Five Pieces for Shakuhachi Chikurai - Makato Moroi

Sakai Chikuho II
Sony - SOCL 104-XJ
1970 cir.

Track	Titel	Kanji	Länge	Künstler
1	Chikurai Gosho 1 - Funda	竹籟五章　第一章　芬陀	02'40	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I
	FIVE PIECES FOR SHAKUHACHI, "Chikurai" by Makoto Moroi By chance, I met and made acquaintance with Mr. Chikuho Sakai, I., (now, Old Chikuoh), and listened to him play many of the major traditional music of Shakuhachi at his own home. It was in spring, 1964. I was deeply impressed by modernity of sounds and tone construction of the traditional Shakuhachi music, and decided the same night to write some compositions for Shakuhachi. Then, I had a job of going to Osaka once every month, and, taking this monthly opportunity, I began to write down one piece a night with both Mr. Sakai and his son, confining ourselves in a room. The very first night we worked in one of the inner rooms of Funda-in Sesshu-Ji Temple in Kyoto. My creative spirit was greatly stimulated by fantastic harmony of Shakuhachi sound and gray quietude of the temple garden fully lit by the moon. From then on, sometimes I stayed at Master Sakai's home, at a local inn on the shore of Japan Sea, and elsewhere, and I kept writing. The earlier problem for myself, the difference of notation, was soon solved by well-harmonized cooperation of I and II Sakais, who introduced to me a special notation system of Chikuho School, called "Ho-Fu-E". I worked freely as my creative ideas flew out, and am confident that they were expressed and settled in my works for this mystic instrument. As I was never conscious of writing a Japanese music in its traditional sense, I have done many a tone making which required master-minded performance, unprecedented in the traditional method. The title, "Chikurai", means the sounds of bamboo blown by wind, hence, an alias for Shakuhachi itself. Therefore, the title of this composition can be simply regarded as "Five Movements for Wind". The 1st Movement was written at Funda-in Sesshu-Ji Temple in May, 1964, the 2nd Movement in June, the 3rd Movement in July, both at Mr. Sakai's home, and both 4th and 5th Movements were written at the seaside inn in Tsuruga. The First Movement, "Fun Da": This movement was written in May, at the Funda-in Sesshu-Ji Temple in Kyoto, with I and II Sakais. "Fun" means a good scent. The word has nothing to do with the Buddhist term "Fundari". As this movement was written first, I am confident that it is influenced most strongly by the original classic number both for spiritually and for the form. A prelude.
2	Chikurai Gosho 2 - Sochiku	竹籟五章　第二章　夾竹	01'06	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I
	The Second Movement, "Soh Chiku": Meaning of this sub-title is "refreshing sounds of bamboo". An intermezzo of two-part form, with much of remarkable tremolo sounds.
3	Chikurai Gosho 3 - Kyorai	竹籟五章　第三章　虚籟	04'37	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I
	The Third Movement, "Kyo Rai": This movement was inspired by such traditional masterpieces as "Kyo Rei" and "Ko Kuh", and the name was conceived after these classics. Connotation of the Chinese letters of the title shall not be taken as an "empty sound", but "open-minded sound". It is a slow but severe music of traditional fashion.
4	Chikurai Gosho 4 - Hachiku	竹籟五章　第四章　破竹	38'38	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I
	The Fourth Movement, "Ha Chiku": This movement is written by a staccato method unobserved in the traditional Shakuhachi playing. As connotation of the sub-title is "breaking the bamboo", this movement was written to break the tradition of Shakuhachi. It is short, but, supported by sharp staccato sounds, makes a strong contrast against the foregoing and following movements.
5	Chikurai Gosho 5 - Meian	竹籟五章　第五章　明暗	04'44	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I
	The Fifth Movement, "Mei An": Borrowed from the name of the temple in Kyoto, Myoh-An Ji Temple, which was the cradle for Shakuhachi music, this movement is a change of contrasting bright (Mei) and dark (An) sounds of the instrument. Similar to the recurring method, all the major motives of foregoing movements recur in this finale. The largest, Rondo-like final movement.
6	Five Dialogs - 1 A Masochistic Dialogue with the Cursed Counterpart	対話五題　Ⅰ 呪われた分身との自虐的対話	46'46	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I Shakuhachi: Sakai Shōdō
	FIVE DIALOGUES FOR TWO SHAKUHACHIS by Makoto Moroi While I was composing "CHIKURAI", basic ideas of a work for two Shakuhachis were being laid out, by use of 21 and half inch and 28 and half inch Shakuhachis. The actual work began in Tokyo, in spring, 1965. And, technically speaking, this work is more of nature of my electronic compositions. Different from "CHIKURAI", what I was concerned most for this composition were, how to amalgamate the traditional techniques with progressive musical syntax of contemporary music, add new meanings of expression, and to pursue newer tone quality through performing techniques unseen in the traditional method. As a result, the notation, although following the traditional five-line western notation, has become quite of its own. With this sort of score, more freedom is given to the performer for length of tone, dynamic, vibrato and wavering of tone particular to Shakuhachi, change of tone quality, the unique usage of noises at attack (unique of Shakuhachi), posings, etc., all those techniques and ways of expression, and, thus, more expressive impact will be achieved. As observed from the very first performance of this work, spirit and power of performers, as if in the duel of two competent swordsmen, are brought about, completely apart from the musical score itself and far beyond it. This work is a kind of suite, compiled of five small pieces, and titled "Five Dialogues". However, in some instances, the performance will be more like "oppositions", or "battles". They are oppositions and battles of inners of the composer himself, and the performers. It might be also said that this work is a record of tragic, devilish, and fatal collapse of inners of human being, as in the story of "Dr. Jeykyl and Mr. Hyde". Through my sincere love of Shakuhachi, a primitive and, hence, free instrument, possible of truly dynamic and passionate expressions, I feel I have achieved a truly penetrating venture into the inners of a creative worker as I am, which has been, at least for myself, impossible with any other musical instruments. Although each piece bears a sub-title as in the case of Debussy's preludes, each one of them is more closely interrelated in terms of structure, not being separately independent. Especially in the Second Movement, while smaller Shakuhachi plays weird "Voice of Ancestors", a quotation from the "Hon Kyoku" ("Ko Kuh"), the larger Shakuhachi opposes to it by a grotesque improvisation of breath noises by "Threshing Breath", etc.
7	Five Dialogs - 2 A weird Dialog with the Voice of Ancestors	対話五題　II 祖先の声との忌まわしき対話	02'25	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I Shakuhachi: Sakai Shōdō
8	Five Dialogs - 3 A Sentimental Dialogue with the Declining	対話五題　III 滅びゆくものとの感傷的対話	02'03	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I Shakuhachi: Sakai Shōdō
9	Five Dialogs - 4 A Satirical Dialogue with a Beautiful Sinner	対話五題　Ⅳ 美しき背徳者との講誌的対話	40'40	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I Shakuhachi: Sakai Shōdō
10	Five Dialogs - 5 On the Unknown or Death	対話五題　V 未知なるもの、あるいは死について	03'04	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I Shakuhachi: Sakai Shōdō
11	Shin Mukaiji	真霧海箎	07'02	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I
	Shin MUKAIJI by Chikuho Sakai A legend says that there used to live a high monk called Reverend Fuke, in "Toh", China in 8th Century. He travelled throughout Toh territories preaching with a hand-bell. Then, a young monk, Cho-Haku, begged to be his apprentice and was rejected. Cho-Haku, still adoring the great monk, used a bamboo flute to imitate the master's hand-bell sounds. This was the beginning of Shakuhachi, and the number he then played was called "Kyo Rei" (Open Bells). One of his descendants, sixteen generations later, Cho-San, taught the music to Kaku-Shin, Zen monk from Japan who studied in China then, who brought it back to this country. When Kaku-Shin was on the sea on his way back to motherland, the ship lost in heavy fog. Then, the image of Rev. Fuke appeared in the fog, ringing his hand-bell. Monk Kaku-Shin, awed and inspired, played a tune in response to the Revd's bell. The tune was later called "Mu-Kai-Ji". Another legend tells that one of the highest students of Kaku-Shin, Ki-Chiku (later opened Myoh-An Ji Temple in Kyoto and became Reverend Kyo-Chiku), travelled in many territories of this country playing a bamboo flute, and one night stayed up on Mt. Asaguma. He heard, in his dream, fantastic tunes; one in the foggy hours of the night, and another after the fog cleared. He named the first one "Mu-Kai-Ji" and another "Ko-Kuh" (Open Sky). These three numbers, "Kyo Rei", "Mukaiji", and "Ko-Kuh" are called "San Kyo Rei" (Three Open Spirits) and given much respect as original classics. "Shin Mukaiji" recorded here is the traditional original, a large music composed of four chapters, as taught and descended by the 35th Master of Mei-An (Shinpo School), Shinryu Ozaki, to the 36th Master, Shozan Katsuura, to the 1st Master of Chikuho School, Chikuho Sakai (now, Old Chikuoh), down to the 2nd master, Chikuho Sakai, II. "Shin" means the oldest type of letter-writing of Chinese, hence, the oldest. It took a good year for the 1st Master, Chikuho, to learn the number thoroughly. This is the first recording of the music in its entity.
12	Shin Mukaiji	真霧海箎	05'56	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I
13	Shin Mukaiji	真霧海箎	07'02	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I
14	Shin Mukaiji	真霧海箎	05'37	Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho II Shakuhachi: Sakai Chikuho I