nagauta shamisen tradition, but a myriad of novel techniques appear on that base. Breathing techniques are the life of shakuhachi classics, and when similar musical ideas are expressed by the shamisen, new combinations of shamisen and shakuhachi possibilities are born. Kineya is the only composer capable of producing these splendid ideas.
Play ButtonGakuon Jyu Shakuhachi : Fukuda Teruhisa
It has been a while since the shakuhachi has been used instead of the kokyu in the san-kyoku(trio). Now a performance of the shakuhachi, and so instruments are considered a natural and good combination. The shakuhachi honkyoku, especially the phrasing and the breathing techniques used in the Kinko School has phrases that are similar to the shamisen music including the nagauta. There are the possibilities of new combinations and the “Meikyo” was composed in order to make an actual piece out of this assumption. The first movement is an interchange of slow music and the next movement is a bright sound that moves into long phrases that are an intertwining of sounds. This changes to a quick beat, which in the ending of the piece changes to a slow beat that is completely different from the beginning of the piece.
(From the Seiho Kineya's Program Notes)
Play ButtonMusiques de l'Asie Traditionnelle Vol 20 Japon - The Shakuhachi of Reibo Aoki Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II
Shamisen : Nishigata Akiko
Composed by Seiho Kineya in 1975. It was first performed on 7th October, 1975 at Tokyo Iino Hall, at the original concert for the new compositions of Seiho Kineya. It was then played by Seiho Kineya's sangen (a.k.a., shamisen, a three-string instrument) and Reibo Aoki's shakuhachi.

The comments by the composer on the published sheet music say as follows: "It is long since shakuhachi has taken the place of kokyu (a Chinese fiddle) as one of the "Sankyoku" (the trio of instruments with koto and shamisen). And now, the ensemble of shakuhachi with "Sokyoku" (koto music) type of instruments and players is thought to be the most natural and the most easy to be fused. I think quite exactly so, but when we consider how a shakuhachi is played in shakuhachi honkyoku, shuchu and Kinko-ryu styled play, the timing and breath are quite similar to that of shamisen music including "Nagauta" (Japanese long epic song) and there we can perceive the possibility of a new combination. MEIKYO was composed in order to provide material to test this thought of the composer. It starts from a slow part, moves to a light moving part, then moves to a part of alternate exchange of rather long phrases. The it moves to a very fast part and ends with a slow part that is different from the starting part."

(plated with an Itshaku-kyusun-kan: shakuhachi of about 58 cm).
Play ButtonNew Spirits of Sangen Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II
Shamisen : Nishigata Akiko
The Shakuhachi has long been associated with the Sankyoku trio ensemble, and is now considered best suited to accompany the koto (13 string zither).

Yet close inspection reveals that the timing and breathing techniques found in the shakuhachi honkyoku repertoire share striking similarities to shamisen music, including the nagauta genre.

These similarities formed the inspiration for this piece, composed in June 1975. The work begins with a slow-paced dialogue between the shamisen and shakuhachi. It then shifts to a passage of light movements; then returns to a dialogue of relatively long phrases. The work moves into a fast-tempoed section before closing with a slow section.

(Seiho Kineya)