shakuhachi music from Kyushu by Akiikazu Nakamura

From: Akikorokoro@aol.com
Date: Wed Jul 25 2001 - 09:12:14 PDT


Dear everyone:

I am very sorry for the trouble of our last files. It is very long but
I go for simple and secured way. In the next message I will let you
know how to get the CD which is out from DENON on 18th of August that
is in three weeks. It is surely the most remarkable shakuhachi CD of
this year!

Sincerely Yours,

Akiko Yanagisawa
Office Sound Pot

- Komuso Shakuhachi by Akikazu Nakamura -

The roots of shakuhachi or end blow bamboo flute goes back as old as
2000 years ago. Komuso or traveling Zen monks who belonged to a sect
of a Zen Buddhism used shakuhachi as a means for pursing their
religious austerities. In distinct contrast to Western music, the
parameters of the prime importance in the music created by Komuso monks
are tone colors and Ma, denoting the relationship between sound and
silence in a musical context. Nakamura analyzed Komuso music in
scientific approach using computer, and in order to realize its
artistic potential, Nakamura has developed his own unique method of
circular breathing which enables him to play continuously for long
periods of time without a break in the sound flow.

In order to come to grips with the komuso shakuhachi style of Kyushu,
Akikazu Nakamura went to study at the Itchoken temple in Hakata, where
the style is based. He re-learnt each of the pieces from Iso Jozan,
the abbot of the Itchoken temple, whom he questioned about the meaning
of the music. One can imagine that he studied the inner character of
the komuso shakuhachi, including the uninhibited lifestyle of his
teacher at the temple. Nakamura devoted himself wholeheartedly to the
production of this disc, going so far as to postpone a regular
scheduled recital to the following year.

This album represents not merely an attempt on Nakamura's part to open
up new avenues of expression for the komuso shakuhachi. It is of
outstanding importance not only in that it represents the first attempt
to present the komuso shakuhachi tradition of Kyushu in a systematic
manner but above all for its contribution to the genre of contemporary
Japanese shakuhachi music.

* Full English transcript about Komuso Shakuhachi available

AKIKAZU NAKAMURA

Akikazu Nakamura studied the shakuhachi under Katsuya Yokoyama and
several masters of the komuso shakuhachi. He also studied at the NHK
school of traditional music. He then went on to study composition and
jazz theory at the Berklee College of Music in the United States,
graduating summa cum laude. He continued his studies in the United
States as a scholarship student at the New England Conservatory,
studying composition and third-stream music in the graduate school. He
has performed in around 30 countries all over the world under the
sponsorship of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japan
Foundation, etc. He has appeared on more than 40 broadcasting stations
worldwide. While rooting his activities in the classical field, he has
branched out into a wide range of musical genres including rock, jazz,
contemporary music, improvisation, and cross-genre collaborations. He
has developed his own unique method of circular breathing which enables
him to play continuously for long periods of time without a break in
the sound flow. He was awarded the 19th Matsuo Performing Arts Prize.
His album The World of Zen Music: Saji released by Nippon Columbia in
1999 was awarded the Prize for Excellence in the Record Category of the
1999 Arts Festival sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
together with the Columbia Golden Disc Special Prize .

As a composer and arranger, Akikazu Nakamura has received commissions
from German national radio (WDR), from the Jan Sibelius String Quartet
in Finland and from many others. He was awarded the 18th Encouragement
Prize for Creative Work in the Stage Arts by the Agency for Cultural
Affairs. He is a member of the Japanese Society for Contemporary
Music.

1. DAIBOSATSU

This is one of three pieces based on the piece Saji, which has been
transmitted by itinerant monks in Kyushu since early times. The three
pieces are classified in accordance with the classification employed in
Japanese calligraphy denoted "orthodox" (shin), "semi-cursive" (gyo)
and "cursive" (so) styles, Bo-saji or Reiho corresponding to the shin
category, Yuri-saji or Saji to the gyo category, and Neri-saji or
Daibosatsu to the most unorthodox and flamboyant so category.
Daibosatsu makes extensive use of ornamentation and decorative
figurations and is the most dramatic, complex and extended piece in the
extant repertoire of komuso shakuhachi. It has the alternative titles
Neri-saji and So no saji.

2. KUMOI NO KYOKU

This piece has the alternative titles Kumoi jishi, Niagari jishi and
Akebono jishi, and it is thought to evoke the sound of a yokobue
transverse flute as used in lion dances (shishi-mai). Kumoi is the
name of a tuning employed by the koto, and niagari is a tune employed
by the shamisen three-stringed plucked lute. Akebono is a term used to
refer to the transposition of a piece up a fifth. These various titles
are particularly interesting in that they suggest the extent to which
shakuhachi music was closely bound up with the music of other
instruments. Of the pieces featured on this album, the three pieces
Kumoi no kyoku, Toppiki and Azuma no kyoku were originally performed by
komuso monks for their own enjoyment after they had complete their
morning austerities, and for this reason they are known collectively by
the generic name Hirukara, meaning "from noon."

3. REIHO

This piece is known also under the titles Shin no saji, Reibo and
Yamagoe. It is one of the three pieces based on the piece Saji, and is
the most orthodox and least ornamented of the three.

4. TOPPIKI

This piece belonging to the "external transmission" (geden) category of
pieces transmitted at the Itchoken komuso temple at Hakata in Kyushu.
It is the same piece as Hokkoku reibo, which was transmitted originally
by Katsuura Shozan (1856-1942) in Kyushu, although it has its origins
in the Hokuriku area of northern Japan from a much earlier age. The
music seems to have been created in imitation of the transverse flute
employed in popular music and festive lion dances of the time. The
meaning of the title is unclear, although to judge from the tone of the
piece, it may well be an onomatopoeic term referring to the sound of
the instrument. The piece has a mysterious atmosphere not to be found
in any other piece.

5. ITCHOKEN KOKU

Also known as Koku reibo, this piece was handed down from very early on
at the Itchoken temple at Hakata in Kyushu. It differs from pieces
with the titles Koku and Koku reibo transmitted in other regions and
schools and clearly manifests the features of the Itchoken style. The
word koku in the title alludes to the eternal nature of the spirit by
likening it to the vastness of nature and the universe. In legend, the
Zen master Kichiku heard the piece in a dream at the Kokuzodo temple on
Mount Asakuma in Ise.

6. AZUMA NO KYOKU

Also known as Azuma jishi, the title of this piece alludes to lion
dances from eastern Japan and the popular performing art known as
Sato-kagura. It is characterized especially by its stylish melody. It
is an original piece in the Itchoken repertory, as is also the piece
Kumoi no kyoku. Both pieces were incorporated into the repertories of
the Myoan-taizan and Kinko schools.

7. SAJI

This is the "semi-cursive" (gyo) version of the three Saji pieces, also
known as Yuri-saji. Some take the view that the title of the piece is
taken from the Sanskrit syllable sa, which symbolizes the manifestation
of bodhisattvas, and that the music is thus intended to depict the
rigorous austerities undergone by an aspirant until his emergence as a
bodhisattva. On the first album in this series, The World of Zen
Music: Saji, the piece was performed on a 2 shaku 3 sun length
shakuhachi, but in this performance it is given an even deeper and more
forceful tone through use of the very long 3 shaku 1 sun instrument.

8. BANSHIKI and DAIOTSU

These two pieces when performed together are known as Kuyo no kyoku
(Memorial for the Dead). They are presented in this form at funerals.
The performer plays the introductory Honte choshi and then Banshiki in
front of the coffin and then proceeds to the anteroom. As the coffin
is taken to the entrance he plays the opening section (ro) of Banshiki,
and then plays the next section (kan) in front of the monks as he
follows the coffin down the path leading out of the temple. This is a
simple piece with no trace of ornamentation.

THE SHAKUHACHI TRADITION OF KYUSHU

TUKITANI Tuneko (Osaka University of the Arts)

It is well known that the shakuhachi was formerly played in the context
of their religious exercises by komuso monks of the Fuke sect of Zen
Buddhism. There were more than seventy komuso temples throughout Japan
in the mid 18th century. In Kyushu, komuso monks were active primarily
in the Hakata area at the Itchoken and Kogetsuin temples, in Kurume at
the Rinshoken temple, and in Nagasaki at the Shojuken temple. The
Shojuken in particular is well known since it was there in 1728 that
Kurosawa Kinko, founder of the Kinko school of shakuhachi performance,
at the age of nineteen learnt from a komuso monk three classical pieces
that he subsequently incorporated into the solo repertory (honkyoku) of
the Kinko school. With the abolition of the Fuke sect in 1871, almost
all the temples associated with the sect were closed down, and in
Kyushu only the Itchoken temple remained to hand on the shakuhachi
tradition to the present day.

The classical honkyoku pieces played by the komuso were transmitted in
temples in many areas. New pieces were created at each temple, each
strongly reflecting the character and traits of the areas where the
music was transmitted. From early on, clear distinctions could be
noted in the performance styles of each district of the country: the
honkyoku of Kyushu tended to be outgoing, bribright and bold; those of
Kyoto and the Kansai region were rectilinear, static and with little
ornamentation; the performance style of Edo and the Kanto region were
angular and microtonal; while those of the Tohoku district featured
highly inflected melodic lines with intricate emotional nuances. Such
associations with the places of origin of the music exerted a major
influence on performance technique and musical interpretation.

One of the most famous pieces transmitted in Kyushu is entitled Saji.
Saji is in fact the generic name for pieces that were formerly played
by komuso monks throughout Kyushu as they went around begging for
alms. There are many variants of Saji, ranging from short pieces to
large-scale, technically difficult pieces (Daibosatsu and Saji are two
examples contained on this disc). Although the melodies and
performance techniques may differ, common features of all the versions
are the outgoing and open-hearted character of the music, which
strongly conveys the honkyoku tradition transmitted under the influence
of local conditions.

The shakuhachi tradition of Kyushu has been handed down by many komuso
monks whose names are no longer known to us. In our own day, it has
been shakuhachi players from Kyushu such as Shimizu Jozan, Tsunoda
Rogetsu, Nakamura Kikufu and Watazumi Fumon (also known as
Watazumidoso) who have carried on the tradition. Today, when all forms
of the traditional performing arts in Japan are tending to lose their
original character and to grow increasingly uniform, we need to ensure
that this tradition of shakuhachi performance is handed on securely to
future generations.

AKIKAZU NAKAMURA AND THE EXPLORATION OF NEW DOMAINS

Tomiko Kojima (Professor Emeritus, National Museum of Japanese History)

I was astonished when I heard this disc of performances by Akikazu
Nakamura. What astounded me was to see how he has grown personally and
spiritually and has at last begun to penetrate the essence of the
komuso shakuhachi.

Nakamura's performance style was from the outset of exceptional
technical proficiency, and he has continued ever since to devote
himself utterly to playing the shakuhachi. His complete devotion to
his instrument has kept us listeners constantly enthralled. In this
sense, Nakamura is one of the foremost representatives of the third
generation of shakuhachi performers. (Shakuhachi players now in their
eighties and above used to play in a style with little nuance and
ornamentation and may be considered to represent the first generation.
The second generation I consider to consist of those players who opened
up the modern performance style with its stronger use of nuance and
contrast.) However, in performances such as that of Daibosatsu
featured on this disc, one senses not only the overwhelming
forcefulness that characterized Nakamura's style in the past but also a
kind of refined simplicity, and Nakamura's rendition of Kumoi no kyoku
seems to suggest a caprice rendered in the manner of the shinobue flute
employed in Japanese folk music. Turning to the commentary on the
pieces, we read that Kumoi no kyoku was played by komuso monks for
their own entertainment after they had finished their religious
exercises in the morning. This background appears naturally in the
performance. This new mode of expression appears quite effortlessly
without contradicting the dynamic expressive means and without
disturbing the overall style.

In order to come to grips with the komuso shakuhachi style of Kyushu,
Akikazu Nakamura went to study at the Itchoken temple in Hakata, where
the style is based. He re-learnt each of the pieces from Iso Jozan,
the abbot of the Itchoken temple, whom he questioned about the meaning
of the music. One can imagine that he studied the inner character of
the komuso shakuhachi, including the uninhibited lifestyle of his
teacher at the temple. Nakamura devoted himself wholeheartedly to the
production of this disc, going so far as to postpone a regular
scheduled recital to the following year. The impression I gained was
that he had postponed the recital because of lack to time to make the
necessary preparations, but this was not his main reason. He was
struggling all this time with the question of how to express this leap
within his own mind in the form of music.

In this sense this disc represents not merely an attempt on Nakamura's
part to open up new avenues of expression for the komuso shakuhachi.
It is of outstanding importance not only in that it represents the
first attempt to present the komuso shakuhachi tradition of Kyushu in a
systematic manner but above all for its contribution to the genre of
contemporary Japanese shakuhachi music.

1) Introduction

The Most Unique and Profound Japanese Music

- Komuso Shakuhachi by Akikazu Nakamura -

The roots of shakuhachi or end blow bamboo flute goes back as old as
2000 years ago. Komuso or traveling Zen monks who belonged to a sect
of a Zen Buddhism used shakuhachi as a means for pursing their
religious austerities. In distinct contrast to Western music, the
parameters of the prime importance in the music created by Komuso monks
are tone colors and Ma, denoting the relationship between sound and
silence in a musical context. Nakamura analyzed Komuso music in
scientific approach using computer, and in order to realize its
artistic potential, Nakamura has developed his own unique method of
circular breathing which enables him to play continuously for long
periods of time without a break in the sound flow.

In order to come to grips with the komuso shakuhachi style of Kyushu,
Akikazu Nakamura went to study at the Itchoken temple in Hakata, where
the style is based. He re-learnt each of the pieces from Iso Jozan,
the abbot of the Itchoken temple, whom he questioned about the meaning
of the music. One can imagine that he studied the inner character of
the komuso shakuhachi, including the uninhibited lifestyle of his
teacher at the temple. Nakamura devoted himself wholeheartedly to the
production of this disc, going so far as to postpone a regular
scheduled recital to the following year.

This album represents not merely an attempt on Nakamura's part to open
up new avenues of expression for the komuso shakuhachi. It is of
outstanding importance not only in that it represents the first attempt
to present the komuso shakuhachi tradition of Kyushu in a systematic
manner but above all for its contribution to the genre of contemporary
Japanese shakuhachi music.

* Full English transcript about Komuso Shakuhachi available

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