1. Dutch-Guangdong music group goes overseas for the first time.
"European Foundation for China Music Research-Xin" was established in the Netherlands on 1990. The Foundation is engaged in international promotion activities of China music, including holding international seminars every year, publishing Heart magazine and arranging various activities of China music. In 2005, the Foundation held a series of concerts entitled "Comparison and Contrast of China Music" jointly with the Concert Hall on the banks of the Ai He River in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At the end of 2007, the orchestra composed of Yu and Nanting Society (Gao Hu-Yu, Yangqin-Wudi, Ruan-Tong, Yehu-Lang Ping) was invited by the organizers to hold a "Music Festival" in Aichipan Concert Hall from June 5 to June 38+10/October 6 to August 6, 2008.
This trip to the Netherlands is the first time that the troupe has set foot on overseas performances. On the one hand, the group has made extensive preparations; On the other hand, because it is a special performance, many details can't help coming to mind: because it is a five-headed combination, the repertoire is mainly traditional. Although traditional works are so excellent and loving to us, we are inevitably worried: from what angle will European civilization thousands of miles away appreciate Eastern civilization? Will the audience feel bored when the whole group plays Cantonese music? Do you want to add some mainstream music works from China to polish it up? Do they think our traditional melody is out of harmony? Surprisingly, these questions were answered unexpectedly in a call with Ms. Shi Nie, the representative of the Dutch inviter. On the phone, she mentioned that she recently listened to our album and analyzed it. They are very interested in several questions. One is about whether this traditional Cantonese opera is played by backrest music. Second, did you adopt a specific melody? 3. Is the whole concert in this style? At that time, I was not sure about her position on these issues, but I had clearly felt an academic atmosphere of pursuing high standards. I answered the first two questions in the affirmative and tentatively asked, "Do you think we need to add some other styles of China's works to the concert?" To my surprise, she replied positively: "Oh, never, what we want is your professional original style!" " "This sentence not only let me completely put aside my previous concerns, but also let me sincerely respect the European cultural appreciation ability and broad artistic vision. Later, she also said that European folk music also has special temperament, improvisation and other characteristics, and also shows their strong interest and protection awareness of folk music of different races around the world. After conveying this news to the team members, everyone is more confident and more looking forward to this upcoming trip to Holland.
After we set foot in Holland, we had a rest for two days. On the afternoon of the performance, we went to the concert hall on the Ai He River and took the stage. The concert hall is medium-sized and can accommodate about 800 people. According to reports, it is designed for playing chamber music. The top of the concert hall can be raised and lowered to control the reverberation of different people and music styles in order to keep improving. It is certainly a pleasure to play in this environment. After more than an hour of audition, during a short break and dinner, we chatted with Ms. You Shi Nie about music. As a Dutch aristocrat, although she is of foreign origin, she is an out-and-out China fan. When I went to college in China when I was young, I could speak fluent Chinese, and even my words and deeds were a little less foreign, and a little more elegant than China women. She said: "My family has been a nobleman for generations. My generation has spent 7788 yuan. I'm going to spend most of my money now on spreading China culture. This is also my life pursuit. " I don't know if it is because of her love for China culture, but she also said, "Now many European listeners are not new to European music, but are very interested in exploring foreign cultures, especially the original art that is not influenced by European music. Of course, this is why you are invited. " Although I often talk about this kind of problem with my bosom friend, and I also resonate with her, I was deeply moved when a foreigner mentioned it in front of me. In terms of protecting traditional art, I also affirmed some of my inner thoughts. Half an hour before the performance, the organizer arranged a brief introduction ceremony in the lecture hall next to the concert hall. Through translation, this paper introduces the musical form characteristics and various musical instruments of five Cantonese songs, and demonstrates the melody characteristics, so that the audience can have a preliminary understanding of the structure. Many viewers also came to participate early, and the atmosphere at the venue was relaxed and active. Most of the audience showed curious eyes and smiles. The last sentence said by the host drew laughter and applause from the audience. Later, I learned that the content was: "After listening to this concert tonight, everyone will find that Beethoven's works that we often listen to turned out to be' not allowed'." ...
The performance lasts about one hour and twenty minutes, and the tracks include Rain Beating Banana, Double Voices Hate, Chain Button, Autumn Moon in Pinghu, Missing and so on. There are soft bow, hard bow combination, five-headed, three-headed and solo forms. Although they are mainly traditional songs, they also play a few creative songs, and consciously highlight the characteristics of various musical instruments, such as Bells in the Temple by Coconut Hu and Dong Xiao, and Galaxy Club by Qin Qin and Coconut Hu. From the beginning to the end of the concert, the audience gave enthusiasm, and when they returned to Taiwan, treading on thin ice's performance reached the highest point of the atmosphere. It seems that they really like this' tone'!
In fact, in recent decades, our academic music education in China has indeed obliterated the spirit and essence of China folk art to some extent with the normative consciousness of European music thought. There are indeed many different views on the debate on melody alone: some advocate "standardizing" folk melody with an average rate of 12; Some stick to the traditional folk legal system in various places; While affirming the principles of western music, many scholars doubt or even deny their own traditional cultural characteristics. This attitude of denying self-worth and affirming others has almost become the habit of modern China people's values. Think about it carefully, don't you think it's biased? East, west, north and south are different in soil and water, watermelon and south fruit are different in essence, and so is art. At least the musical characteristics of folk music in all countries of the world can coexist and need to coexist! Now we stand on the European stage and talk about our lives in our musical language, which is what Europeans want to see. Their enthusiasm is real and heartfelt. After the performance, we communicated with some listeners who stayed. Happily, the Guangdong music records we brought are also very popular. At this time, Neal helped us clear up the sales volume and said, "The results are very good! I'll take the rest with me. A reporter from Holland Daily will interview you tomorrow, and I'll be an interpreter. "
We met the reporter in the lobby of the hotel. According to people, he specializes in art interviews and is quite authoritative in his own field. His later questions really proved this point; He asked, "You are both academic teachers and students. What do you think of traditional music? Is it difficult for academic institutions to develop traditional music? Do you also play modern music? " These questions clearly hit the nail on the head, especially about the situation and present situation of traditional music in academic institutions, which also aroused our strong resonance. Because many traditional music in China is brewed by the people, its great achievements can not be separated from folk artists. However, this folk art form, which contains the profound essence of oriental art, can not be well digested and decomposed under the teaching philosophy of academic institutions, and even conflicts to some extent. For example: 1. The current solfeggio education has greatly influenced the concept of melody, the ups and downs of lines and the tolerance of China traditional music. 2. The extensive use of western etudes stifles the flexibility, humanity and imagination of playing China traditional music. 3. The strong sense of "pioneering and innovating" of the academic school has dampened the enthusiasm of many people to engage in traditional music activities. 4. The disconnection between the traditional opera art and the teaching system of music major colleges leads to the lack of traditional aesthetic feeling among students majoring in folk music. These points alone have dealt a heavy blow to the traditional music in China! There is a famous saying here: "Don't try to solve all problems in one way". Faced with these situations, we can only start from ourselves, through the establishment and long-term operation of Guangdong Music Group, constantly absorb the achievements of predecessors, draw nutrients from non-governmental organizations and music clubs, and even inherit and look forward to innovation. The whole interview atmosphere was very active, and the reporter exchanged a lot of opinions with us. He is familiar with the artistic situation in China. What impressed him even more was that he didn't recognize the national symphony of China's music, perhaps because he didn't fully understand it. I also immediately recommended some national symphony works I enjoyed, hoping that he would have a new view. The next day, our interview was published in the Dutch daily that day.
The trip to Holland benefited a lot. Technical training is inevitable, and more is the inspiration and harvest of artistic ideas. Although I dare not say that I met a bosom friend all the way, I think my insistence on art is indeed a little more certain. Because we are still too young in the field of traditional music. Although we have a heart, we certainly need more experiences and life insights.
Second, Britain-the combination of traditional techniques and modern ideas in the premiere of Cow Bow
First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Liao Guixiong, a Guangdong musician and composer who has been living in Britain. As the cultural coordinator of China in Liwupu City, Mr. Liao is famous in China for his early song "Happy Sickle". Now, although he is rooted overseas, he has been engaged in the promotion of music culture and the research and development of musical instruments in China. With his help, in 2009 1 month, the author was able to collaborate with the Royal Liverpool Symphony Orchestra in England and perform the first performance of Hu Qin's Cow Bow, which was composed by the famous British composer Ian Steppen. This is the first time that the orchestra invited China musicians to cooperate with China. It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Liao dedicated his life to the great Hu. For decades, Mr. Liao has made great efforts to expand the production field of China Huqin and fill the blank field of bass Huqin. The birth of the ox bow means that another new member of the Huqin family is making history.
Of course, Hu Qin's works written by foreign composers aroused my strong interest. A month before the performance, I finally received the music score and samples. Teacher Liao and I also described the characteristics of music before, but the first time I listened to the demo, it was completely beyond my imagination. Impressionist music is full of extremely complicated rhythm changes and erratic melodies, which makes people somewhat confused. Obviously, this is a musical language and concept that is quite far away from us. Even so, the overall effect of music still makes me feel a strong sense of picture and attraction.
Ian, the author, expressed his expectation of the work to me by email: "In terms of performance style, due to the limitation of synthesizer, the demo can only reflect the overall layout of solo and band. In the solo part, I hope to give full play to the characteristics of China's strings. I don't know much about China Huqin, but I certainly don't want it to be interpreted as a violin in the end. " This idea makes me very excited and resonates! Although Cow Bow is a typical modernist work in music structure and arrangement, many details can be combined with Hu Qin's traditional techniques. And this is exactly what the author wants to put forward-the concept of "combining traditional techniques with modern ideas". This also coincides with Ian.
In recent decades, a large number of China Huqin's new works have emerged, among which works that draw lessons from western violin skills and music structure account for a large proportion. This is also the creative idea and learning process of many composers in contemporary China. Due to historical and other objective factors, they all look at their motherland's "mother" music culture from the perspective of western phonology and western artistic concepts. What's more, they often come to the conclusion that "China's music is backward" without fully understanding oriental aesthetics or "knowing one thing but not the other" about traditional art, and this ideology even became the driving force for China to "develop China's music" in the last century. Helpless, history is written in this way. Now the situation of China music can be described as "not daring to completely westernize, and not willing to completely westernize". It has become an objective fact that the Huqin class tends to be violinist. What is the significance of a nation that has given up its roots? Of course, we can't jump to the conclusion of success or failure here. While I am engaged in string performance and education in China, I deeply feel the current situation of weak traditional consciousness and marginalization, and feel sorry for traditional art. I am glad that I can grow up in a family full of traditional music atmosphere, which makes me have deep feelings and different values for traditional art.
The expression of music is not just a form, it embodies a nation's world outlook and outlook on life. For example, the traditional music in China is closely related to its local language, living habits, living environment and conditions. "If one day the history of mankind converges into a single culture and civilization, it will herald our demise" (poniatowski). This sentence profoundly reveals the importance of each race upholding and protecting its own culture. If we absorb foreign civilization, the final result is to strangle ourselves, which is undoubtedly the greatest sorrow.
Because of this, we often try our best to find a reasonable connection between our own needs and traditional ideas when playing many new creative works, so as to achieve a "win-win" effect. Because the scale, length and compilation of the work fully reflect its times, so the solo should not be too rigid in its western concept, but should retain its unique national characteristics as much as possible. As Ian expected, in the solo part of "Cow Bow", I tried my best to give full play to the characteristics of China strings, such as scattered boards or melody lines, try my best to find the possibility of stretching and reflecting the sense of space, and use moderate sliding, decorative sounds and remake shifts to highlight the aesthetics and tolerance of oriental lines and portray the irreplaceability of the Huqin. In fact, there are many precedents for this practice. As far as my professional field of performance is concerned, there are some representative new compositions, such as Love between Gao Hu and Orchestral Pearl River (Qiao Fei Qu), Gao Hu Concerto Qin Shi (Li Qu), Yue Soul (Li Qu), Gao Hu and the Band Going to Sea (Bu Canrong Qu) and so on. In the solo part, the performers (Yu Qiwei, Bu Canrong, Chen Guochan) can reasonably integrate traditional techniques with the repertoire, and never leave the "Cantonese flavor". As for the use of discretion, it is also very cautious, and it will not be copied 100%, but also take care of the needs of different music or fragments, which tests the soloist's accumulation and understanding of the traditional foundation. Keeping the "roots" and having a bold vision is a fairly comprehensive knowledge. This concept of creation and performance is exactly what the author yearns for.
The rehearsal in Britain is arranged in Liverpool Royal Symphony Concert Hall, which has a history of 100 years. When Mr. Liao and I arrived, Ian Stephen, the author of The Bow of Oxford, and Clark Rendell, the conductor of the performance, were already waiting here. After everyone warmly introduced each other, I went to the lounge and scored with the conductor. Very smooth, the whole song is uninterrupted. At this time, everyone showed a relaxed smile, and I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Considering that this is the premiere of an experimental work, the orchestra has also made flexible arrangements for the rehearsal time. Besides the first rehearsal, the second or third rehearsal is a flexible arrangement. To everyone's delight, everything went well in the first rehearsal. First of all, the level of the band is first-class in Europe. My solo part not only meets the requirements of the author and conductor, but also brings them many surprises. It is worth mentioning that the effect is quite satisfactory, so the original two or three rehearsals were naturally cancelled.
On the night of the performance, I further learned that the concert was held for China New Year, and the work Bow of the Ox was also named for China to welcome the Year of the Ox. All China's works were performed at the concert, including Tan Dun's Far Away and Chen Qigang's Daoqing. Mr. Liao also said that even in Europe, the box office of classical concerts is declining. This time it features China's works. On the one hand, the rise of China has attracted more and more attention. On the other hand, the orchestra is also trying to find a breakthrough to win high box office. Sure enough, the performance that night was packed, including Mayor Pu, Cultural Counselor of China and other senior officials, and "Cow Bow" was also the highlight of the night. Tension, motivation and excitement make me more engaged and highly concentrated on the stage. 13 minutes of music is like an instant. At the end of the music, the audience was enthusiastic. Author Ian excitedly ran to the stage to hug me, and conductor Clark also shouted "great voice" … ..
The success of the premiere gave me the opportunity to cooperate with the Royal Liverpool Symphony Orchestra again. 20 10 At the World Expo held in Shanghai, China, a concert on behalf of British music culture with the theme of "One Night Profit" was staged in the Auditorium of Shanghai World Expo on June 10. In addition to the symphony orchestra as the main lineup, the concert also invited OMD, the old British electronic group The Scaffold and other groups to help out. Before they left for Shanghai, the "Liverpool Night" concert was held in Liverpool for the first time on June 2nd 10. The selection of "Oxbow" made me the only "foreigner" invited in this British music and culture event. This time, the author Ian expanded the compilation of his works, the band lineup was even larger, and the conductor was replaced by English-Russian Vasily Petrenko. These two performances, as a China person, I can participate in international cultural activities on behalf of the British side, which really has special significance in my life and artistic career. Through the interpretation of the new works, my musical vision has been greatly enriched. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Liao and the composer Mr. Ian!
The performance of Niugong further proves the feasibility and necessity of combining innovation with traditional ideas. How to treat China's art on the world stage? What is the development prospect and direction of China music? These issues are also controversial in contemporary times. There is no doubt that the times are advancing, the world is changing, and everything must keep pace with the times. For our new generation of musicians, it is particularly important to treat ourselves more rationally and objectively, and to keep a cautious attitude to harvest ourselves while accepting foreign cultures.
3. Belgian-Cantonese music appeared at the European International Art Festival.
Europa Art Festival is one of the internationally renowned art festivals. At the initiative of the Fine Arts Palace in Brussels, Belgium, 1969 established the "Europa" international association and held the first art festival that year. From June 5 to 10, 2009, the 22nd Europa Art Festival was held in Belgium with the theme of "Ancient China, Contemporary China, Colorful China, China and the World". The festival lasted for 4 months, and held more than 50 exhibitions and 450 cultural performances to show China's artistic achievements in ancient and modern times. At the invitation of Belgium, the author was lucky enough to lead the "Yu Yu Nan Ting Club Guangdong Orchestra" to participate in the performance.
Led by the Ministry of Culture of China, the four concerts of the troupe are arranged in Loughran-Oudenbos Church (2009.110.6), Pianotabriek Cultural Center in Brussels (2009.438+05438+0.7) and westland Cultural Center made by the enemy in Dilbick (2009.2008). In the face of four consecutive special performances, we have made relative adjustments in clothing, tracks and musical instruments. Considering that it is an international music festival, in order to make foreign audiences feel the oriental traditional culture in an all-round way, we have replaced the commonly used tunic suit with a traditional gown, hoping to better reflect the unity of music and appearance. In terms of repertoires, in addition to performing repertoires with strong stage and performance, such as Two Voices of Hate, Raindrops and Bananas, Chain Button, etc., some repertoires that rarely appear on the stage but are very popular among the people are consciously added, such as Falling Flowers, Phoenix on Qishan, Xijiang Moon and Yinhe Club, aiming at highlighting more simple folk customs and showing them. Generally speaking, through the previous study and performance of these tracks, everyone has a deep understanding: because for young people who have never experienced rural life and grew up in big cities, relatively staged and expressive works are easier for everyone to understand and interpret; However, works like the above are either rich in rural sentiment or peaceful and introverted, which is difficult to start with. After repeated running-in and study and research, I gradually mastered this golden mean and internal playing state. Interestingly, people gradually like to play such works. They seem to be closer to human nature, far from utility and close to life, which can better show the personality characteristics of Guangfu people. We also adjusted the use of musical instruments. In this performance, we used a special small five-row yard dulcimer for the first time (about one-third smaller than the five-row yard dulcimer in Guangzhou now, and removed some phonemes that were basically not used when playing traditional works at the upper and lower ends). Its use has obviously changed the overall timbre of the troupe, adding a little elegance and elegance, and reducing the rigidity and popularity brought by modern dulcimer, which seems to be more in line with the aesthetics of traditional music.
After each performance, many viewers stayed to communicate and take photos with us. They were very interested in our musical instruments and asked many questions. What is particularly interesting is that among the actors they saw performing in the field of traditional culture in this art festival, we are the youngest, all young people in their twenties and thirties. They are very interested in why we pay so much attention to traditional music. Although the answer at that time was not detailed because of the language barrier, it did cause us to think. Here, I also make some responses and opinions on this issue: in fact, we have encountered this problem in many previous occasions or interviews. Based on the influence of China's current ideology, the mainstream society is generally full of leading ideas such as "development, innovation and reform", which makes many traditional cultural and artistic survival fields naturally ignored; Especially for the new generation of young people, it is a fact that traditional consciousness is indifferent. In the historical process of mankind, inheritance and innovation should have been carried out side by side. Because I benefited from the influence of the family environment since I was a child, and I met several like-minded students during my college years, the group has been enjoying rather than persisting. Years of practice have enabled us to fully appreciate the charm of traditional music. Playing them is not only necessary technical support, but also the embodiment of friendship, life experience and common life attitude. This is obviously not a stage performance with swords and shadows and flying sand and stones. And this performance state full of real emotional expression and broad expression space makes us feel the interest of art and find our true self.
Although we like traditional music so much, we never oppose innovation. We live in the contemporary era, where food, clothing, housing and transportation are modernized and we care about new things everywhere. Only when we treat the intervention of new ideas can we compare the ancient with the modern. Just like in the interpretation of many new works, we can always find the parts polished by traditional aesthetics. In my opinion, this is very healthy and reasonable. Modern works have led to many technical breakthroughs, and academic methods are enough to solve problems. In the part of expressing human nature and heart, the accumulation of traditional consciousness can often be taken care of deeper. It is worth mentioning that in many developed countries, retro culture has long been popular, including all walks of life, regardless of food, clothing, housing and transportation, which reflects modern people's aftertaste and yearning for past cultural classics and reveals the necessity and irreplaceable existence of traditional culture in today's society.
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The experience in Europe cannot be a comprehensive comparison and evaluation of the music situation in China, but after all, European music has a long history and has its symbolic influence in the world, and the cultural precipitation, touch and vision of European musicians can not be ignored. Through the exchange, cooperation and performance practice with cultural figures or musicians from three European countries, it seems that they have found the same cultural values: "No matter which race you are with or what dialect you speak, your music is its carrier, and they are all brilliant members of the world culture, and they are all respected. You need to defend it! "
What we call traditional aesthetics is the unique aesthetic interest accumulated by China people from ancient times to the present, which represents the world outlook and values of our oriental nation. It has strong vitality and historical extensibility. Inheriting China's traditional music is not only the necessary basis for learning China's music, but also the source and motivation for creating and developing China's music with profound connotations.
China music has a long history and a wide variety, which resonates with urban and rural areas. We must treat it with a rigorous attitude. We should not seek "development" with the contemptuous attitude of "homogenization and cultural republic", let alone be influenced by short-term historical background or utilitarianism. Only in this way can we coexist with "root" and co-develop with "root", which is worthy of the history of China music!