Pipa Xing - Works of Akira Ifukube

Nosaka Keiko
Camerata - 28CM-558
1999

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Artist
1	Pipa Xing	琵琶行	20'05	Koto: Nosaka Keiko
	This piece was commissioned by Keiko NOSAKA, and this recording predates its public premiere (which is scheduled for November 13, 1999) Although Keiko NOSAKA's 25~stringed koto is a new development of the early nineties, a 25-stringed zither by the name of se (Japanese shitsu) was an important instrument of ancient China. Its muted elegance was often the subject of poetry, A legend concerning its origin can be found in the Classic of Poetry(Shi-jing), while an excellent example of the instrument, with its strings intact and movable bridges still standing, was unearthed in 1972 tram the Ma Wang Dui tomb in Changsa, Hunan Province, which dates back to the second century B,C, Although the Japanese koto and the Chinese se differ somewhat in construction, it is of great significance that we can again hear the possibilities of the 25~stringed zither after so many centuries. The piece was inspired by the narrative poem Pipa Xing (The Lute Ballad) by the Chinese Tang-dynasty poet Bo Ju-yi (772-846), He is said to have written this poem when he had been relegated to a minor governmental position in the provincial town of Jiujiang, on a branch of the Yangzi River. One autumn evening, he went to the riverside to farewell a visiting friend. Exchanging cups of farewell in the boat by which his friend was to depart, they heard the sound of someone playing the 4-stringed lute pipa in a nearby boat. Reminded of the old performance style of the capital, the poet asked the player where she was from, and learned that she had indeed once been a celebrated player at the Imperial court of Chang'an. Struck by their shared misfortune, he requested another piece, and she replied with a fast but mournful tune that left its audience in tears in the light of the autumn moon reflected on the surface of the river. The composition borrows some aspects of the form of the poem, and has a free three-part structure, It is approximately 22 minutes in duralion. - Akira Ifukube
2	Chant de la Serinde	胡哦	10'39	Koto: Nosaka Keiko
	This piece was commissioned by Keiko NOSAKA and premiered on March 11, 1997. The title refers to the song of the non-Chinese peoples who lived to the north and west of China in ancient times. The composer seems to have had in mind the West-Asian peoples who dwelled west of China, from Dunhuang to Kashgar, at the time when the ancient Silk road was at its peak of prosperity. The piece is built up from an interplay between a slow, exotic melody in West-Asian style (adapted from the melody of an interlude used in the 1964 movie "Mothra vs, Godzilla") and a section in rapid toccata style, The piece is approximately 10 minutes In duration.
3	Kugo-Ka	箜篌歌	18'02	Koto: Nosaka Keiko
	This piece was premiered in Paris on May 27,1969, by the guitarist Norihiko WATANABE. Although the piece was originally written for guitar, the score can also be played on the 25-stringed koto as it stands, and this is how it is recorded here. The kugo (Chinese konghou) is an ancient member of the harp family which originated in West Asia and traveled east to China and Japan, reaching Japan by the eighth century, At first it was used in the instrumental ensemble of gagaku, Japan's ancient court music, but its performance tradition soon died out, perhaps because of the difficulty of handling it. Ifukube was inspired to write this piece on seeing the remains of the instrument at an exhibition of the collection of the Shosho-in, the ancient storehouse of the Nara temple Todai-ji He tried to imagine what the melodies played by this instrument in ancient Assyria may have been like. The piece is in ternary form (ABA), with a stately introduction Section A is an allegretto dominated by elegant wave-like figures composed of groups of thirty-seconds. B is an adagio in a broad, ancient lyrical style, The piece is approximately 15 minutes in duration. - Morihide Katayama (translation: Steven G. Nelson)