Search - Explorer Series: East Asia/Japan :: Koto Music

While the 'Koto Classics' edition of the Nonesuch Explorer Series, released earlier this year, focused on the history of the instrument from its origins in the 8th century when Chinese traders purportedly introduced it to Japan, the newly remastered 'Koto Music' is all about virtuosity. The six primarily solo pieces presented here were each performed by 20th century masters of the Koto. The pieces date from the 17th to the 19th century. Some were inspired by folk tales or Noh drama; others by the changing seasons or the Japanese landscape and the emotions they provoke. The machine is long out of use, but it survives in Japanese music as the aural evocation of autumn and the melancholy season.