S-I2e. FRANK
DENYER: MUSIC FOR SHAKUHACHI
Played by Yoshikazu Iwamoto
With Paul Hiley and Frank Denyer (percussion)
Historic recording of four pieces for solo
shakuhachi and percussion by the brilliant composer Frank Denyer, performed
by the virtuoso shakuhachi player Yoshikazu Iwamoto. Including the
first recording of the immense solo piece "Unnamed". Jo Kondo
has written that "Denyer
has made music of such remarkable personality that the shakuhachi now
emits just Denyer sounds."
1. On, On - It Must Be So (1977-78)
2. Quite White (1978)
3. Wheat (1977-81)
4. Unnamed (1997)
This record is all about a friendship between Frank Denyer, for many years
a teacher at Dartington College Of Arts in Devon, and shakuhachi master Yoshikazu
Iwamoto, who also taught at Dartington in the 1980s. The two first met on an
ethnomusicology course at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where they played
Japanese music together. Already interested in flute-making and microtonal
tunings, Denyer wrote a series of demanding compositions for Iwamoto over the
next twenty years.
“On, On – It Must Be So” (1977), as the title suggests,
is driven and dynamic. The shakuhachi’s agile gymnastics are egged on
by castanets and bass drum. The music sounds tough to play, and there’s
a lurking sense of the performer leaping through hoops. By contrast, “Quite
White” is a solo built from serene, swooping glissandos. “Wheat” is
a suite of six short pieces: Iwamoto’s shifting tone colours and ambiguous
pitches are nicely complemented by delicate tapping on stones, bamboo slit
drums and an artillery shell. These three compositions were previously heard
on a 1984 LP titled Wheat, but the reason the present album has been keenly
awaited is the 45 minute monster “Unnamed”, which Iwamoto recorded
in 1999 and has never been released. “Unnamed” has legendary status
among shakuhachi players, and full credit to Simon Reynell’s new label,
Another Timbre, for finally putting it out.
Iwamoto retired from playing after a serious
illness several years ago, so we are lucky he recorded this when he did. “Unnamed” may be a pianissimo
epic, but it’s strongly structured and sustains interest well. Broadly
we are in the territory of Morton Feldman’s Second String Quartet, but
Denyer patiently explores an extraordinary range of timbral colours, from quavering
in-breaths to gasps of sobbing notes. Iwamoto plays with quite magical delicacy.
Many of these notes are so spectral that a hypnotic aura of sonic mystery descends
like a veil, only to shoved aside by vocal cries or monk-like growls.
Always keen to build from scratch on uncharted
land, Denyer has constructed an unusual soundworld here – though some improvisers have also ventured
into this territory recently via a different door. Iwamoto dedicated himself
wholeheartedly to realising Denyer’s challenges, and this record is a
crucial part of his testament.
- CLIVE BELL
(This review was originally written for
The Wire magazine: http://www.thewire.co.uk/ ) |
