Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Gishin wrote:

if you have time to search you should find your answer here.

http://www.chinapage.com/Moon/moon-poetry.html

First of all, that's a pretty nice site, Gishin... thanks!

I spent a good half hour sifting through the poems looking for possibilities of the poem Darren mentioned but didn't come up with anything... Since the quote is in English and the vast amount of classical Chinese poetry contained incredibly dense language, it's difficult to accurately guess what the original Chinese was -- i.e. the line mentioned was likely translated 100 different ways by 100 different translators.

Zakarius

Gishin wrote:

This is exactly why I did not try to search for it myself. Since I did not know if the poem used was Japanized (MIxe of Hiragana and Kanji) also I did not have any of the Hanzi of this poem. I was hoping maybe Darren had it so he could have found it on his own. Anyhow if we could at least get the original version it would be a easy task to find it on the web or I would just get lazy and ask the wife

Sebastien, nice poems!  (I only just noticed the English translations there also.)  Thanks for the link. 

I've put a scan of the Watazumi liner note for Shingetsu below.


(larger image here)

I've done some searches at the poetry site (in the English translations) for "engulfing", "enlightened", and "solitary".  No dice yet but I can also chalk that up to the nature of translation.  Some really nice poetry there.  And more to search...

-Darren.

Last edited by dstone (2007-04-27 01:10:29)

So that flute Watazumi is playing is a 3.25 which means he's probably about 5 feet tall. Very cool photo thanks for posting it.

This is what I have been able to gather (however mostly intuitively) regarding Shingetsu. I have not seen/heard any players of any other tradition besides people influenced by Watazumido playing this piece. Also, Watazumido plays 3 very distinct versions of Shingetsu. There is Shingetsu Cho which is the same as Yokoyama's version. This can also be heard on Watazumido's Hotchiku CD. Then there is Shingetsu which is on the album which the above posted liner notes is from. It is a very basic presentation because it is played on such a long hotchiku. Pretty much the same structure except for a couple different lines added. Then there is So Shingetsu which is a very ornate, improvised version of Yamato Choshi. (You can hear a version of this piece called Yamato Shirabe online here: http://www.sepia.dti.ne.jp/shakuhachi/m … nryuu.html). Although retaining the same structure and form as Yamato Choshi. You might ask, Yamato Choshi!!??! I thought we we talking about Shingetsu.
Well this is where my intuition comes in to play. Watazumido is very famous for changinging/improvising Honkyoku.

I have heard 4 versions of Watazumido's So Shingetsu alone and each was different than the last. Although you can tell they all are based on Yamato Choshi. A very interesting version of Yamato Choshi indeed! The only CD I have found that has this unique version in its basic form of Yamato Choshi is the one by Kodo Nagaoka (http://www.komuso.com/people/Nagaoka_Kodo.html). This CD also contains all the scores for the pieces on the CD. Very cool in itself!

Anyway, Yamato Choshi was composed(by accident!) by Tani Kyochiku, a student of Master Miyagawa Kyozan.
Here is the details from komuso.com regarding that event:

Kyochiku learned this piece as "Darani" from the Nara shakuhachi performer Murata Sen'o, but when ten years later he performed it for Murata, the latter exclaimed "That is a nice piece, what is it?" This comment, indicating that after ten years the piece had been completely altered, greatly disheartened Kyochiku. He then named what he played "Yamato-joshi" (literally, "melody from Yamato"). Yamato, another name for Nara, was the area in which he had once learned the original composition.

The above information shows that Honkyoku can dramatically alter after years of playing and penetration to the essence of the pieces. Watazumido constantly altered Honkyoku whether purposefully or not. But in my opinion only a VERY skilled player has the ability to understand where and how a piece can be altered and still retain its identity. I feel that is where the greatness of Watazumido lies. He trained for many years with many teachers. Yet each piece feels fresh and new as if he composed it on the spot! Which he did.

I hope this info was useful.
-Prem

P.S. Shingetsu and Yamato Choshi in all its versions is one of my all time favorite Honkyoku!

-Prem wrote:

I hope this info was useful.

Prem, thanks!  You've added richness to my meager understanding of a really great piece.

Atsuya Okuda also plays Shingetsu in his own way.  The pace is, of course, glacial and it's just beautiful.  At the start, maybe it has some essense of the Dokyoku version as I play and understand it, but it's very different with its own signature phrases that get repeated.  What I consider a signature phrase in the Dokyoku version (the line at the midway point and again at the very end, with slight variations) doesn't seem to be present in Okuda's version.  No matter, of course... a minute into it (it's 10+ mins long), I'm lost and not analyzing and it's just great.

A Zensabo student might tell us more about it.

-Darren.

-Prem wrote:

I am glad the info was useful. I have actually had the good fortune of having studied with Hiroyuki Kodama, Kiku Day and Okuda himself.

Good fortune, maybe, but I might say those teachers appeared because the student was ready!

-Darren.