Wakana
若葉
| [Genre] | Jiuta |
| [Style] | Tegotomono |
| [School] | Ikuta Ryû - 生田 |
| [Composed] | Kitajima Kengyō - Koto |
History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):
| All six song texts of Wakana ('Young Grasses') are derived from the 'Lavender' (Wakamurasaki) chapter in 'The Tale of Genji,' which describes the beginnings of Prince Genji's relationship with Murasaki. She was eventually to become his beloved wife, but when he first met her, she was still a young girl in the care of a guardian. Each song contains a quotation from one of the six waka poems exchanged between Genji and the bishop and nun with whom Murasaki lives. Lyrics: (translated by John Teford) (Maeuta: The New Year has begun and though but only a few days have passed, already this morning the Spring wind blows softly through the sasa grass and bamboo. Knowing that his season has arrived, the nightingale plumes himself and with great joy takes wing and sings. A young maiden keeps him company and with a prayer for eternal blessings sets forth to gather wakana. Atouta: Seeing her gentle touch as she picks the wakana, the many birds. chirping among the plum blossoms grow more animated. The color of the petals and the voices of the birds blend joyfully together. |
Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)
| Since first he saw Those fresh young grasses The dew on his sleeves Has never dried. How lonely Are the nights Of the traveler. As I lie alone Lost in a reverie My dreams give way To a midnight wind That wanders from the hills. The roar Of the waterfall Brings forth my tears. Then, farewell. On my return to the capital I shall tell my friends: 'Hurry to see These rare blossoms On the mountain cherry Before the winds Arrive to scatter them.' When I opened The pine door Of my mountain hermitage, So long shut, And saw a blossom Never seen before, My sleeves were damp With tears of gratitude. Since I saw the color Of a lovely bloom Dimly last evening, My distracted heart Would stay behind On this mountain Like the lingering morning mist. How sad is parting! Our friendship Is still as shallow As the Spring of Shallow Mountain From which one heedlessly drinks, Only to regret it later; Yet for all that I hope it will Be everlasting. | Yukari yoshiaru hatsukusa no wakaba no ue wo mitsuru yori itodo kawakanu sode no tsuyu nao ukimasaru tabine kana Utsutsuna ya hitorine yowa no makura ni fukimayoo miyama-oroshi ni yume samete namida moyoosu taki no oto Iza saraba miyabito ni ykite kataran sakurabana konoma no keshiki kotonaru wo kaze yori saki ni mise baya Kakurega fukaki okuyama no matsu no toboso wo mare ni akete mada minu hana no kaobase wo miru yori nururu koromode Tasokare suguru orikara honokani mieshi hana no iro ni mayoo kokoro wa asagasumi tachiwazuroo zo monouki Itsushika ni kumisomete kuyashi to kikishi yamanoi no asakinagara mo saritoto wa taenu chigiri wo tanoman |
Wakana appears on the following albums
| Album | Artist | |
| Koten Sōkyoku no Shinzui Volume 2 |
Koto : Hagiwara Seigin Shamisen : Tomiyama Seikin I | |
| Abe Keiko Record Set - 04 |
Voice : Abe Keiko Shamisen : Abe Keiko Koto : Fujii Kunie Shakuhachi : Torii Komudō | |
| Classical Ensemble Music Vol 3 |
Shakuhachi : Kitahara Kōzan II Koto : Tomiyama Mieko Voice : Tomiyama Seikin I Shamisen : Tomiyama Seikin I | |
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Performance with voice, shamisen, koto and shakuhachi. The original piece for only voice and shamisen was composed in the beginning of the 19th century by Matsuura Kengyo, a most excellent shamisen musician of the day. The koto part was added soon after the original composition 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 in those days. (Kengyo is the top of the social rank of the blind in the Edo period.) The title of the piece means young herbs and the poem describes the scene of an ancient New Year's festivity in which young women are gathering young herbs in the field The form of the piece is in three parts: fore-song, interlude and after-song. The so-called interlude, being more important than the term implies, is really the main section of the piece where instrumental skill flourishes. Beside that, the extremely emblematic technique (prolongation of the vowel of each syllable) of the vocal part is a striking feature of this piece.
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| Fascination of the Shakuhachi - 4 |
Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko Shakuhachi : Yamamoto Hōzan Voice : Satō Chikaki Shamisen : Satō Chikaki | |
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Composed by MATSUURA kengyo in ni-agari tuning. This piece would normally sound like ha-uta (a short song accompanied by shamisen) but here it is given a gorgeous te-goto (a two-verse song with an interlude between the verses) for koto. This te-goto for koto was made by YAEZAKI kengyo and the lyrics are said to be written by a cerrain MAEDA of Osaka. There was an old custom that on the year's first Day of the Rat, people went out to surrounding fields and brought back plants found there. The plants were regarded as a symbol of the power of nature, and the people hoped to teceive some of this power through it. Young pine tree and young edible grass (wakana) are typical examples of the kinds of things they were after. The main song is supposed to be sung by young maidens picking up wakana, and in this carefree atmosphere that is peculiar to MATSUURA kengyo, spring breezes, the voices of a Japanese nightingale and other birds perched on a plum branch are all described.
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| Ikuta Ryu Sokyoku Senshu Volume 03 （上） |
Shamisen : Yazaki Akiko Voice : Miyagi Kazue Koto : Miyagi Kazue | |
| Inoue Michiko no Shigei - Volume 4 |
Shamisen : Inoue Michiko Koto : Yagi Keiji Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō Shamisen : Abe Keiko | |
| Kikuhara Hatsuko Zenshu vol. 10 |
Voice : Kikuhara Hatsuko Koto : Kikuhara Hatsuko | |
| Kikuhara Hatsuko Zenshu vol. 8 |
Voice : Kikuhara Hatsuko Koto : Kikuhara Hatsuko | |
| Kyomono Series Vol 1 Matsuura Kengyo - NY Sankyoku Kai |
Shakuhachi : Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin Koto : Kanogawa Keiko Voice : Henry Horaku Burnett Shamisen : Henry Horaku Burnett | |
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The text of Wakana depicts a young maiden going out into the spring field to gather young plants or herbs for the Imperial Kitchen that, on a certain day in early spring, the herbs were to be picked and made into a hot soup, which was then drunk with great ceremony to prevent illness in the coming year. Matsuura's musical setting conveys an overall feeling of the gentleness and serenity of springtime. It is this aspect of the piece, so beautifully portrayed in the music, that has made Wakana one of the most cherished compositions in the repertoire today. Maeuta: The New Year has begun. Though but a few days have passed, Already, this morning, the spring wind Blows softly through the bamboo grass. Knowing that his season has arrived, The nightingale plumes himself: With great joy he takes wing, and sings. A young maiden would accompany him With a prayer for eternal blessings on her lips, She sets forth to gather wakana, The first herbs of spring. Ato uta: Seeing her gentle touch, As she picks the young herbs, Myriads of birds, chirping away among the plum blossoms, Grow yet more animated. How the color of the petals, And the voices of the birds, Blend auspiciously together! | ||
| Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū (zoku) vol. 3 (続三曲合奏大全集3) |
Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II Voice : Ōta Hisako Koto : Ōta Hisako Voice : Andō Emi Shamisen : Andō Emi | |
| Seiha Hogakkai Play Favorites 02 - Matsuura Kengyo |
Voice : Sugino Masataka Koto : Nakashima Yasuko Shamisen : Nakanishi Masasō | |
| Sō no Shiori (Ikuta Ryū) vol 7 |
Koto : Nakashima Yasuko Voice : Satō Chikaki Shamisen : Satō Chikaki | |
| Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 28 |
Voice : Abe Keiko Shamisen : Abe Keiko Voice : Fujii Kunie Koto : Fujii Kunie Shakuhachi : Torii Komudō | |
| Tozan Ryu - Shakuhachi Honkyoku |
Shakuhachi : Tajima Shōzan | |
 | Tozan Ryu Honkyoku Instruction Recording - Vol 1 - Disk 1 |
Shakuhachi : Hoshida Ichizan II Shakuhachi : Yamamoto Hōzan |
| Traditional Music of Japan, The - 02 |
Shamisen : Abe Keiko Koto : Fujii Kunie Shakuhachi : Torii Komudō | |
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This is an example of the Tegoto-mono (a style of song having a big instrumental section). Koto music was formerly often composed as ensemble music for Koto and Shamisen (Sangen) with song. Some pieces were written first for the Shamisen and later the Koto part was added by another composer. Wakana was composed by Matsuura Kengyo (---1822) of Kyoto for the Shamisen and later for the Koto by Yaezaki Kengyo (---1848) of Kyoto. The Shakuhachi began to join the ensemble of these two stringed instruments toward the end of the Edo Period (the earlier half of the 19th century). The Shakuhachi part (the name of composer is unknown) follows almost the same melodic line of the Shamisen, while the Koto and Shamisen parts figure in a kind of polyphony. The piece is composed in three sections, the first song (Mae-uta), the second, an instrumental section (Tegoto), and finally, the ending song (Ato-uta). The melody of the first and last songs, while being written with different texts, is the same. The first is sung, however, in a much slower tempo, especially at the very beginning. This extremely slow tempo is characteristic of Koto music in the Ikuta school. The instrumental section consists of two parts, Tegoto and Chirashi. The first part, Tegoto, begins in a slow tempo and gradually becomes faster. This is a general tendency of Japanese traditional music, Gagaku, Noh, Koto, Shamisen, etc. In the second part, Chirashi, literally meaning to scatter, the music becomes more and more complex and brilliant. The Koto is tuned in Hirajoshi and the Shamisen in Niagari. Throughout the entire piece the tuning remains the same. But, in other pieces, often in longer pieces including more than two instrumental sections, the tuning of both the Koto and Shamisen is changed. In other words a modulation occurs. The text describes the mild, early spring when nightingales and other birds begin to sing upon the branches of bamboo and plum trees. It mentions the did custom of young girls picking greens (Wakana) in the early spring for food. The final song is omitted on this record. The Shamisen is referred to as Sangen as was the case in Koto music and Jiuta. | ||
| Wakana collection - performance study |
Voice : Yazaki Akiko Shamisen : Yazaki Akiko Voice : Kikuchi Teiko Koto : Kikuchi Teiko | |
| Wakana collection - performance study |
Voice : Yagi Keiji Shamisen : Yagi Keiji Voice : Sawai Tadao Koto : Sawai Tadao | |
| Wakana collection - performance study |
Voice : Yoshimura Nanae Koto : Yoshimura Nanae Voice : Ōtake Kazuhisa Shamisen : Ōtake Kazuhisa | |
| Wakana collection - performance study |
Voice : Fukunaga Chieko Koto : Fukunaga Chieko Voice : Ishii Izumi Shamisen : Ishii Izumi | |