Music for Shakuhachi

CD of four works for shakuhachi, performed by Yoshikazu Iwamoto: ‘On, on – it must be so’; ‘Quite White’; ‘Wheat’; ‘Unnamed’. The main work on this disc is the 45-minute ‘Unnamed’ for solo shakuhachi, Denyer’s longest composition to date. Its composition, performance and recording grew from a basic research question: how to extend a long-established working relationship with a particular musician – Yoshikazu Iwamoto – without simply retreading old ground. Denyer’s earlier work with Iwamoto (in the late ’70s and ’80s) had extended the range of the instrument and developed many new playing techniques. New features of ‘Unnamed’ include: the use of different tuning systems in the same piece for a solo instrument, and how to make them playable, readable, and also audible; and the player having to sing, hum and speak, as well as play. Compositionally and performatively Denyer explored the use of a very low dynamic level for an extended period of time. The finished recording is based on a live performance recorded in Dartington’s Great Hall. Because Iwamoto is no longer performing, and couldn’t make a studio recording, the live recording required unusually careful editing, by Denyer himself and the sound engineer Robert Bosch, to reflect subsequent revisions to the piece; the ending, especially, was entirely reconstructed. The CD, which also includes reissues of three of his earlier works, is among the first batch of releases on the new British label, Another Timbre.