Light music refers to the kind of music that is relaxed and lively. It is music that can give people pleasure and lyrical feelings, is beautiful, and is easy to understand. The so-called "light" refers to the comparison with solemn and serious music. Dances, marches, and serenades are "lighter" than sonatas and symphonies; light songs, lyric songs, and humorous songs are lighter than cantata and oratorios; comic operas are "lighter" than serious dramas. To put it figuratively, it is a light weapon in music, roughly the same as essays, jokes, lyric poems, etc. in literature. Light music plays an important role in people's current musical life. Beautiful and healthy light music not only provides entertainment, but also cultivates sentiment and improves the music level of the listener.
The melodies of light music works are beautiful, clear and smooth, the rhythm is bright and brisk, and the timbres are rich and colorful, and are deeply loved by people. To sum up, the characteristics of light music are: short structure, beautiful melody and eclectic form. The band has a refined organization, novel instrumentation, and distinctive rhythm. It can express people's thoughts and feelings more delicately.
Light music is very popular among the people and has extensive social significance and spiritual effects. There are many types of light music, including general life songs, lyrical songs, witty songs, and satirical songs, as well as some operettas, waltzes, small orchestral overtures, serenades, and some orchestral sketches, movie songs, dance music, and beautiful piano Qu et al.
Style characteristics
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The style and characteristics of light music are more lively and interesting than other forms of music, especially The tune is particularly beautiful. Some symphonies, orchestral music, cantata and other works often need the help of technical means such as harmony, orchestration, polyphony and so on. In addition to this, light music also relies more importantly on the beauty of the melody. Therefore, light music has stricter requirements for beautiful and light tunes than other music forms. A lyrical song should be graceful and euphemistic; a waltz must have a distinct rhythm and melodious tone; a humorous song should give people a joyful and joyful infection; and a satirical song should be spicy and sharp. The unique performance characteristics of these light music also form its own style.
Music positioning
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The so-called light music (LIGHT MUSIC) is relative to classical music, that is, it is adapted and interpreted using popular popular techniques. , played by a small band, is a kind of popular music with a casual nature with the purpose of creating a warm, romantic, relaxed and beautiful atmosphere. As we all know, classical music has a thick texture, huge structure and scale, dignified musical thoughts, and profound ideological connotations. The most important feature is solemnity and dignity. Light music, on the contrary, has a light texture, small and simple structure, bright and stretching rhythm, and beautiful melody. It has no profound ideological connotation, nor does it want to have such connotation. It just wants to bring people relaxed and beautiful enjoyment. Its main feature is lightness and liveliness. Therefore, it is very appropriate to name this music as light music.
But light music is not the same as pop music with pop songs as its core. It is not as gentle as pop music, which has distinctive characteristics of the times and critical awareness of society. It is also not as kitsch and sensational as pop music, but has high aesthetic taste and relatively little commercial flavor. While popular pop songs go out of fashion quickly, beautiful light music numbers remain timeless. In general, light music is between classical music and pop music. It is a compromise between the two stark oppositions. It can be said to be the "third force" in music. It has both classical and modern flavors, is gorgeous but not gaudy, romantic but not frivolous, lyrical but not lingering, easy to understand and approachable, elegant in style and extraordinary in style. Classical music fans don't find it vulgar, and pop music lovers can also accept it. It can be said to be both elegant and vulgar.
This characteristic of light music made it widely popular as soon as it appeared. The Mantovani Band established in the late 1930s is a symbol of the birth of light music. With its extremely soft, melodious and intoxicating performance, the band quickly established its own unique image and temperament in light music, establishing its own position in the popular music world. The 1960s and 1970s were the heyday of light music. A large number of distinctive light music bands were established one after another, such as the James Last Band, the Paul Morier Band, the Henry Mancini Band, and the Percy Faith Band. Band, Stanley Black Band, Bert Kempfert Band, Werner Müller Band, Alfred Hauser Band, Frank Purcell Band, etc. These bands continue to hold light music concerts all over Europe and the United States, and record a large number of exquisite records, which are sold all over the world. This kind of small and exquisite music makes classical music fans feel refreshed and unique, just like changing into casual and natural casual clothes after wearing serious suits for a long time. For pop music lovers, after experiencing the impact of hoarse shouts, light music is like a cool and refreshing drink.
Features of the repertoire
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Most of the repertoire of light music is adapted. Among them, European and American pop songs account for a large proportion, and many of them are popular songs on the British and American charts, such as "Yesterday", "The Rhythm of the Rain", "I Love Paris", "Love is Blue", " Lily Marlene" etc.
After these songs were adapted into light music, the popular factors in the original songs were downplayed, and the beautiful melodies were highlighted, making the music mood change and more beautiful and sweet. To this day, many of the hit songs have been forgotten, but the light music arrangements remain in people's minds.
Theme music or interludes of European and American movies, especially Hollywood movies, musicals, and stage plays, are another important source of adaptation of light music. Like "Moon River", "Time Passes", "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", "Three Coins in the Spring", "Say You, Say Me", "Love Story", "The Godfather", "Sunday" "Doctor Vargo", "Argentina, Don't Cry for Me", "Memories" and other music have become classics of light music.
Using popular music language to interpret classical music is something that many light music bands are very keen on. A good arrangement and performance not only retains the classical spirit of the original music, but also incorporates a distinctive modern flavor. Classical music fans will not find it superficial and feel it has a unique charm; those who stay away from classical music will find that the distance between them and classical music has shortened. , and increased interest in appreciation. Bach's "Ave Maria" adapted into light music, Schubert's "Serenade", Mozart's "Piano Concerto No. 21", Beethoven's "Moonlight", Adagio from the "Pathétique" Sonata, Liszt's "Dream of Love" , Smetana's "Vltava", Massenet's "Meditation", Chopin's "Fantasia Impromptu", etc., all sound unique and full of brilliance.
Ethnic folk music from all over the world is also the object of light music adaptation. Such as the British "Last Rose of Summer", the Italian "Return to Sorrento" and "Santa Lucia", the Romanian "Hoora", the Canadian "Red River Valley", the American "On the Pasture" "Home", Cuba's "Pigeon", Gypsy's "Song of the Wanderer" and Latin music, etc. In addition, some widely circulated romantic ditties such as "Girl's Prayer", "Romance of Love", "Green Sleeves", etc. are also often played by light music bands.
Charm and beauty
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The charm and beauty of light music are different from both classical music and pop music. The moving melody, beautiful harmony, novel orchestration, rich timbre, and strong romantic sentiment all give people a new feeling and create the unique beauty of light music. The piece "Charm" performed by the Mandovani Band epitomizes this beauty. The extremely pleasant sound flows into people's hearts like intoxicating fragrance, and people can't help but shout in their hearts: "It's so beautiful!" The band played "Time Passes", "Autumn Leaves" and "Yesterday" The beauty that the music brings to people is also difficult to express in words.
Listening to the performance of the Paul Moria Band, one feels that every note is permeated with the unique romantic sentiment of the French nation, reminding you of the fragrance of wine, roses, and tulips; the sunshine of the Mediterranean, A lover's laughter and tears. He showed various romantic feelings and poetry in life, which aroused strong excitement in people. His famous work "Love is Blue" became a hit in Europe and the United States in the 1960s and has remained popular for a long time, becoming a piece that light music bands compete to play.
The beauty of "Evenings on the outskirts of Moscow" played by the James Last Band is irreplaceable: with the guitar gently strumming a few decomposed chords, and the percussion instruments Against the background of the bright rhythm played, the grand piano played the main melody of the song softly and euphemistically. Then the beautiful mixed chorus sounded softly along with the extension of the strings, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, sometimes far and sometimes near, bringing people into the distant Russian night full of warm and romantic atmosphere. The whole music is dreamlike and beautiful. If listening to symphony is like watching a drama, then listening to light music is like reading beautiful poems and watching elegant landscape paintings, which is pleasing to the ear and refreshing.
Novel adaptation
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Most conductors of light music bands are proficient in classical music and can play a variety of instruments. They are both the conductor of the band and the arranger of the music. The unique charm of light music is largely due to their creative arrangement of the original music. Among them, the most frequently used method is to reprocess the rhythm, speed, intensity, beat and other musical elements of the original music. The more common method is to give classical music the rhythm of Latin dance music, jazz, rock and disco music, and strengthen the original music through percussion instruments. The rhythmic characteristics and beat emphasis of the music create a strong contrast between the form and content of the music. For example, use disco rhythm to play Mozart's Serenade, use tango rhythm to play Brahms' Hungarian Dance, use samba, cha-cha, and rumba rhythms to play Dvo?ák's Slavonic Dances and Offenbach's Barcarolle. Wait, it sounds enthusiastic and unrestrained, very contagious. Some popular songs with originally intense rhythms are "softened" with a slow tempo, thus creating a new listening experience.
Colorful and unique orchestration is another main method of light music adaptation. First, they like to use some unrefined folk instruments, such as mandolin, Spanish guitar, harmonica, accordion, etc., and often let them play the main melody, so as to create a special musical mood and atmosphere, and combine it with traditional orchestral music. The musical instruments form a contrast in timbre, making the sound varied and colorful.
Second, he likes to use various percussion instruments, such as xylophone, snare drum, jazz drum, tambourine, triangle, percussion bells, maracas, etc. He also uses some distinctive ethnic and folk percussion instruments to make the sound lively and sensory. impact on. The third is to enrich the band's timbre and add a modern flavor to the sound by adding electroacoustic instruments. Electronic instruments, percussion instruments, and traditional string instruments are perfectly integrated to create a bright, light, vivid and lively sound effect. The fourth is to add wordless vocal humming to enhance the beautiful musical atmosphere. James Rust is the pioneer in this regard. His band has a dedicated mixed chorus. During the performance, accompanied by a modern rhythm, the moving wordless mixed singing alternates with the beautiful melody played by the band. It appears, rises and falls, and is extremely beautiful. For example, the band played Beethoven's "Für Elise" and Offenbach's "Barcarolle" with mixed male and female voices singing without words, which sounded unique and beautiful.
Audio products
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Since the 1980s, the performance of light music has gradually developed in a personal direction. The core of the band is no longer the conductor, but the conductor. He is a star performer of a certain instrument; the band has also changed from the original main body of the performance to the supporting role of the performance. Some light music bands are eclectic, integrating symphony, pop music, jazz, rock music, and new age music, which are very different from traditional light music bands. There are many records of this kind that can be called "new light music", but in addition to Richard Clayderman (piano), Kenicki (saxophone), Bierke (clarinet), Modia and Odin (ocarina and Except for the records recorded by people such as cello), Zamfir (panpipe), Yanni and other bands, most of the records have a strong "salon flavor" and cannot give people high-level aesthetic enjoyment.
To listen to authentic light music, the first choice is still the three major light music bands. In fact, the records of these three bands have occupied a mainstream position in China. Among them, most of the Mantovani Band's records are produced by DECCA, mainly recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. Last year, DECCA released a two-piece set of Mantovani's golden songs, which brought together 29 of the most exciting golden songs played by the Mantovani band. It is a treasure for collection. Some small European and American record companies and Japanese record companies have also produced many records of the band. The James Last Band is an exclusive band under Universal Company (formerly PolyGram). It has recorded a large number of exquisite records over the decades. There are more than 30 of them available in China alone, making it the one with the most recording products. Light music band. The albums of the Paul Moria Band are recorded by PHILIPS, and there are a large number of them. There are also many newly recorded albums in recent years. The recording standards are also high and the sound effects are excellent. Many records of other famous light music bands, such as Henry Mancini Band, Alfred Hauser Band, Stanley Black Band, Kurt Edelhagen Band, and Hesse Band, have also entered China. But it is no longer easy to see.
Classic band
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Speaking of this, I believe that many people who like light music must be familiar with the following name. They, It's Bandari. Some people say that BANDARI is a spotless note from Switzerland; others say that BANDARI's music has the effect of washing away the dust in the soul and lighting up the dark night. That energy is transformed into diamond-shaped Swiss sunshine, with sections of exquisite stacking The musical phrases constantly impact the spirituality that has been silent for a long time. "Bandari" comes from Switzerland. It is a band composed of a group of young composers, performers and sound source sampling engineers. It became popular in Europe in 1990. "Banderi" never wanted to be exposed in the media. Once he started music production, he lived deep in the Alpine forests until the master tape was completed. Being in the natural mountains and wilderness gives Bandari Orchestra endless creative inspiration and the most natural and refined music style. Every sound of insects and running water was recorded by going deep into the Swiss mountains, forests and lakes, and visiting the Swiss Alps, the banks of Luochun Lake, and the foothills of Rose Peak. In order to collect natural sound effects, it is commonplace for "Bandari" to go to the mountains, go to the sea, and even sleep in the mountains and forests. What I like about Bandari's music is not just limited to the so-called natural sounds. The covers of each of their albums have natural scenery that makes people yearn for it. Either water or mountains, blue or green; it feels very relaxing, very friendly, and very happy.
Another light music master, Paul Molière, passed away in Perpignan, France on November 3, 2006, at the age of 81. His tone is blue, like the blue of the Mediterranean Sea, refreshing and poetic. There is a bit of melancholy in this blue. This melancholy may be the melancholy of a lover, the melancholy of the rainy season in France, or the unique melancholy of human beings. It is Paul Molière-style and can only be felt with the heart. His music may not achieve immortality, but he stands on the ground and lives in the world like ordinary people. You don't have to sit upright to listen to his music. What he expresses is the joy, anger, sorrow and joy of ordinary people, which exists in everyone's heart. Those various emotions that are difficult to detect and capture. What's great about him is that he displays the poetry of life through his music, allowing you to resonate with those beautiful artistic conceptions.
Mantovani, known as the world's greatest light musician, was born in 1905 in a musical family in Venice, Italy. His father was the concertmaster of the Toscanini Orchestra.
Mantovani studied violin under the guidance of his father since he was a child. In his youth, he was admitted to the London College of Music. At the age of 16, he publicly performed the violin concertos of Bruch and Saint-Sa?ns. At the age of 18, he formed a six-piece band in Birmingham and performed professionally in hotels and theaters. In 1933, Mantovani became a British citizen. In 1935, he established a large orchestra mainly composed of string instruments, which later became the Mantovani Orchestra. Mantovani himself also had multiple identities as a violinist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He died in 1980. Mantovani's success mainly lies in his full understanding of the performance of the violin and his ability to properly manipulate the orchestra, so that the entire orchestra can very accurately express the violinist's unique playing style, which is smooth and stretched, and the melody is beautiful and pleasant. , the sound is gorgeous and full, which fascinates the audience.
The James Rust Band has performed all over the world, winning the welcome and appreciation of millions of listeners with its warm melodies and unique harmonies. James Last is good at making various changes to the band, playing classical music, folk music, opera or dance music, movie interludes, dance music, pop music, and interludes from stage plays and TV series in various combinations. etc. In addition, the band is also equipped with a well-trained backup singer and chorus team with beautiful harmonies.
Paul Molière, Mantovani, and James Last Band are also known as the world's three major light music groups.
Secret Garden is a famous new century music style band The band consists of a Norwegian composer and keyboard player (Rolf Loughland) and an Irish female violinist (Fionora Sally). They first met at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, when Loveland was already a well-known songwriter, and they came together because they had an unimaginably similar understanding of music. In 1995, their path-finding work "Nocturne" won the Eurovision Song Contest in one fell swoop. In April 1996, they released their first album "Songs from the Secret Garden", which was a huge success and had an impact all over the world. The band combines the ethereal and ethereal music style of Ireland with Norwegian folk music and classical music. The music is quiet and profound, natural and smooth, and people are integrated into it unconsciously.
Classic tracks
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(The data of light music comes from the light music with the highest search volume in Baidu MP3, and the statistics are automatically calculated by the system.