Classic Ensemble Music Vol 2

Kitahara Kōzan II
Toshiba - TH-60004

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Artist
1	Yaegoromo	八重衣	24'42	Shakuhachi: Kitahara Kōzan II Koto: Gotō Sumiko Shamisen: Yazaki Akiko Voice: Yazaki Akiko
	This piece is well-known as one of the most difficult and the longest pieces of the genre. The poem consists of five waka verses dealing with garments (=koromo, -goromo) selected from Hyakunin Isshu (A Hundred Poems by a Hundred Poets), a very famous and popular anthology compiled in the 12th century. Hence the title of the piece, which means many-layered (=yae) garment. The form of the piece is rather complicated: fore-song, interlude (1), middle-song, interlude (2) and after-song. The two interludes, both being longer than any of the three song sections, are the most important sections to listen to, where instrumental skill flourishes. The original piece for voice and shamisen was composed in early 19th century by Ishikawa Koto, a first rank master of shamisen composition famous for works with extremely intricate instrumental passages. The koto part was added later in the middle of that century by Yaezaki Kengyo, a koto virtuoso who accomplished this style of ensemble music by composing the additional koto parts to almost all of the famous shamisen pieces of the day.
2	Aki no Kyoku	秋の曲	17'21	Shakuhachi: Kitahara Kōzan II Koto: Kikuchi Teiko Koto: Gotō Sumiko Voice: Yazaki Akiko
	The poem consists of six waka verses of autumn selected from Kokin-waka-shu, the oldest one of the anthologies of waka poems collected by Imperial command, compiled in early 10th century. The word aki in the title means autumn. The piece is made up of three sections: fore-song, long instrumental interlude and after-song. The fore-song contains four verses and the after-song two. The interlude is much longer than the song sections and is really the main body of this piece. The two koto play different parts except in the fore-song section and the introductory passage of the interlude. This piece was originally composed in the middle of the 19th century as a piece without instrumental interlude for voice and only one koto by Yoshizawa Kengyo, who tried to restore koto music independent from shamisen music, aiming at the simple taste of the very old koto pieces. This is the reason why the melodies of both song and instruments of this piece sound a little different from shamisen pieces such as Yaegoromo. Later toward the end of the 19th century, another koto master Matsusaka Shunei composed the interlude and arranged the present piece.
3	Yachio Jishi	八千代獅子	08'47	Shakuhachi: Kitahara Kōzan II Koto: Gotō Sumiko Shamisen: Yazaki Akiko Voice: Yazaki Akiko
	Performance with voice, shamisen, koto and shakuhachi. This is a rather short but very popular piece, regarded as a felicitating music because of the meaning of the poem and the rather animated instrumental parts. It consists of three sections: fore-song, instrumental interlude and after-song. The original composition for voice and shamisen was done by Fujinaga Kengyo in the middle of the 18th century. It is thought that the music of the interlude came from an old shakuhachi music which itself had been derived from an accompaniment music to a kind of lion dance.