The joining of guitar and shakuhachi is a relationship made in heaven. I first became aware of this after hearing the music of my teacher TAJIMA Tadashi and guitarist YAMAGUCHI Osamu. On returning to Australia I enticed Marion to arrange Japanese flute and koto music for her guitar, a task which she completed with great style. As our collaboration proved to be most enjoyable, more arrangements followed - this time western music for my shakuhachi.

FUKUDA Rando (1924-86) was a shakuhachi player and prolific composer/writer. The first child of illustrious Western-style painter AOKI Shigeru, he surprised many people when he married a movie star. He became renowned in Japan composing and playing modern music, causing disquiet in some traditional shakuhachi circles. Originally for the unusual combination of shakuhachi and piano, the three pieces presented here are based on versions for shakuhachi and koto as recorded by famous modern-day player YOKOYAMA Katsuya.

Sakura is a popular Japanese tune dating from the late 1800?s and this arrangement by YOKO-O Yukihiro demonstrates the affinity of the guitar with the Japanese koto.

MIYATA Kohachiro, composer and shakuhachi virtuoso, often elects to use 7-hole shakuhachi rather than traditional 5-hole flutes. In Time of the North Wind , the shakuhachi blows the harshness of the cold north wind with the guitar part representing the warmth and expectancy of the coming spring. In Two Movements for Solo Shakuhachi, MIYATA sorrows over modern society. The first movement represents his feelings of compassion and tenderness, and the second, pain.

Distribucao de Flores was written for flute and guitar in 1932 by the colourful Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. Although his works for the guitar amount to only a fraction of his total musical output (over 2000 compositions), they are of major importance to the guitar repertoire. Firstly conceived for voice and eight cellos, the mesmerizing Bachianas Brasileiras No 5 was later arranged by Villa-Lobos himself for voice and guitar.

Frederic Chopin's Prelude No 4, is one in a set of preludes composed between 1836 and 1839 for solo piano. Each miniature is designed to express one particular mood.

Andrew MacGregor