Silk Road

Kitaro’s Silk Road turns music for a television documentary into a compact album of twelve pieces. Its famous opening theme is only one part of the design. Brief cues and longer selections alternate, giving the record a shape that remains legible without the accompanying images.

This was not Kitaro’s solo debut. After his time in the Far East Family Band, he began releasing solo albums in 1978. In 1980 he supplied music for NHK’s Silk Road documentary, whose first episode aired on 7 April. The programme brought his music to a wider audience. The album considered here is the first twelve-track soundtrack, distinct from the second volume and later collections. Its titles evoke architecture, landscapes and religious imagery, but its running order also creates a sequence through changing musical durations.

Beyond the opening theme

The title piece lasts just over four minutes, followed by the much shorter Shoro. Tenchi Sozo Shin expands the scale again before two briefer selections and Hiten complete the first six tracks. The opening melody consequently does not determine one uniform size for everything that follows. The album repeatedly changes the amount of time given to each named scene.

A composed view of the journey

Kitaro’s synthesizer music accompanies a documentary rather than constituting a collection of regional field recordings. Names such as Chojou and Hiten supply images, while the instrumental writing supplies an emotional perspective. That distinction helps the record stand independently: it can suggest a landscape without requiring each sound to represent a particular local instrument or musical tradition.

The scale of the closing pair

The latter half moves through Silk Road Genso, Hikari to Kage, Nishi ni Mukatte and Toki no Nagare. Bosatsu then offers the shortest piece, approximately one minute and fifty-eight seconds, before the longest, Towa no Michi, closes the album. The final expansion is therefore especially marked. Following all twelve tracks reveals a relationship between small cues and extended pieces that a compilation of the famous themes alone cannot preserve.