"Shakuhachi. koto, shamisen, oud and voice."

Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
Teichiku Records Co., Ltd. Japan - TECY-28001

Pista	Título	Kanji	Longitud	Artista
1	Yearnings	憧憬	11'55	Shakuhachi: Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
	We always yearn for what we can't quite reach; that object of desire which, like the glinting pools of phantom water remaining forever distant on the highway's horizon or the special friend always dreamed about but not yet encountered, lies just beyond the veil of our perceptions; on the border between the material and non-material. Guided by such yearnings, we pursue our desires, as if lost in a misty haze, until we find a way which leads us on. "Yearnings" is a solo meditation in two parts. The first section is in free rhythm reminiscent of a shakuhachi honkyoku solo piece; wandering, uncertain. Out of this section develops the more structured second part, in which the interval of the perfect fifth becomes the main experience; the base for a simple yet elegant melodic motif. This motif, which appeared in my music one day and inspired the piece, leads into an abstract cycle of fifths and ends in a series of harmonics in which the tonic, fifth, and octave sound simultaneously.
2	Dorian Dance	ドーリア風の舞	09'53	Shakuhachi: Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
	The Japanese scale known as the "ritsu" scale is close in nature to the Dorian mode, both of which are easily played on the shakuhachi. This piece contains much rubato; peaks and valleys of sound-intensity and rhythms. I had in mind a fanciful folk dance, performed with brilliantly colored costumes, beginning slowly and working into a steady rhythm. The middle section contains an improvisation in the Dorian mode between the shakuhachi and twenty-string koto.
3	Gates of Heaven and Earth, The	乾坤関	08'12	Shakuhachi: Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
	There are improvisations which follow certain rules and progressions, and there are improvisations which, denying all form, are completely free. The latter are most difficult. There are no scores, guidelines or ripened forms of tradition to follow. "The Gates of Heaven and Earth" is such an improvisation. It is a dialogue between two players, two instruments, with the listener as the silent third partner.
4	Storytelling on a Winter's Night	寒夜昔話	05'12	Shakuhachi: Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
	This piece was written with the Northern coast of Japan in mind. It is wintertime, and the frigid wind blows outside. Family members and friends have gathered around the hearth, away from the cold, to hear a story, except there are no lyrics to this story. The soprano part consists of special onomatopoetic sounds which are sung by students when learning the traditional Japanese transverse flute; a kind of vocalized instrumental part (called shoga). Therefore, this piece is really a duet between two flutes, the bamboo shakuhachi flute and the flute of the human vocal chords.
5	Shadow of the Rose, The	薔薇の影で	10'20	Shakuhachi: Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
	The shakuhachi, a descendant of the Persian and Arabic nai vertical flute, is at home playing with the oud, the representative string instrument of the Arab world. Hamsa's rhythms and rich harmonies provide a fertile fabric in which the flute can weave in and out, soaring and spinning while remaining grounded by the oud's tones. This piece begins in free rhythm, after which the oud gradually enters a droning rhythmic pattern of 3-3-2 beat, which is reminiscent of the "water wheel" rhythm found in the folk melodies of Hamsa's home, near the Nile river in Nubia. Along with the shakuhachi, Hamsa sings the words of a well-known Arabic song, "Aya Zain." "Aya zain, aya zain, / Aya zain el abideen/ Ya ward modalil/ Quwa el basateen." ("Oh you beautiful worshipper, praying in the shadow of the rose, in the garden of flowers...")
6	Worthless Shakuhachi, Five Songs from the Kanginshu	篇ないものは、尺八ぢや J 閑吟集より五つの謡	18'53	Shakuhachi: Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
	The Kanginshu is a collection of popular songs compiled in 1518, although it is uncertain who actually collected and edited the songs. As popular songs, they were sung and heard frequently during their day and now provide us a window into the sentiments of the age; sentiments which remain as poignant as ever. The songs in this collection, although conforming to the literary standards of the day, are not stuffy and over-refined; they are free and sometimes very coquettish, if not outright suggestive, much like the songs found in Carmina Burana, for example. The shakuhachi figures prominently in several of these songs. I took five of my favorite ones and, with help from my co-performers, put them to music, both with the original Japanese and their English translations, which were provided by Frank Hoff. 1) "We all need love, just love.../ Dreams dreams, dreams./ Yesterday is long ago for today / Today is once-upon-a-time for tomorrow." 2) "I take the shakuhachi from beneath my sleeve,/ To blow it while waiting./ The wind through the pines/ Scatters flowers as though a dream./ How much longer will I have to play until my heart is quiet again?" 3) "I blow you while I wait/ I blow you later in my disappointment.../ Worthless shakuhachi!" 4) "Beloved boy/ My darling beloved/ You have not rested/ How sleepy you must be/ How sleepy you must be." 5) "My shakuhachi is blameless,/ Yet I toss it at the pillow./ It makes the sound katari as it hits the pillow's wooden rim./ Yet even this sound does not make it less lonely to sleep alone."
7	Tears of Heaven, The	天の涙	08'25	Shakuhachi: Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
	There are probably no two instruments more disparate than the piano and shakuhachi. The piano, a product of European rational scientific thought and the industrial revolution, is highly refined and mechanically perfected; the representative instrument of the Western civilization. The shakuhachi is... well, you read the foreword. Both players must respect and compliment the characteristics of each instrument. In relating to the piano, the shakuhachi should never try to imitate a western flute; the shakuhachi's intense, concentrated tonal power is sufficient to hold its own in this duet. Michael Reimann, a pianist/composer from West Germany, composed this piece on commission after having studied the shakuhachi in Japan in 1988. "The Tears of Heaven" was premiered at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland in October, 1989.