Empty Bell, The
"Kinko honkyoku."
David Duncavage
David Duncavage - CFA01CD
1993
Pista | Título | Kanji | Longitud | Artista | |
1 | Kyorei (Fudaiji) | 虚鈴 | 07'02 |
Shakuhachi: David Duncavage | |
Kyorei is one of the oldest honkyoku. It represents the sound of a bell rung by Fuke, a Zen monk who wandered about 9th century China. Legend says that a monk named Chohaku, inspired by Fuke’s teaching, composed Kyorei to imitate Fuke’s style of Zen. Kyorei was brought to Japan in the 19th Century by a monk named Gakushin. | |||||
2 | San'ya (Jinbo) | 神保三谷 | 10'14 |
Shakuhachi: David Duncavage | |
When a monk begged for alms at a home where a child was soon to be born, he would play this honkyoku as a prayer for a safe birth. It is named after Jimbo Masanosuke, a komuso who is credited with its preservation. | |||||
3 | Hi Fu Mi Hachigaeshi no Shirabe (Kinko Ryū) | 一二三鉢返の調 | 10'03 |
Shakuhachi: David Duncavage | |
This honkyoku contains the ancient piece which the komuso played while begging for rice. Understanding the gratitude of the monk receiving rice plays a central role in performing this honkyoku. | |||||
4 | Ajikan (Itchoken) | 阿字観 | 07'13 |
Shakuhachi: David Duncavage | |
Miyagawa Nyozan, a komuso from the Zen temple Itchoken, arranged this honkyoku from various earlier pieces. Ajikan is a form of tantric meditation in the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Ajikan literally means seeing the first sound of Sanskrit: “Ah”, understood in the Shingon tradition as the “ungraspable void.” | |||||
5 | Choshi (Myoan Shinpo Ryu) | 調子 | 07'36 |
Shakuhachi: David Duncavage | |
This version of Choshi is one of several that comes from the Kyoto temple Meian-ji. Choshi means “To tune”. In playing this piece one searches the way to rest in the harmony of heaven and earth. | |||||
6 | Shirabe (Nezasa Ha) | 調 (根笹) | 03'05 |
Shakuhachi: David Duncavage | |
The rough breathing of Nezasa-ha style honkyoku depicts blowing through a bamboo grove or, some say, across the fields of northern Japan. Shirabe is often used as a way to settle the mind before playing a longer honkyoku. | |||||
7 | Sagari Ha (Nezasa Ha) | 下り葉 (根笹) | 04'12 |
Shakuhachi: David Duncavage | |
After prolonged practise, a Nezasa-ha monk experienced enlightenment upon seeing a leaf fall. Sagariha commemorates this event. | |||||
8 | Chikugo Sashi | 筑後薩字 | 04'31 |
Shakuhachi: David Duncavage | |
This is one of many Sashi honkyoku which are dedicated to the Bodhisattva Kannon, the Buddha of mercy and compassion, who remains in the world of suffering to help those in need. |