История (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

Поэма (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

Nasuno appears on the following albums

	Альбом	Исполнитель
	Kinko-Ryū Shakuhachi / Yamaguchi Gorō no Sankyoku (Yamada-Ryū Hen)	Voice : Takahashi Eisei III Сямисен : Takahashi Eisei III Сякухати : Yamaguchi Gorō Voice : Torii Namino Кото : Torii Namino Voice : Kishibe Michiga II Кото : Kishibe Michiga II
	Kou	Сякухати : Aoki Reibo II
	Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū vol. 5 (三曲合奏大全集５)	Сякухати : Sano Reihi Сямисен : Nishigata Mikei Voice : Nishigata Akiko Кото : Nishigata Akiko Voice : Kawamura Kyōko
	Shakuhachi no Shinzui-Sankyoku Gasso - 04	Сякухати : Yamaguchi Gorō
	Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 48	Сямисен : Nakanoshima Kin'ichi Voice : Nakanoshima Keiko Voice : Imai Keishō Кото : Imai Keishō
	Tradition and Avantgarde in Japan	Voice : Tani Sumi Кото : Tani Sumi Кото : Yamagishi Hideko Сямисен : Kusama Michiyo
The piece was written around 1800 by Yamada kengyo, the founder of the Yamada School, and it is considered one of his masterpieces. Nasuno represents the new style of koto music that Yamada created, in which the voice is placed in the foreground. In this case it is singing in the style of the narrative shamisen music (joruri), which is popular in Bunraku puppet theater and in kabuki theater. Yamada turned theatrical works into chamber music, and he was so successful at it that his school became the dominant koto school in Tokyo throughout the nineteenth century. Nasuno is based on an ancient legend that was already dramatized in earlier no theater, as well as in Bunraku and kabuki. The immediate source of the text is probably the no play Sesshoseki (The deadly stone). Sesshoseki is the name of a famous cliff in the Nasuno Heath, a wild, volcanic region-on the border between today's prefectures of Tochigi and Fukushima (north of Tokyo). It has long been believed that this cliff has magic powers, and all life that approached it was extinguished. Even birds that flew over it are said to have fallen dead to the ground. This is explained in the folktale as a consequence of the fact that the stone was once a female fox demon called Tamamo, who was killed by an arrow in Nasuno and turned into a stone. The association woman-demon-fox is a well-known motif through eastern Asia. In the dominant, largely masculine worldviews of both Confucianism and Buddhism the woman is the other, uncanny sex. She embodies earthly sensuality and sexuality, is dominated by violent emotions like passion, greed, envy, jealousy, and so on, that bind her to this world, and represents the yin principle, i.e., the dark and passive. All of this makes woman a demonic creature in the traditional thought of eastern Asia, one that can represent a deadly threat for the living even after she herself has died. The essence of the fox has always been interpreted as demonic and sensual/erotic. It is the fox who, in the form of a beautiful girl, offers itself to men and drains them of their life force so that the fox itself can live a long life of thousands of years. In Yamada's composition Nasuno the focus is on the memories and emotions of the main character-the beautiful, clever, and erotic court lady and "fox woman" Tamamo. A description of the uncanny atmosphere of the wild Nasuno Heath with its "foxfires"-that is, bluish phosphorescent lights that were once thought to be caused by fire-breathing foxes (2)-is followed by Tamamo's memories of a happy past spent living in India and China and finally as the lover of Emperor Toba in Japan (4). She bitterly complains of being driven from the imperial court when one dark night an unnatural beam of light, the Yin light of the moon, came out of her body and revealed her true essence as a "fox woman" (5). Banished from the human world she is forced to spend a miserable life in the wasteland of the Nasuno Heath. Killed by the imperial hunters, before whom she appeared as a fox (6) her spirit turns to stone, which thereafter struggles vengefully to exterminate all other life-a fate that causes Tamamo herself to suffer most of all (7). The song attempts to express the emotions depicted in a musically differentiated way, following the style of the narrative joruri style. This is achieved less through tonal modulations than through changes in tempo and the use of various vocal styles, ranging from narrative declamation to extremely cantabile intonations. The tonal framework is set throughout by the kumoijohi (a-b-d-e-f-a) and sansagari (e-a-d) tunings for both the koto and the shamisen. These tunings can create a festive and elegant mood or, as they do here, a gruesome atmosphere. The shamisen lute player also cries loudly syllables like iy6 and ha, which are meant to increase the drama of the music. It is striking that instrumental interludes are dispensed with almost entirely, which concentrates all of the attention on the story being told. Nasuno Transliteration (1) [Maebiki] (2) Rangiku no hana ni kakururu yako no fushidokoro mushi no koe sae wakachi naku ogi fukiokuru yoarashi ni ita monosugoki keshiki kana (3) [Ai] (4) Nobe no kitsunebi omoi ni moyuru moyuru omoi ni kogarete ideshi Tamamo no mae hagi no shita tsuyu itoinaku tsuki ni somukete uramigoto sugishi kumoi ni arishi toki kimi ga nasake ni ikutose mo hiyoku no toko ni en'ou no fusuma kasanete chigirishi koto mo mune ni shibashi mo wasure wa yara de hitori namida ni kakochigusa nurete shioruru sode no ame (5) Somo ware koso wa Tenjiku nite Hanzoku taishi no tsuka no kami Morokoshi nitewa Hoji to yobare Hinomoto nitewa Toba no mikado ni miyazukae Tamamo no mae to naritaru nari Seiryoden no gyoyu no toki tsuki mada idenu yoi no sora isago fukikoshi kaze mo tsure tomoshibi kieshi sono toki ni waga mi yori hikari o hanachite terasu ni zo kimi wa gono to nari tamo (6) Kiri no hitoha ni aki tachite kino ni kawaru Asukagawa ima wa ukiyo o kakuregasa miyako o ato ni minashi tsutsu seki no Shirakawa yoso ni nashi Nasuno no hara ni suminarete tsuini yasaki ni hakanaku mo kakaru kono mi zo tsurakariki (7) Sesshoseki to yo no hito ni utomaruru koto to narihateshi namida no arare hagi-susuki furimidashitaru arisama ni kiete hakanaku nari ni keri On Nasuno Heath Translation (1) [Prelude] (2) In wild chrysanthemums, hidden under blossoms, the fox's lair. Insects chirp indistinguishably from one another and the night storm rages through the reeds - what a terrible scene! (3) [Brief instrumental interlude] (4) The foxfire on the wild heath – they flame up passionately. Into the flaming thoughts steps Lady Tamamo - ignoring the dew on the clover and turning her back to the moon, she laments bitterly. Once long ago at the Court of Clouds -3- I enjoyed the emperor's love. In the marriage chamber always faithful together like mandarin ducks -4- under the covers, one on top of the other, an eternal bond was sealed. In her breast she never forgets one moment. Alone now in the tears of deep sorrow the sleeves soaked, like after a rainstorm. (5) Now, it is I, who in India was once the wife of Prince Hanzoku, the queen of the graves; -5- who was called Baosi in China; -6- and in the land of the sun [Japan] served the Emperor Toba -7- and here became Lady Tamamo. When the emperor entertained himself with music at the Seiryo Palace, the moon had not yet risen in the night sky. And as a gust of wind kicked up the sand and extinguished the lamp, a beam of light emerged from my body, and the emperor fell ill. (6) A withered leaf of the paulownia, and it was fall. From yesterday to today the Asuka River has transformed. Now hidden from the gaze of the world under a hat. I had to leave the capital [Kyoto] behind me. I passed the border station of Shirakawa and since then I have lived in the heath of Nasuno. Finally an arrow pierced my ephemeral form. Such is my life: filled with bitterness! (7) Into a "deadly stone," avoided by people, I have been transformed. Tears like hailstones on the reeds and suzuki grass. In disarray and confused her outward appearance. She has now disappeared, become nothing. -3- Metaphor for the emperor's court, which is removed from the world of ordinary people. -4- In eastern Asian literature mandarin ducks are a popular metaphor for marital fidelity. -5- The Indian prince Hanzoku is said to have been responsible for the murder of a thousand kings, whose heads he offered in a grave mound to the local divinity. It is said that his wife was ultimately responsible for this act. -6- Baosi (jap. Hoji) is the name of the concubine of the Chinese king You of the Chou Dynasty. When his empire was attacked and destroyed and he himself was killed, Baosi was blamed. -7- The Japanese emperor Toba reigned from 1107-23. Heinz-Dieter Reese (From the program of the Biennale Neue Musik Hannover 1999) Translation: Steven Lindberg
	Yamada - 01	Voice : Uehara Masaki II Кото : Uehara Masaki II Сямисен : Torii Tonami V
	Yamada Kengyō wo Utao Disk 3	Voice : Fujii Chiyoga II
	Yamada-Ryū Sōkyoku no Shirabe volume 8	Voice : Fujii Chiyoga II Кото : Fujii Chiyoga II Voice : Anbiru Hiroka Сямисен : Anbiru Hiroka Voice : Murooka Shōkō Кото : Murooka Shōkō