Lullaby For The Moon : Japanese Music For Koto And Shakuhachi

Lullaby For The Moon : Japanese Music For Koto And Shakuhachi
Featured here are the works of several modern composers writing for the koto and shakuhachi.

For anyone unfamiliar with these instruments, which are basic staples in Japanese music: The koto is a plucked-string instrument with silk strings and movable bridges to manipulate the pitch, played with finger picks. The shakuhachi is a magnificent flute made from the bottom of a stalk of bamboo, including the root. It takes two decades to master this instrument, which can play scales and microtones. The sound of air through bamboo is unlike any other instrument.

In combination, the koto and shakuhachi are magnificent and these compositions (including some variations on "Sakura," a very familiar theme in Japanese music) are premium quality, falling together like some act of nature.
One of the reviews below likened this music to the sound of rain falling on leaves; for some reason I think of snowfall (especially with 'Komoriuta,' which you can listen to above).

No matter. This is a delicious introduction to Asian music, and a fine entree for connoisseurs.

http://www.4shared.com/file/64308407/b997c8df/VA_LullabyForTheMoon1.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/64312929/361cdddd/VA_LullabyForTheMoon2.html