Colorful feathers were very popular in the court of the Tang Dynasty and played an important role in the music and dance in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Xuanzong personally taught the disciples of Liyuan to play, and the maids sang, with 30 female artists, each time 10. Both Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen have wonderful descriptions of the performance scene of this song in their poems.
The whole song consists of 36 paragraphs, which are divided into three parts: overture (six paragraphs), medium-length overture (eighteen paragraphs) and music break (twelve paragraphs). The overture is a free-paced board, which is played solo or in turn by instruments such as Qing, Xiao, Zheng and flute, without jumping or singing;
The middle sequence, also known as the beat sequence or the song head, is a lyric paragraph in Adagio, with several changes from slow to fast in the middle, singing and dancing according to the beat of music;
Qubian, also known as Wuquan, is the climax of the whole song, which is dominated by dance, with complex voice and sonorous music. The speed gradually increased from loose board to adagio to quick beat, and finally slowed down, without singing or jumping.
Bai Juyi praised the subtlety of this dance: "There are countless songs and dances, and neon dance is my favorite."
Colorful feather clothes show that the style of Daqu in Tang Dynasty is huge and changeable, and its artistic expression shows the great achievements of court music in Tang Dynasty. From Bai Juyi's Song of Dressing and Feathering, we can see that the accompaniment of "colorful feathers" is made of gold, stone, silk and bamboo, such as green (referring to the bronze bowl in Tang Dynasty), Zheng, flute, violin, violin and sheng, and the music is as intoxicating as "dancing beads and shaking jade".
This is a famous court dance in the Tang Dynasty. Legend has it that it was written by Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and performed by his favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan. The original dance has been lost, and the performance is re-created according to written records and poetic descriptions. The music is based on ancient Chang 'an drum music, and the dance absorbs some dance styles of Shaanxi and Dunhuang murals and adopts the structure of Tang Daqu.
history
Li Longji was an emperor in the mid-Tang Dynasty and a famous "romantic son of heaven" in history. In his later period, he was blinded by Yang's witty remarks, regardless of state affairs, but he still made outstanding contributions to music art.
Among the ancient kings, Li Longji loved music. Li Longji's research on music should be the most in-depth and proficient, and he can play all kinds of musical instruments.
According to legend, when Li Longji dreamed of visiting the Moon Palace, he heard Yue Xian playing in the sky and a fairy in clothes dancing. The fairy's singing is mysterious and beautiful, and the dancing fairy dances gracefully. When Li Longji woke up, he clearly remembered the scene in his dream.
I really want to record the music in my dream for musicians to play and singers to dance. He kept thinking, thinking, thinking, and recording every thought. Even when he was in court during the day, he still held a jade emperor in his arms. While listening to the priest's recital, he secretly pressed the Kong Di on the flute to find the tune. He was fascinated by this fairy tale song, but he still couldn't finish it. Very distressed.
On one occasion, Li Longji came to Sanxiang to translate. He looked at the female mountain in the distance, fluctuating and filled with smoke. Suddenly a lot of beautiful fantasies came into being. He remembers all the Yue Xian he heard in his dream. Write it on the score at once. Created a court song suitable for court performance.
Li Longji ordered musicians to rehearse "Colorful Feathers" and asked his wife Yang Yuhuan to design the dance. In order to give them a good place to rehearse, Li Longji opened a pear garden in the yard.
Yang Yuhuan and imperial secretary worked day and night. Finally, I practiced a large-scale song and dance "Colorful Feathers" and performed it at a grand festival. Yue Xian played a delicate and charming "colorful feather", and Yang Yuhuan and the ladies-in-waiting sang and danced, one by one like a fairy, and the ministers' eyes looked straight. But Yang Yuhuan's skirt was stepped on by Mei Fei, which made the whole dance fall short.