Kio, 1998

Michio Mamiya
Japan

Instrumentation:
shakuhachi (flute), cello

Kio offers a natural view of the world that crosses the divide between musical cultures. Composer Michio Mamiya’s peripatetic travels and study of traditional Scandinavian, African and Japanese music greatly influenced his compositional style. Kio combines the cello with the shakuhachi [SHA koo ha chee], a traditional Japanese end-blown bamboo flute employed in ancient times by a sect of wandering Zen Buddhist monks who used the instrument as a devotional tool to root out falsity. Written as a monody in homage to Japanese poet Kio Kuroda, the piece was inspired by the following verse:

Silent field, our native soil,
My words embody the existence,
Of the pained, yet awakened soul,
Who rises up against his homeland.

The muted yet guttural murmurs of the shakuhachi are produced by a special technique called muraiki that requires the player to blow a strong gust of air into the instrument. In this piece, the unearthly pitches of the shakuhachi sinuously coil around the cello line to create a stark yet uniquely beautiful musical landscape.