Miyamoto Musashi, a seventeenth century ronin of legendary renown, is the founder of the Niten-ryu school of swordsmanship. He devoted his life to honing his skills in the Way of the sword, winning dozens of duels. So great was the perfection of his skill that his late duels were fought only with a boken, or wooden sword, regardless of his opponent’s weapon.
In 1645, lying ill and near death in a cave where he taken to a hermitic existence, he dictated the key concepts of his Way to a disciple. This document, Go Rin No Sho (“Book of Five Rings”) is still read today as a guide to strategy in any discipline.
Musashi for solo flute, digital audio, and video is guided by excerpts from this work. Musical material is inspired by Honshirabe, a prominent work in shakuhachi repertoire. Throughout the piece, the fixed part is derived from samples of taiko and shakuhachi, the metallic clash and scrape of swords, and a reading of the Fudo-myoo sutra. Elements of taiko performance are also featured in both parts, particularly the concept of oroshi, a gesture in which the interval (or ma) between sonic events is reduced over time.
Musashi contains text from A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS by Miyamoto Musashi, translated by Victor Harris. Copyright © 1974 by Victor Harris. Used by permission of The Overlook Press, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
Musashi was first performed in its entirety by Maria Harman at MidAmerica Nazarene University in April, 2012.
In its earliest form, Musashi was commissioned by Daniel Eichenbaum's Dark Matter Kansas City. Rebecca Ashe performed the Dark Matter version under the title Orbs of Galileo with video by astronomer Bob Riddle.
