Yesterday was a beautiful crisp autumnal yet sun-filled day for Kevin [Melville] and I to take an excursion by train to Katoomba for shakuhachi lessons with Bronwyn (my first since the arrival of her new baby and hence a chance to meet Alina). Kevin was working on Honshirabe and I was struggling with Koku. It was very fruitful in terms of refreshing and learning more about the detail of the piece and its flow. I like this piece very much but I also find it the most difficult I have studied to date because of its fairly insistent intense high register and powerful, often explosive raw undercurrent while overall 'emptiness/serenity': an interesting concurrence. Technically, it contains many fine subtleties and requires utmost accuracy of pitch (of course every piece does but this one weaves around considerably). Both Kevin and I observed Bronwyn's uncanny calm and concentration despite occasional cries from Alina in the adjacent room. Overall, the composite of scenic train journey, nice Niche Nosh at the vegetarian cafe and beautiful outlook around Bronwyn's and Katoomba in general, made it a delightful one-day excursion: the seemingly long 10-hour excursion for a shak lesson turned out to be very enjoyable!
From komuso.com, "Kokû (Dokyoku) is a Koten piece from the Dokyoku school (founded by Watazumi Doso Roshi in the 1950's)" and ‘Empty Sky’ is a ubiquitous translation of Koku. This piece, transmitted through the Watazumi/Yokoyama lineage of shakuhachi, is one of many versions of 'Empty Sky', which is one of a trilogy of the oldest and venerated honkyoku, the other two being ‘Empty Bell’, and ‘Flute on the Misty Ocean,’ i.e. (in the Fuke set repertoire): Kyorei, Mukaiji, and Koku. These works are collectively referred to as the Koden Sankyoku. They are respected as the oldest works and transmitted in all branches of shakuhachi playing. "The work is in three part form: calm-movement-calm. Even though it is a very long piece it is very well organized. In each part various techniques are developed. According to legend, Kyochiku (literally, ‘empty bamboo’), a Zen priest who founded the Myoan temple in Kyoto in the thirteenth century, fell asleep while practicing shakuhachi inside the temple at Ise. He dreamed of a solitary boat floating on a misty sea and heard a strange sound from the heavens. As the mist gradually disappeared, another sound reached his ears. Awakened, he immediately transcribed the mysterious sounds into the sounds of his bamboo instrument, thus creating three pieces: Koku (Empty sky or ‘Vacuity’), Kyorei (Empty bell), and Mukaiji (Misty Sea)." Apropos tone production [and requisite emptiness] "let go of sound and focus on the process" [Bronwyn]
Kevin (silhouette with the Eucalypts) and Bronwyn. The colour and resolution of these images look much better at Flickr.
