MASTERS OF THE
SHAKUHACHI
Hidekazu Katoh began learning
shakuhachi as a member of the Chikuto
Group at Chuo University. He became
a student of Katsuya Yokoyama, and
graduated at Gedai (Gejutsu Daigaku
- Tokyo Arts Academy) later completing
a postgraduate course there. Hidekazu is
a member of Pro Musica Nipponia and
of the Bamboo Orchestra. He regularly
accompanies the acclaimed enka artist
Ayako Fuji in her concerts.
Richard Stagg has been a professional
orchestral flute player for the last thirty-
five years, working in the Scottish National
Orchestra and then in the BBC Symphony
Orchestra in London, from which he
recently retired. In the early nineteen-
eighties he was a pupil of the late Iwamoto
Yoshikazu, and has been studying the
shakuhachi and performing on it for over
thirty years. With Aiko Hasegawa and
Kikuko Satoh he co-founded the Yamato
Ensemble in 1988.
He now teaches shakuhachi and also makes, repairs and tunes
instruments. He regularly performs on the shakuhachi in Japan.
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1. Tsuido (Pair in Motion) (Hozan Yamamoto, 1937-2014)
A popular example of the wide range of original compositions by the
virtuoso master of shakuhachi, Hozan Yamamoto. The chosen key of
G minor suits the scale and the compass of the instrument well, and
is a typical vehicle for pieces of a lively and cheerful style. It is in three
movements - fast, slow, fast. The middle movement uses the Phrygian
mode, with a key-signature of three flats. After each player has played
alone, the two join in a long duet of rhythmic unison which ends
questioningly on an unresolved discord, seeming to lead towards D
minor. However, in the finale, G minor re-asserts itself in a smoothly-
flowing partnership in rapid three-time.
First shakuhachi: Hidekazu Katoh, second shakuhachi: Richard Stagg
2. Shika No Tone (The Braying of the Deer)
(Anon., transcr. Kurosawa Kinko)
The most famous of the shakuhachi honkyoku (original pieces), this can
be played as a solo or as a duet. In the duet form the players play solo
by turns, so that the differences between their styles and their tone-
colours are highlighted. They also overlap at the beginnings and ends
of phrases. The piece comes to symbolise the calling of a deer to its
mate through the forest. Each player executes the precise ornaments
and figurations which have been assiduously handed on to him by his
master, although the details of these are seldom written down.
First shakuhachi: Richard Stagg, second shakuhachi: Hidekazu Katoh
3. Myoga (Sheltered by Buddha’s Mercy) (Hozan Yamamoto)
The standard-size shakuhachi (or 1.8) is matched here by the deeper
nishaku-issun (or 2.1) whose compass lies a minor third lower. Each
instrument has its solo at the start of the first movement, which has no
set rhythm, but whose harmonies are clearly co-ordinated once the two
instruments play together In the second movement, it is the rhythm
which is co-ordinated, while harmonies shift and dislocate one another
with an almost Bartokian dynamism.
The questioning mood in the first movement gives way to the dialogue
of conflict in the second. In the third movement, in spite of the striving
nature of the harmony, the slow, wide intervals express the solace that
comes with understanding how divine influence shapes our lives, even
when we don’t know it.
Shakuchachi: Richard Stagg, nishaku-issun: Hidekazu Katoh
4. Hato No Iru Fukei (Landscape with Doves)
(Toshinao Satoh, 1936-2002)
Although using the musical language of expanded tonality, Toshinao
Satoh always wrote with sympathy and understanding for the
shakuhachi, and with an accurate knowledge of what the instrument
can and cannot do. This makes the challenge all the more worthwhile
when performing a passage which really stretches the player’s ability
and imagination to the utmost. He allows themes to grow organically
from their many repetitions. Counterpoint and rhythm are closely
organised.
Doves are to be seen in many parts of Japan, especially public parks. They
love perching on electric train wires. They are friendly towards humans,
and will walk right up to children. The composer reflects on the way
that the dove symbolises peace, and wonders if this will come true for
Japan also. He remembers a portrait of a dove by Picasso, a simple brush
drawing with a touch of sadness about it, which includes a woman’s face
showing through the bird’s feathers.
The lower part in the duet is taken by a nishaku-yonsun (2.4). The first
two movements feature many bird sounds, with various contrasts of
mood. In the second movement, a quarrel takes place. With the third,
the mood is playful and dance-like, while in the finale, things grow more
sombre and combative. The piece ends with something in the mood of
an epic journey, as a dove finally wings its way back to the comfort of its
own roost.
Shakuhachi: Richard Stagg, nishaku-yonsun: Hidekazu Katoh
5. So Un, Mura Kumo (Patchy Clouds) (Seizan Ikeda, 1973)
Four-time in D minor forms the framework for the first movement,
which has a slow, poetically weaving duet sandwiched between two
statements of the lively and carefree opening allegro. Phrases are always
arch-shaped, describing the majesty of cloud-formations. In the second
movement we move into the key of F minor for a lingering red sunset.
The third movement has triumphant, boiling, turbulent, wind-driven
clouds, interrupted by a brief, peaceful interlude which erupts into a
weather-warning. Most of the piece is made up of the open notes of
the shakuhachi’s basic scale, but in contrast there is a brief chromatic
excursion in the first movement, and some of the highest notes playable
on the shakuhachi in the third.
First shakuhachi: Hidekazu Katoh, second shakuhachi: Richard Stagg
We wish to thank Junkichi and Teruko Yajima for their kind assistance.
Richard Stagg - shakuhachi
Hidekazu Katoh - shakuhachi,
nishaku-issun, nishaku-yonsun
An ARC Music Production
Recorded at Tsukiyono Concert Hall, Jomo Kogen, Gunma
Prefecture, Japan
Recording engineer: Takashi Ikeda
Liner notes compiled by Richard Stagg
with the help of Yoko Koike
Mastering: Diz Heller
Shakuhachi painting courtesy of Lisa Chakrabarti
Cover design/typesetting/layout: Sarah Ash
℗ 2004, ARC Music Productions International Ltd.
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