| 释义 |
‖ koto|ˈkəʊtəʊ|
Also † kotto.
[Japanese.]
A Japanese musical stringed instrument played with both hands.
It has thirteen silk strings stretched over a long box as a resonance chamber, each string having a bridge of its own, by shifting of which it is tuned.
1795tr. C. P. Thunberg's Trav. Europe, Afr. & Asia IV. 58 The koto bears a strong resemblance to our dulcimers, having the number of strings, which are struck with sticks. 1822F. Shoberl tr. Titsingh's Illustr. Japan 234 Kotto, a kind of harp. 1864Engel Mus. Anc. Nations 46 The strings of the koto are generally twanged with small plectra fastened on the fingers of the performer. 1891A. M. Bacon Jap. Girls & Women ii. 42 The koto is an embryo piano, a horizontal sounding board, some six feet long, upon which are stretched strings supported by ivory bridges. 1893F. T. Piggott Mus. Japan iii. 135 The Koto is the chief of modern Japanese instruments. 1932F. L. Wright Autobiogr. ii. 210 A fine lady plays the Koto, its graceful length laid upon the expanse of matting. 1961A. C. Baines Mus. Instrum. 208 The koto, the national instrument of pre-Westernized Japan. Its six-foot long soundbox is placed on the floor... Along it run thirteen waxed silk strings of equal length and played open, each tuned by its own movable bridge to contribute to a pentatonic scale of the ‘major third’ type..over two and a half octaves. 1965W. Swaan Jap. Lantern i. 10 The chief item is a concerto for koto, the traditional Japanese harp. 1973E. T. Sithole in T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 69 You would have expected me to write about the music of Bach..and not about Koto music (Japan). |