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Hatsune no Kyoku

初音の曲

[Genre]Sokyoku
[Style]Kumiuta
[School]Yamada Ryū - 山田
[Composed]Yamada Kengyō - Koto

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

‘Hatsune no kyuko’ (‘First Song of the Year’) is a unique and distinguished work in many respects. It was composed after Yasumuram the kengyo-general of the guild of blind men, had allegedly discouraged the composing of kumiuta without authorized permission. While it is the only work that Yamada, the founder of a new School of sokyoku, composed in the kumiuta form, it demonstrates a departure from conventional form. This kumiuta is performed only by Yamada School musicians.

All six songs in this cycle are based on events from the ‘The First Warbler’ (Hatsume) chapter of ‘The Tale of Genji.’ The kumiuta begins with a special opening pattern called shirabe on the koto, composed of three beats, typical of the Yamada School style.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

Plum blossom fragrance
Steeps the bamboo screen;
The scent of the screen?
Alive with spring
The courtyard trees
And flowers
Beyond words!
Beyond words!

In Omi
In Omi
The mountain of renown
Is none other than Mirror Mountain
Reflected in the lake waters
Of spring
Its image is
Unchanging.

Today
Is Nenohi (1)
Of the New Year and,
That there be
A thousand springs,
People gather pine seedlings-
Their hearts
At peace.

Wonderful!
The warbler nesting
Amidst high,
Flowering plum trees
Flies back to the pine-
And the nest she left-
To visit her old home
In the valley.

In the gentle
Perfume-coaxing
Breezes
Of the evening,
The plum too
At long last is blossoming.
Such a delight to play
Kono tono. (2)

At dawn we dance
The otoko-doka. (3)
Today’s wine
Is not ordinary!
And passing
The cotton headdress
We sing
The Song of Ten Thousand Years.
(1) Day of the Rat, according to the Sino-Japanese zodiac
(2) Kono tono is the name of a saibara piece (vocal music of folk origin practiced in the ancient court with chamber ensemble).
(3) Otoko-doka is a boys’ stamping dance for the New Year festivities.
Ume ga ka mo
misu no nioi ni
fukimagai
haru no otodo ni
haru tateru
omae no sama
iu kotonoha mo
oyobaji

Oomino ya
oomino ya
nadakaki yama mo
yoso maranu
haru no kagami ni
mukai ite
kawaranu kage wo
utsusan

Kyoo wa nenohi
narikeri
chitose no haru wo
iwoo tote
sonoo no komatsu
hiki asobu
hito no kokoro zo
nodokeki

Nezurashi ya
kage tokaki
hana wo negura no
uguisu
sadachishi matsu no
ne ni tatete
tani no furusu wo
kototoo wa

Hana no ka sasoo
yuukaze
nodoyaka ni
fukitaru ni
ume mo yooyoo
himotokite
kono tono asobu zo
omoshiroki

Otoko-dooka no
akegata
mizuumaya nimo
araijina
wata wo
kazuki watashite
banzeiraku wo
utaeri

Hatsune no Kyoku appears on the following albums

Album Artist

Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 06 Voice : Koshino Eishō I
Koto : Koshino Eishō I