Koden sugomori (古伝巣籠) from Samazama (様様) by Markus Guhe

Koden sugomori (古伝巣籠 – Nesting of the Cranes)

There is a large group of pieces in the honkyoku repertoire called Tsuru no sugomori (‘Nesting of the Cranes’), showing how much this melody has been cherished over the centuries. Koden means ‘old transmission’ and refers to the fact that this is the oldest known version, probably close to the original. The shortened title is usually used instead of Koden tsuru no sugomori.

In Japan cranes (tsuru) are considered sacred birds, revered for their beauty but even more for their mating for life and self-sacrificing love of their offspring. The piece depicts the mixture of feelings of parents and adolescents: fear, joy, pride, exuberance, sadness but most of all compassion – and of course the excitement of the first flight!

This version has five distinct sections and is a technically complex piece using many different techniques like kara-kara, korokoro or tamane to depict flying birds, their calls and interactions.

I discovered the shakuhachi in Japan in 2012. Without knowing anything about the instrument I immediately took to the practice of playing because I found it to be a strangely satisfying activity. So I decided I wanted to 'get really good' at it. I received a master’s license in 2016. I play the traditional shakuhachi repertoire ('honkyoku') and combine the shakuhachi with taiko and electronics.

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