Aki no Irokusa

秋の色種

[ジャンル]	Nagauta
[別名]	The Colors of Autumn
[対象楽器]	三弦 - 1845

発祥 (William P Malm):

Composer: Kineya Rokuzaemon X
Text: Lord Nambu

In many ways, the musical world of nineteenth-century Edo was like that of eighteenth-century Vienna. Music for the theater (Kabuki and opera) was all the rage, and middle- and upper-class women took lessons in it. Rich patrons hired musicians and commissioned music for their own enjoyment. (Esterhazy for Haydn, Lord Nambu for Kineya.) In this context, the Lord of Nambu is said to have brought the texts of Aki no Irokusa to Kineya Rokuzaemon X, who was the Nagauta teacher of the women in the Nambu mansion of Edo. The author of the text is sometimes listed as Satake Toshinari, Lord Nambu. Historically, such a person did not exist. Satake may have been Nambu's nom de plume, a common feature of aristocratic poets. As in other Nambu compositions, Shiki no Yamamba and Azuma Hakkei, the text may have been written by Kineya's female students in the mansion. Whatever the origin of the text, the composition has remained a favorite in the nagauta repertory.

詩 :

Among the grasses of autumn and the ferns of the Azuma Plains,
I recall the past, returning to the village in summer after a long absence.
The Azabu mountains and valleys under the moonlight look like the snow that,
day and night, blankets the valley.
In spring, the nightingale is known by its call.
Fresh bush clover colors our borrowed garments.
Now the cry of passing geese sounds over the raised sails of ships.
From the garden veranda's lowered blinds are seen
morning glories, violets, arrowroot, and pampas grass.
We pass the night together.
Even the midnight wind shall not disturb the dew on the reeds.
Constant are my pledges to a "maidenflower".
Here, at daybreak, I've made a pillow of my arm.
The sound of pine crickets.

("The Sound of Insects")

How fine! A sweet cacophony! Supple and mellifluous is their strange music.

In a dream, the Divine Woman of Mount Wu appeared.
"In the morning I will be clouds, in the evening rain, and will come to you."
The scent of incense fills the sleeves of our robes,
kindling the fragrant substance.
We exchange whispered intimacies.
Silence.
Then a verse or two known from ages past as a steadfast companion of love.
Day and night pass in this fashion.
With the wind that blows through the summit pines
and the sound of waves breaking,
I play my koto, setting first the pitch.

(koto interlude)

In this world, the flowers of spring, the moon and winds of autumn,
and summer's song, the thrush, are the everlasting joys of a thousand ages,
joys that remain after the winter snows have disappeared.
A thousand years, eight thousand years.
Firm upon the rocks, the pine tree's color symbolizes longevity.

It blooms once in a hundred years.
This I sing.

秋の色種は下記のアルバムに収録されています

	アルバム	アーティスト
	Melody of Japan - Pathos of Autumn	箏 : 結アンサンブル三弦 : 杉浦弘和