Keiko Nosaka
Concert pour Ensemble de Koto
Denon (Japan) 1979
OX-7155-ND (LP) w/obi, insert.
sleeve : EX(very slightly dirts.)
media : EX-/EX-(some light surface noises.)
Keiko Nosaka, who invented the 20-string koto herself and has given hundreds of lectures in Japan and abroad, assumed the name Misaoju Nosaka II in 2002, and has sublimated Japanese traditional music into the field of contemporary music as well as classical music. Under the supervision of composer Minoru Miki, leader of the Japanese Music Group, in which Nosaka also participates, the album features works by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, two French composers who, from the late 19th to the early 20th century, broke away from the classical school and laid the foundation for contemporary music that has led to the present. The piece is arranged and performed by a 20-string koto ensemble. The use of Japanese instruments to express Western music is not in itself novel, but the selection of the music and Nosaka's exceptional expressive ability make it seem as if it were composed for koto from the very beginning.