躺在草地上仰望天空。
云在缓慢的流动,清新的微风轻拂着脸颊。
轻柔的日光。
慢慢流逝的时间。欣赏所在存在的时刻。
脑际变得空白。
我的存在变得只有眼、耳、鼻与皮肤。
单调但并不乏味。
如果你放任自己,倾听这从喇叭中流出的古筝的音符,那么,时间就是你的,世间的一切都是你的。
筝是在公元五世纪中后叶从中国引入弦乐的一种。然而木制的筝在弥生时代(公元前3年—公元3年)的遗址中被发现,同样在古坟时代(公元3年—公元7年)遗址中也出土了弹奏古筝的泥塑。
在中世纪,筝一面在宫廷中和其他的古代宫廷乐器一道表演,一面也在朝着独奏乐器方向发展。而且很快就面向了大众。几千年过去了,筝也就成了日本代表性乐器之一。据说日本乐器发出的音符中蕴藏自然之声。在这筝的二十五根弦中,内敛着春天微风的清新。
通常我们弹奏的是十三弦筝,而本唱片录制的是二十五弦筝。因为这乐器从低到高的音域中含有大范围的音符,所以会不时地让你想到竖琴。这些曲子同样基于西方的音调音符,这对你来说,也许能比较容易地熟悉这弦的感觉。由这二十五根弦产生的音符的联合体,拔弹到空气中,又随它们的意而消逝,一定会让你忘掉都市的嘈杂与让人心烦的变动,让你获得放松与安逸的时光。
Lie on the grass and look up at the sky.
Clouds slowly drift by. Refreshing breezes brush against the cheeks.
Gentle sun rays.
Slow passage of time. Moments when you appreciate all that exists.
Mind becomes blank. My existence becomes only that of the Eyes, Ears, Scents and Skin.
Tedium that never bored.
If you can let yourself be, listening to the notes of the Koto flowing from the speakers, then time is yours, in the world that is all your own.
Koto is one of the stringed instruments that was introduced to us from China, later than mid 5th century AD. However, wooden kotos have been found from the archeological sites of the Yayoi Period (3 BC-3 AD)and there have been several figurines of clay playing the koto found from the Kofun Period (3 AD-7 AD) as well.
By the time of the Middle Ages, koto was being played at the court either together with other ancient court instruments or on its own as it developed into a solo instrument. And it was soon being introduced to the general public. So over a thousand years have passed and koto has become one of the instruments representative of Japan. It is said that the notes made by the Japanese instruments have sounds of nature (alive) in them. In the 25 chords of the koto, there may sounds of the refreshing Spring breezes.
Normally we use koto with 13 chords but the recordings for this album were made with a 25 chorded koto. Since there is a wide range of notes from the upper and lower registers of the instrument, it may at times remind you of a harp. Again because there are pieces with the tuning based on the Western notes, it might be easier to familiarize yourself with the feel of the chords. The combination of the notes produced by the 25 strings stringing up into the air and disappearing as they will, is certain to let you forget the noise and the flux of the city so you may have a time of relaxation and ease.