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Aki Kaze no Kyoku

秋風の曲

[Genre]Sokyoku
[Style]Kumiuta
[School]Ikuta Ryû - 生田
[Composed]Mitsuzaki Kengyō - Shakuhachi
Mitsuzaki Kengyō - Koto

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

Originally a solo koto piece, consisting of an instrumental prelude (jo) of six sections (dan) followed by six songs in the kumiuta form; this piece is a combination of dan-mono and kumiuta.

The text is a free translation of a Ch'ang he ko ('The Song of Everlasting Sorrow') by Po Chu-I (772-846), a Chinese poet, which deals with the tragedy of the Emperor Hsuan Tsung and Yang Kuei-fei, his favorite beauty during the T'ang dynasty of China (8th century). The title means 'Autumn Wind' which blows in the town of Ma-wei, where the heroine was killed.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

Great beauty
Is elusive,
However much
You seek it.
And the daughter
Of Yang
Is beautiful
Beyond compare.

Hair silken as the clouds
Face as fair
As the restful aronia.
The Emperor
Never once left her presence
And spent his days
In contemplation of her.

But today
Her green flowery palanquin
Flees in haste
From the nine-fold inner room.
Under an uncertain sky
Chased
By the fall winds.

The heavenly strains
Of court music...
How sad now,
This night of Ma-wei,
Where only the pounding of hoofs,
Only the sound of the wind,
Remain.

In the West Palace
And South Garden
Autumn grasses
Are covered with dew.
On the palace stairs,
Dead leaves
Pile up -
Who will sweep them away?

Frost-flowers bloom
On the tiles of the roof
That once sheltered
The Emperor's life-love.
Alone
In robes of jade,
How could he sleep here
In peace?
(jo)

Motomuredo
egataki wa
iro ni nan
arikeru
saritote wa
yooka no me koso
taenaru
mono zo kashi

Kumo no binzura
hana no kao
geni kaidoo no
nemuri to ya
ookimi no
hanare mo yarade
nagame akashinu

Midori no hana no
yukitsu modiritsu
ikani sen
kyoo kokonoe ni
hikikaete
tabine no sora no
akikaze

Geishoo-ui no
sengaku mo
bakai no yuube ni
hizume no
chiri wo fuku
kaze no oto nomi
nokoru kanashisa

Nishi no miya
minami no sono wa
akikasa no
tsuyu shigeku
otsuru konoha no
kizahashi ni
tsumoredo tare ka
harawan

Ennoo no
kawara wa
shimo no hana
nioorashi
hisui no fusuma
hitori kite
nadoka yume wo
musuban

Aki Kaze no Kyoku appears on the following albums

Album Artist
Play ButtonFukuda Chieko Koto : Fukuda Chieko

Hōgaku Taikei Vol. 4 - Sōkyoku - Shakuhachi 2 (LP 1) Koto : Tomiyama Mieko
Voice : Tomiyama Seikin I
Koto : Tomiyama Seikin I
Play ButtonKangen Hissho Shakuhachi : Furuya Teruo

Kikuhara Hatsuko Zenshu vol. 18 Voice : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Koto : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Play ButtonKoto - Keiko Nosaka Koto : Nosaka Keiko

Midare - Kazue Sawai Plays Koto Classics Koto : Sawai Kazue

Miyagi Michio - Best One

Music For Two Shakuhachi Shakuhachi : Juerg Fuyuzui Zurmuehle
Shakuhachi : Andreas Fuyu Gutzwiller
Play ButtonRokudan Koto : Miyagi Michio
Play ButtonRokudan Koto no Meikyoku Koto : Miyagi Kiyoko

Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū (zoku) vol. 4 (続三曲合奏大全集4) Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II
Voice : Yagi Keiji
Shamisen : Yagi Keiji

Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 37 Voice : Tomiyama Seikin I
Koto : Tomiyama Seikin I

Yonin no Kai Ensemble - Japan Jiuta Voice : Gotō Sumiko
Koto : Gotō Sumiko