i think i might have blogged about this piece before but i cant help mentioning it again upon listening to it today.
just that i came across a few string instrumental ost and youtube leads me back to the beloved okoto. guess i have a thing for string instrument after all...
this piece of composition is named "OKOTO" written in capital letters in alphabet, which is a very rare naming in traditional music instrumental pieces like okoto where the naming is usually done in Japanese kanji or at most, hiragana.
Moreover, its name is the instrument's name itself in English. With just the naming, it has already left a strong impression on what the composer might want to convey, as he probably wants to promote the beautiful sounds of this instruments to the world in a more contagious format of music.
The piece is meant to be performed by at least 2 persons, not alone, giving me a sense of companionship that might not always needed in playing music, a means to express the individuality. It might not be the intention of the composer but it makes me feel less lonely in that way... how to phrase it... like a solitary melody in its utmost serenity
And the sounds and the dynamics of the melody is what you may label "modernity in tradition" as it is nowhere near the calm and low-key traditional pieces of okoto.
I'm not anywhere near educated in music, thus i cant explain how outstandingly or how differently it is arranged in professional terms. but one definitely feels how all the high and low dynamic transcends the emotion layers here; where one appreciates the serenity of solitude and the joy of companionship at the same time, and then the variation in speed makes us feel the urgency and subjective of time, space and life. It represents a mixture of all the contraries and adversities, unition and solitary, soft and loud, fast & determined versus gentle & vibration; quiet yet explosive and emotive, an exquisite combination of all the contradictions as what life offers us.... and they are all conveyed through each mesmerizing notes produced by okoto, the instruments... yes it is that sophisticated to me
When i fisrt knew this piece around 15years ago through my koto club in university, i hardly came across any performances when searching for it on youtube. but today, i can even found the original music from the composer, not to mention the various performances of the piece, which makes me genuinely happy since it only means more and more people, especially the younger generations will come to know and love this piece. love-lived okoto!
The video i shared here has one of the best dynamics (in my humble opinion) and is very closed to the original sounds.
i may blog about this piece again when i may attach more layers of meaning to it in future haha
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