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Bamboo Cutter

NA

[Genre]Modern
[Composed]John Kaizan Neptune - Shakuhachi - 1988

Bamboo Cutter appears on the following albums

Album Artist
Play ButtonKite Shakuhachi : John Kaizan Neptune
Bamboo Cutter, Bamboo Princess, Moon Return

These three tunes are based on the Japanese folk tale "Kaguya Hime" (literally, "Radiant Princess"). The story in brief: An old bamboo cutter and his wife are without children and lonely. One day, while in the forest, the old man sees a piece of bamboo that is glowing, cuts it open, and finds inside a beautiful miniature princess who grows to become the child he and his wife had always dreamed of. After the Bamboo Princess becomes a young woman, she refuses many proposals of marriage. The parents wonder why, but are content to have their daughter in the house as long as possible. One day they find her crying, and she tells them she has to return to her real home, the moon. I wrote and first performed these pieces with pipe organ; they were commissioned by Izumi Takamori of Shizuoka Broadcasting System.