The most striking feature of the music "Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix" is that the suona is used to simulate the calls of hundreds of birds.
The suona is a reed wind instrument with rich national characteristics in my country. It is said that the suona was originally a folk musical instrument from ancient Persia and Arabia, and was introduced to China through the Silk Road about 800 years ago. Today's suonas come in different sizes. The commonly used suonas are smaller in size and have eight sound holes. They are one of the main instruments in folk wind and percussion music and folk bands.
Among all the national musical instruments in my country, the suona is particularly suitable for expressing the joy of weddings and the sorrow of funerals, as well as for exaggerating the atmosphere and expressing lively scenes.
As a solo instrument, suona has extremely rich expressive power. "A Hundred Birds Pay Attention to the Phoenix" is an excellent piece of music that fully demonstrates the artistic charm of suona.
Feng, also known as Phoenix, is the king of birds in ancient Chinese mythology. Phoenix symbolizes good luck and wealth. The suona solo piece "Hundred Birds Paying Attitude to the Phoenix" does not represent a mythical story of birds worshiping the phoenix. Instead, it uses an unrestrained and passionate melody and uses the suona to simulate the jubilant scene of a hundred birds contending and singing. It expresses the vibrant nature and expresses people's happiness. Happy mood. "A Hundred Birds Pay Attention to the Phoenix" was originally popular in Shandong, Anhui, Henan, Hebei and other places. The predecessor is "Hundred Birds Sound". It was Ren Tongxiang, the famous suona performer in my country, who brought this piece to the Chinese and world music stages.
Ren Tongxiang was born into a suona family in rural Jiaxiang County, Shandong. Following the senior artists everywhere, Ren Tongxiang's suona playing became more and more refined and wonderful. When the first national folk music and dance (amateur) performance was held in 1953, 27-year-old Ren Tongxiang caused a sensation in Beijing with his performance of "A Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix". He also brought this piece to Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai to report and perform for Chairman Mao Zedong and other central leaders. In the same year, he was sent to Bucharest, Romania to participate in the 4th World Youth Festival, and won a silver medal with his song "A Hundred Birds Pay Attendance to the Phoenix". Then during his visit to the "Kingdom of Suona" - Burma, he won the appreciation of the "Suona fan" - the then Prime Minister of Myanmar, U Nu, with his performance of "A Hundred Birds Worship the Phoenix". U Nu happily awarded him a Myanmar National Gold Medal.
"Hundred Birds Pay Attendance to the Phoenix", processed by Ren Tongxiang, consists of extended slow music, slightly faster allegro music, bird calls (four sections), cadenza phrases and a fast ending.
At the beginning of the music, the suona plays a graceful and singing prelude, in which parallel short phrases and long phrases alternately respond like antiphons, forming funny and humorous music, which is very interesting in life. :
After the prelude, the suona first plays a warm and cheerful melody, exaggerating the lively atmosphere, and then plays a passage of chirping birds with the accompaniment of a fixed tune. The whole song is based on the warm and cheerful melody and The two sections of "Chirping Birds" are used as the basis, which are cyclically changed and repeated. The total number of before and after is repeated six times. The chirping of birds is sometimes melodious, sometimes short, sometimes bright, and sometimes dim. The chirping of birds is vividly and vividly depicted, presenting a picture of birds in spring and a lush scene of all things in nature competing for prosperity.
The suona is a wind instrument that consumes a lot of air. In the cadenza section of "A Hundred Birds Pay Attendance to the Phoenix", the suona performs rapid double-vomiting in the high-pitched range and uses an amplitude cycle ventilation method to push the music to a higher level. A thrilling climax. The long tones that appear frequently in the cadenza are so surging and turbulent that the audience cannot hear the performer's quiet breathing and thinks it is a breathless performance. The climax is followed by a quick ending, with the lively scene of birds chirping once again. The music has a perfect ending in the high-pitched and fast performance.
Source: /music/article/2009-11/24/content_86871.htm