Cantonese music is a variety of instrumental music produced in the Guangzhou dialect area. It originated in Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta area at the beginning of this century. It is popular at home and abroad and enjoys a high reputation and a large audience. It is a local folk music that is based on Guangdong folk tunes, some Cantonese opera music and brand tunes, and absorbs the nutrients of ancient Chinese, especially folk music in the Jiangnan region. After nearly 300 years of gestation, it has been perfected and developed.
Guangdong music uses more decorative rooms in performance, and various musical instruments combine to create unique timbres and styles. In the early ensembles, the two-stringed instrument, fiddle (similar to banhu), three-stringed instrument, yueqin, and horizontal flute (dizi) were mostly used, which was called "five-stringed instrument", also known as "hard bow combination". The solo performance mostly used pipa or dulcimer. After the 1920s, Gaohu was used as the main instrument, supplemented by Yangqin and Qinqin, commonly known as "three-piece head", also known as "soft bow". The main or characteristic instrument is Gaohu, also known as Yuehu and Nanhu. It is basically the same shape as the erhu, except that the barrel is thinner and shorter. At the beginning of this century, folk artist Lu Wencheng changed the outer strings of the Erhu from the customary silk strings to steel strings. The tuning was four or five degrees higher than that of the Erhu, making the sound brighter. When playing, hold the piano tube between your legs to control the volume.
Cantonese music is a kind of title music, which uses simplicity to control complexity in structure. It uses the rich music and wide range of instrumental music, as well as the rich and varied expression techniques to describe scenes, lyrics, and objects. Therefore, it has a rich local color and special artistic charm. Guangdong music is good at describing small situations in life, and it shows concern for traditional life tastes. To appreciate it, one does not necessarily have to discover major social and life themes in it, but the description of natural scenery often brings a sense of entertainment.
In the 30 years from the early 1920s to the year before liberation, more than 300 Guangdong music compositions were created, of which more than 50 have been circulated at home and abroad. His major works include "Thunder in a Dry Sky", "Inverted Curtain", "Rain Beats the Plantains", "Dragon Race to Win the Gold", "Hungry Horse Rattles the Bell", "Autumn Moon over a Flat Lake", "Backgammon", "Birds Throwing into the Forest", " "Zenyuan Bell" and so on. After liberation, Guangdong music has made great progress, with many outstanding composers and performers emerging and a large number of new works created. Among them are "Fish Swimming in the Spring Water", "Horse Trial in the Spring Suburbs", "Spring Morning in the Mountain Country", "Happy Sickle", etc. It is also widely circulated.
The formation of Guangdong music
Guangdong music is one of the music genres with distinctive local color and unique style. It was produced and spread in the Pearl River Delta area of ??Guangdong in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. It has a wide range of contents. , including Cantonese opera and Chaozhou music, ditties and local folk songs, etc., and now it specifically refers to silk and bamboo music.
Guangdong music is a type of music with distinctive local colors and unique styles. It is produced and spread in the Pearl River Delta area of ??Guangdong. It has a wide range of contents, including Cantonese opera and Chaozhou music, ditties, local folk songs and art, etc. The Guangdong music we are talking about now refers specifically to silk and bamboo music (ditty).
In modern times, Guangdong ditties were very popular, and they were played whether as accompaniments to operas, street performers, or weddings and funerals. The music played by this kind of band is also called "Eight Music" and "Street Music". ”, “Cathedral Music”. The sound color of Guangdong music is crisp, bright and gorgeous; the melody style is colorful, jumping and lively; the music structure is mostly short and single pieces, and there are few large-scale suites.
Before 1921, it was the formative period of Guangdong music. It was first formed in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China (beginning of the 20th century). It developed rapidly and soon became popular all over the country. It was also popular in places where overseas Chinese in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia live. Also very popular. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, many "cut scenes" were popular in Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta - "also known as Baozi, that is, when the silk string band has no singing, the music score of each string is also called" and "minor score", Guangdong music is Developed on the basis of these folk music. The instruments used during this period include two-stringed instruments, fiddles (non-Western fiddles, Chinese instruments with the same shape as banhu, which appeared around the Ming Dynasty), three-stringed instruments, yueqin, and flutes (or flutes), commonly known as "five-stringed instruments." Also known as "hard bow".
In the early music, the notes were scattered and the rhythm lacked changes. In the long-term development, it gradually formed new characteristics. A variety of decorative sound patterns were added to the progression of the tune, called "flowers". The tone is crisp and bright, the melody is smooth and beautiful, and the rhythm is lively and cheerful. The music of this period was a collective creation circulated among the people. Yan Gongshang appeared in the early 20th century and was a representative figure of Guangdong music. Representative repertoire of this period include "Thunder in the Dry Sky", "Linked Buttons", "Inverted Curtain", "Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon", "Hungry Horse Rattles the Bell", "Little Taohong", "Autumn Moon in the Han Palace", "Double Voices of Hate", "Rain Beats the Plantains", etc.
The development of Guangdong music
The 1920s to 1930s was the prosperous period of Guangdong music, with the emergence of professional composers and performers such as Lu Wencheng and He Liutang. The original " "Hard bow" bands also evolved into "soft bow" bands. Since the 1950s, Guangdong music has continued to develop.
The 1920s and 1930s were the prosperous period of Guangdong music, with the emergence of many professional composers and performers, such as He Liutang, Lu Wencheng, Yi Jianquan, Yin Zizhong, etc. Around 1926, influenced by the silk and bamboo from the south of the Yangtze River, Lu Wencheng introduced the erhu to Hong Kong and Macao, switched to steel strings, and moved the strings higher to become the Cantonese hu (also known as Gaohu) with crisp and bright pronunciation. Yangqin and Qinqin are added, and Gaohu is used as the main instrument, which is called "three-piece head", also known as "soft bow".
Later, on the basis of the "three-piece", silk and bamboo instruments such as dongxiao, flute, and coconut coco were added, and the band expanded. It was not until around 1930 that the band was finalized. Representative songs include He Liutang's "Dragon Race to Win the Gold", "Birds Alarmed", "Drunkard Man Fishing for the Moon", "Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon"; Lu Wencheng's "Backgammon", "Pinghu Autumn Moon", "Awakening Lion", "Qishan Mountain" "Phoenix", "Jiao Shi Ming Qin"; Yin Zizhong's "Heroes of Huazhou" and Yi Jianquan's "Birds Throwing into the Forest", etc.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Guangdong music once reached a trough, and some vulgar works appeared, such as "Sweet Sister" by He Dasha, "Whispers" by He Yunian, etc.
Since the 1950s, Guangdong music has developed greatly. Musicians have collected and organized Guangdong music, researched and reformed the harmony and orchestration of Guangdong music, and published Many musical scores, and a large number of excellent repertoires have been created and performed, such as "Spring Horse Trial in the Suburbs" by Chen Deju, "Spring Comes to the Fields" by Lin Yun, "Fish Swimming in the Spring Water" by Liu Tianyi and "Spring Morning in the Mountain Country" by Qiao Fei. 》.
The instruments currently used in Guangdong music include Gaohu, Yangqin, Qinqin, Dongxiao, Daruan, Zhonghu, etc. Gaohu is the main instrument, among which "sliding fingers" is the most distinctive feature of Guangdong music The playing techniques are divided into "Xiao Chuo", "Da Chuo", "Xiao Zhuo", "Da Zhuo", "Back Slide", etc. The main string styles include Hechi tune (tuned to 52), Shangliu tune (tuned to 15), Yifu tune (tuned to 37), Shigong tune (tuned to 63), Gongyi tune (tuned to 37), and various other types of strings. Express different emotions.
Excellent pieces
"Rain Hits the Plantains" is one of the outstanding early pieces of music. The music expresses the joyful mood of southern life with smooth and bright melody. The melody uses techniques such as pauses and flower additions to describe the sound of rain pattering on the banana trees, the shape of the banana trees swaying in the rain, and people's happiness when it rains during a drought.
The score of "Hungry Horse Rattles" was handed down by He Liutang. It originally used the pipa as the main instrument, but later it was changed to the strings. The music uses an unstable rhythm and various sound patterns such as pauses, and prominently uses the two tone levels of si and fa, vividly showing the image of a hungry horse rattling a bell.
"Autumn Moon over a Flat Lake" is the representative work of the famous Guangdong music master Lu Wencheng. He once traveled to Hangzhou in the golden autumn season and composed the song because of his emotions. The song expresses the author's feelings about the beautiful scenery of West Lake. The melody adopts both Zhejiang folk music and Guangdong music style. It is one of the most outstanding melodies in Chinese instrumental music.
"Dragon and Phoenix Dance", the long dragon performing with dragon lanterns in folk festivals, has often become the Chinese people's call for a new atmosphere. The dragon and phoenix are a symbol of good things in the minds of the Chinese people. The theme tone of the music adopts a syncopated rhythm, which is very propulsive and has a rhythm, just like the gait of a dancer, stepping forward and retreating, tossing and turning. The refreshing sound of the gong, the singing of the suona, and the neat rhythm of the plucked instruments all create a joyful atmosphere.
"Autumn Moon in the Han Palace" (also known as "The Moon Reflected in the Three Pools") is a traditional Chinese instrumental music piece. Many of them have been widely circulated and adapted over a long period of time, and their original titles have changed significantly. "Autumn Moon in the Han Palace" was originally a sad song, but "Three Pools Reflecting the Moon" has swept away the sadness. On the backbone of the melody originally transmitted from Beiqu, a large number of subtle decorative flourishes of the Cantonese musical language are added, thus transforming the vigor and length of Beiqu into the delicacy and lightness of Cantonese opera.