Art of Japanese Koto, Shakuhachi and Shamisen

Yamato Ensemble | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 5, 1996)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arc Music
• ASIN: B000001IKR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #325,922 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #57 in Music > Indie Music > World Music > Far East & Asia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Music that mesmerizes, November 6, 2000

By 

Caleb Poh (Republic of Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art of Japanese Koto, Shakuhachi and Shamisen (Audio CD)

I got this CD 4 years ago in a music shop in Istanbul,Turkey.Its my first CD on Japanese chamber music. What captures me is that the CD features music from some of the main musical instruments from Japanese chamber music, namely the shamisen, shakuhachi and the koto, which is quite a good deal. To be truthful, all these instruments actually originated in China,but got to Japan during the Tang Dynasty. One of them, the Shakuhachi (known as 'Chi Ba' in Chinese), is now a lost art in China, and is frequently thought of as being the same as the Chinese bamboo flute. My favourite track is track #4, entitled Hoshun(meaning Spring Time). The music is just hauntingly beautiful.The music of the shakuhachi and the koto do not compete for dominance but just complement and blend with each other so well. The music is simply mesmerizing. I would also like to mention track #2: Tsuru no Sugomori, which means Tenderness of Cranes, a solo performance by the Shakuhachi. The musician actually uses the the technique of koro-koro(double trill) to imitate the crane's call, which is rather fascinating. Although there are only six tracks in this CD, it certainly is a good introduction for music fans who are interested in Japanese chamber music.