Shakuhachi - Recordings

Recordings

The first shakuhachi recording to appear in the United States was Bell Ringing in an Empty Sky, performed by Gorō Yamaguchi for Nonesuch Explorer Records on LP.

New recordings of shakuhachi music are relatively plentiful, especially on Japanese labels and increasingly so in North America, Europe, and Australia. Although the instrument is sometimes considered quaint and outdated in Japan, it is experiencing growth overseas.

The primary genres of shakuhachi music are:

• honkyoku (traditional, solo)
• sankyoku (ensemble, with koto and shamisen)
• shinkyoku (new music composed for shakuhachi and koto, commonly post-Meiji era compositions influenced by western music)

Shakuhachi are often used in modern film scores, particularly ones by James Horner. Films in which it is featured prominently include: The Karate Kid parts II and III by Bill Conti, Legends of the Fall and Braveheart by James Horner, Jurassic Park and its sequels by John Williams and Don Davis, and The Last Samurai by Hans Zimmer and Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams.

Renowned Japanese classical and film-score composer Toru Takemitsu wrote many pieces for shakuhachi and orchestra, including his well-known Celeste, Autumn and November Steps.

In the domain of contemporary music, Carlo Forlivesi's composition for shakuhachi and guitar Ugetsu (雨月) is one of the most challenging works ever written for the instrument. "The performance techniques present notable difficulties in a few completely novel situations: an audacious movement of ‘expansion’ of the respective traditions of the two instruments pushed as they are at times to the limits of the possible, the aim being to have the shakuhachi and the guitar playing on the same level and with virtuosity (two instruments that are culturally and acoustically so dissimilar), thus increasing the expressive range, the texture of the dialogue, the harmonic dimension and the tone-colour."