Coming interesting collection of World Music devoted to traditional music from various countries around the world, this beautiful disc offers us extensive repertoire of traditional Japanese Koto interpreted by the talented Etsuko Chida .
For those who do not know the Koto is a kind of zither with thirteen strings usually connected to easels, and teased by plectrums (picks so large) worn on the thumb, index and middle fingers of the right hand of the performer. The instrument, we must practice, kneeling, is sometimes compared in the Japanese literature to a dragon lying on the beach talking with the waves. The sound that comes out is very special. Gasoline poetic or mystical it encourages contemplation, meditation and contemplation. Towards the 17th century were created songs for mixing with long pieces hitherto exclusively instrumental, which were added further discrete sounds of a small three-stringed lute from a kind of evanescent melodies highlight Koto Shamisen. No Shamisen in the CD that we need here, but just the basics: the presence of discrete Koto interacting with the human voice. All is counting, all is harmony.
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| (Photo Jacques Nadeau) |
Etsuko Chida is from Hokkaido, one of the islands constituting the Japanese archipelago. She studied the art of Koto since the age of five years from the greatest masters of the instrument. After starting his career in Japan she has turned in recent years to Europe, especially France, where she found the opportunity to settle. To my knowledge, this disc is currently the only one of his young career. But the CD devoted to traditional Japanese music, however, are very numerous, especially those offering combining parts Koto and Shamisen instrument to another must-Japanese: the Shakuhachi, a long bamboo flute right once the exclusive preserve of the samurai before democratize and become the instrument of the people. According to the ancients, it would be able to imitate all the sounds of nature. In nature there is much talk in the pieces played by Etsuko and in general all the arts of civilization built this in harmony and with reference to elements natural world and the seasons.
The disc is divided into five parts:
Usu no koe-The voice of the wooden mortar , lasting 13mn02.
kyoku Chidori-No Song plovers, lasting 11mn55.
Yashiyo jishi-Lion longevity, lasting 6mn54.
Shujo No tsuru-Cranes on pine , lasting 10mn54.
Yugao-La beautiful evening, lasting 11mn18.
Extracts verses of one of my favorite songs ( Usu no koe-The voice of the wooden mortar ):
"What are lovely, the glow of the moon by night veiled Spring, when the mist hugs as a thin fabric! The scent of plum that seems to spill into the night fades over time, is already the Spring into summer, and it's time to dress in lightweight clothing.
On this day, at this moment, on the branches of sandalwood bloom of pale purple flowers.
Autumn arrives with a fresh wind.
A light mist rises and sails, one sees only the stems Suzuki tilted by the wind. [...] Mean, coming from who knows where the sounds of Koto wild geese which give their songs all across the night sky. [...] While it is hoped the arrival of a storm that will accentuate the purple foliage, suddenly winter is here. [...]
[...] More about snow, it reminds us of something: to receive a letter from a cold heart and leaves only a superficial Print insipid, instead, a letter from a very firm line, and reveals authentic feelings, created with the one who sent a link that does not dwindle. [...] "
(Send Sanzaemon Morikawa translated from Japanese by Kazuko Ueno and Dominique Palme ).
Two recent clarification by way of warning: this disc Etsuko Chida is not necessarily the most accessible for those who want to learn the ancient Japanese music. But this is one of the deepest of my knowledge. As for the traditional Japanese song, slow and sometimes arduous, it might surprise the listener Western unaccustomed to this style very particular, and possibly involve a slight adjustment period. This is the price to pay for access to this world so precious.
Two recent clarification by way of warning: this disc Etsuko Chida is not necessarily the most accessible for those who want to learn the ancient Japanese music. But this is one of the deepest of my knowledge. As for the traditional Japanese song, slow and sometimes arduous, it might surprise the listener Western unaccustomed to this style very particular, and possibly involve a slight adjustment period. This is the price to pay for access to this world so precious.
Etsuko Chida at City Theatre in 2007 (interview excerpts and music )
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