Paulownia Dragon (Part 2)

A short documentary which explores the sounds and aesthetic of the koto, a 13 string Japanese zither(harp). Tokyo resident and koto instructor Curt Patterson guides us through the instrument's relationship with an ever-evolving Japanese society and his efforts to keep this ancient tradition alive.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• koto
• japan
• curt
• patterson
• harp
• zither
• tokyo
• ongaku
• hougaku
• sawai
• tadao

[subshrub]

Thank you, this is a truly beautiful instrument. I play sitar, and sometimes I tune the sympathetics to koto tuning, to remind me of the beauty.

[ZaDiscs]

Hi Curt,

Very nice and informative. Should have let us know about this earlier. Any chance to come this way, please let us know. Love to talk about koto/zheng, traditional/contemporary..etc. and to play together. You are right about Chinese zheng "playing up," especially in the younger generations. However, I have seen old folk musicians "playing down" and, fortunately, I have studied with a few of them. Meeting Kazue sen, I was reinforced on this concept. That keeps me grounded.

Mei

[MelisaBS]

This is really well done! I got so into it I wanted it to keep going and I wanted to know more. If you have any extra footage, you should definitely expand it. Great job.

[kotoworld]

This is so wonderful - it communicates so well, in such a short amount of time, so many aspects of Japan and koto music. This is sure to be a great resource for many people. Very thoughtfully done.