Elizabeth Reian Bennett is the first woman to be certified a Grand Master of the shakuhachi and one of only a handful of western players trained in traditional Japanese music. She has studied and performed with living National Treasure Aoki Reibo, re [+]Elizabeth Reian Bennett is the first woman to be certified a Grand Master of the shakuhachi and one of only a handful of western players trained in traditional Japanese music. She has studied and performed with living National Treasure Aoki Reibo, recognized as Japan's foremost traditional shakuhachi instrumentalist, for 25 years.
"Song of the True Hand" consists of six of the ancient pieces of the wandering monks of the Fuke sect, a modern piece by Kineya Seiho (d. 1991) and an improvisation based on Reian Bennett's traditional training.
The monk solos belong to the Meian and Kinko schools, all handed down aurally except "Song of the Moon", a nineteenth century piece, and represent ideas or images the monks were familiar with. Because they were expected to be on the road begging, the monks spent much of their time outside, and many of the titles of their pieces reflect this – the titles speak of wind in the pines, the moon and the sky. And there are many others yet to record: deer, cranes and rushes are a few that come to mind. This is why Elizabeth Reian chose to call her improvisation at the end of the CD after the hawthorne, a nature image of spring, when the piece was created.
Other pieces have to do with metaphysical ideas or activities related to Buddhism. The first track, after which the CD is named, "Song of the True Hand", is one of these – it is a true hand that a player seeks, not just the accomplished hand of the musician, but a hand that expresses a changed mind and being. Even some of the nature pieces have deeper implications, such as "The Sky", for example, which can also be interpreted as ‘the void’. And the ‘A’ of the first sound of the Buddha of Light’s name, in "Meditation on ‘A’", is a pointer to breath itself and the human being as a conveyor of breath from one world to the next..
If you would like to contact Elizabeth Reian, be sure to put ‘CDBaby fan’ in the subject, and please send no attachments. Her email is elizabethreian@hotmail.com.
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