Album Notes

If you've never listened to Japanese music...listen to this. If you've listened to a lot of Japanese music...listen to this. Duo En takes their music beyond traditional borders without losing sight of its roots, and the listener is richly rewarded with something as intimate and warm as it is ancient and exotic.

"The music carries you with it, not by force per se, but by you becoming one with it, if one surrenders to it, the way a leaf surrenders to the wind." - New Age Reporter

"As ethereal and delicate as moonlight itself." - Hogaku Journal (Tokyo)

The beauty of cherry blossoms bathed in silver moonlight, lanterns drifting on water and the sounds of nightfall, elegantly evoked by the ancient Japanese shakuhachi bamboo flute and the silken strings of the koto...

“En” means affinity or destiny; it is a celebration of the many moments of serendipity that happen in life. Elizabeth Falconer is one of the few licensed American masters of the koto and founded the award-winning Koto World label in 2000. Her husband John has performed the Zen bamboo flute for over 25 years.

John and Elizabeth met when they began studying Japanese in 1974. They fell in love with each other then fell in love with Japan. Since then they have lived in Japan for over a dozen years, studying Japanese music from master teachers. This is Duo En's third release of "Japanese music...with an original touch." This CD includes classical works, Japanese folk melodies and graceful pieces by Duo En, taking the listener on an acoustic moonlit path that includes ancient pines, calling cranes, and floating leaves.

The shakuhachi is a five-hole bamboo flute with a Zen tradition and has been used for meditation for centuries. The 13-string koto is a classical instrument made from paulownia wood with moveable bridges, played with three picks worn on the right hand. This recording also includes the deeply resonating 17-string bass koto in Duo En's arrangement of the folk song "Kojo no Tsuki" and their thoughtful and mysterious "Ancient Pine".