Music Appreciation of "Flowers and Boys"

Northwest has a long history and profound cultural heritage, and the art form of "Hua'er" is a wonder in folk music. Looking forward to the music of ethnic minorities across the country, almost all of it has been mined and excavated. From original ecology to modernization is an inevitable trend for today's ethnic music to become international. However, Huaer Music has not yet crossed the threshold of its original ecology. As people living in the land of Huaer in the west, we always feel a little guilty. The following is the music appreciation of "Flowers and Boys" that I have compiled for you. It is for reference only. Let's take a look together!

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I will still sing this way even if I am not dead.

This is a famous "Hua'er" song spread in Gansu. "Hua'er", also known as "Youth", also known as "Wild Song", is a folk song popular among Hui, Shang, Salar, Dongxiang, Baoan and Han people in Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and other places. It is a very distinctive plateau folk song with a simple style, beautiful melody, strong emotional expression, bright mood, and strong rural flavor. It is deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups. "Hua'er" is the best way for people of all ethnic groups to express their joys, sorrows, joys and sorrows. Whether it is the elder brother who works in the fields, the Naimei who pulls weeds, the suffering people who travel to other places to live in poverty, the foot brothers who travel thousands of miles, the rafters who raft the yellow wood, hunters, shepherds, craftsmen... they are all He is the creator and singer of "Hua'er" and "Youth". During their work and life, they often couldn't help but "romantic" the "young man" who expressed their deepest feelings. During their work breaks, they looked up and saw mountains and clouds, as if they were in a landscape painting. People let go of their rough throats and hummed local folk songs with rough voices, but I couldn't help the true feelings in the songs. Even though life was difficult, the thousands of innate emotions they had gained were not destroyed by the oppression of life. This is It is the song in the hearts of the plateau people.

"Hua'er" is a short song style, "Although Hua'er is short, it has deep meaning." Not only is its language simple, concise and meaningful, but it is also good at choosing accurate, vivid and vivid words to express complete content. One of the unique characteristics of "Hua'er" is that it can be sung, all by word of mouth. The language is popular, fluent, fresh and clear, the rhythm is bright and musical, the singing is catchy, it sounds pleasant, and it is as concise as As complete as pearls. In addition, the colors are bright, the objects describe the scenery, and they are poetic and picturesque, arousing the listener's imagination, and there is a sense of phonological looping interest. Gansu, Qinghai, and Ning are determined by the closed feudal society and the specific geographical environment of living in remote mountains and remote areas. The people here have the endurance of hardship and a simple and simple lifestyle. Therefore, the "Huaer" style The tragedy, the high-pitched trembling of the voice, and the simplicity of the form are all derived from the singing of nomadic people, and are different from the melodious sounds of other folk songs. Although the content is also about singing love as its theme, the straightforward and heroic spirit is revealed in the timbre and words, fully expressing the bright and refreshing "Northwestern Spirit", which is very different from other Min-European songs.

In terms of content, "Hua'er" includes "Hua'er" who expresses sorrow, "Hua'er" who expresses love, "Hua'er" who resists feudal marriage, and "Hua'er" who promotes revolution. ...

The wishes, ideals and pursuits of life of working people of all ethnic groups have been fully expressed in "Hua'er".

Most of the contents of "Hua'er" that express their sorrows reveal the dark reality of increasingly deepening class oppression and class exploitation, and curse and criticize the evils of the ruling class. The Flower of Complaint is a bitter song embodying the blood and tears of poor people. It is like a mirror that truly reflects the dark reality of society at that time and tells the story of the tragic life under the cruel exploitation of the ruling class.

After a whole year of blood and sweat,

There was not enough money to pay the officials for food;

I cried to God by crying "Huda" three times.

When will the hard days be over?

There are many more complaints like this. The song contains the sorrowful anger of the poor people who have been suffering for many years and still cannot pay the official food and taxes. The bitter hatred and strong curse against the official court expressed the strong resistance of the people.

The name "Hua'er" comes from the concept of love. Young men and women living on the northwest plateau often use folk songs as a means to express their feelings and express their love to each other.

In the song, the man affectionately calls the woman "Hua'er", and the woman calls the man "Youngster".

So, the noun for calling a lover became the name of this folk song. The two emotional names "Hua'er" and "Youth" also reflect the basic characteristics of this kind of folk song in content. Therefore, love songs account for a large proportion in "Hua'er".

Love "Flower" takes love life as its content, but love, as the content of people's lives, is closely related to other social lives. It is also a window of social life, through which all aspects of society are shown. Therefore, The aspects of life reflected and the thoughts and feelings expressed by love "flowers" are much richer and broader, including praising gorgeous youth, expressing passionate love, pursuing freedom of marriage and opposing feudal arrangements and class oppression, etc. .

Calling "Hua'er" a "boy" clearly clarifies one of the contents of the love "Hua'er", that is, praising the gorgeous youth. This is the expression of love towards each other in the early stages of love. Praise for youth, appearance and character to express inner love.

"Songs are the expression of one's heart." "Flowers" are compared by the singers to "words from the heart" and "the key to happiness", combining praise with their own implicit courtship.

In the old society, working people were forced to make a living and left their homes to make a living. There were many hard laborers such as porters and paper carriers, which caused the separation of couples or lovers. Therefore, the "flowers" that express the deepest longing and parting feelings sprung up in large numbers like mushrooms caused by the rain. Such as:

A semi-circular pot is used to bake steamed buns,

Lan Yaner covers Zhuangzi,

Holding the dough hand, he sends it to his brother,

Clearing my tears washed my throat.

The separation of lovers or couples is the most touching moment for people’s true feelings. “Clearing the tears washes the throat” expresses the pain of separation vividly and reflects certain social factors in the helpless mood.

In the old society, the marriages of young men and women were often not able to get what they wanted because they were bound by "the orders of their parents and the words of the matchmaker". Those who were in love could not be united, and those who were united were often incompatible. This Scenes of love tragedies were staged. "Hua'er" and "Jiao Jiao Nu" are based on a sad love story circulated among the people. They were compiled into "Hua'er" by a blind fortune teller and are widely sung among the people.

Jiao Jiao Nu is a famous local beauty. After getting married, the couple loved each other lovingly and respected each other as guests. This made her mother-in-law dissatisfied. This year, it was his family's turn to serve in the military, and her husband was drafted into the army. When the husband was leaving, he was worried about his beloved wife. When leaving, he politely asked his mother to treat his beautiful daughter well. His mother pretended to agree, and her husband finally bid farewell to Jiao Jiao Nu in tears.

After her husband left, the mother-in-law thought that the time had come to abuse Jiao Jiao Nu, and ordered her to herd sheep and feed pigs every day, treating her as a human being. If she was not satisfied, she would be beaten with a whip, leaving Jiao Jiao Nu covered with bruises and pain. Unspeakable. Jiaojiaonu couldn't bear the humiliation and abuse and wanted to go back to her parents' home to escape for a while. However, her mother-in-law found many things for her to do to delay her return to her parents' home. The mother-in-law sang:

"I won't ask you to go. I'll wait until the three buckets and three liters of rice seeds turn yellow before I ask you to go."

So Jiao Jiao Nu had no choice but to walk alone in Wuyuan with tears in her eyes. Plowing, sowing, fertilizing, weeding, and harvesting in the fields, singing sadly:

"Brother Moon, give me light! Brother Magpie, come keep me company!"

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Finally the rapeseed was harvested, and the mother-in-law showed mercy and allowed the beautiful girl to return to her parents’ home.

However, the mother-in-law ordered Jiao Jiaonu to do the following:

“Wearing a tattered leather jacket, a tattered felt hat, and wearing Tibetan skins (Tibet’s clumsy homemade cowhide) Leather boots), driving an old dog and pulling a dilapidated car back to her parents’ home.

Jiao Jiao Nv returned from her parents’ home, but her mother-in-law abused her even more. Jiao Jiao Nv couldn’t bear her mother-in-law’s tea poisoning and worked hard in the barren mountains. On this occasion, he hanged himself in the woods. That night, the moon was as bright as a picture, so the shadow of the beautiful girl is still reflected on the Salha tree under the moonlight. This sad legend is widely circulated among the people.

When it comes to modern "flowers", people will think of the well-known folk song "In That Distant Place", but they don't know the story behind this folk song:

Wang Luobin, a national musician known as the "Father of Northwest Folk Songs", graduated from the Music Department of Beijing Normal University. In 1937, he and the authors Xiao Jun, Xiao Hong and others traveled to the northwest. Due to continuous heavy rain, they stayed in an inn in Liupan Mountain. It was there that Wang Luobin came into contact with the most primitive folk songs in the northwest for the first time. The female boss who sings the folk song "Hua'er" has a beautiful nickname called "Five Plums".

When Wang Luobin heard such an order, he was conquered by the "Five Plum Blossoms" and the wonderful "flowers". From then on, he entered the colorful world of national music and left it all his life. If I don’t go to Northwest China, I will never return to Beijing.

In 1941, director Zheng Junli went to Qinghai to shoot a movie and invited Wang Luobin to perform. A group of them came to the bank of Qinghai Lake.

Zheng Junli found Dolma, the daughter of a thousand-household leader, to play the role of the shepherdess in the play.

Wang Luobin put on his Tibetan robe and followed Zhuoma to herd the sheep. Wang Luobin lived the real life of a shepherd in the movie world for three days.

Dolma is a Tibetan girl, like a flower in the mountains, with two big black eyes, lined with thick braids, and a colorful Tibetan robe trimmed with gold, wrapping her fit body .

The director arranged for Wang Luobin and Dolma to ride on the same horse. Wang Luobin was very reserved at first, sitting behind Dolma, holding the saddle tightly with both hands, but Dolma suddenly galloped wildly, and Luobin instinctively He hugged Zhuoma's waist. They ran wildly on the grassland for a long time before tightening the reins and wandering on the grassland...

When they returned from the herding at dusk, Zhuoma gently pushed the sheep into the pen. Wang Luobin looked at them fascinated by the sunset. Dolma soaked in the whole body. Zhuoma turned around and looked at him affectionately with a blushing face. With sparks flashing in Zhuolma's eyes, she raised the shepherd's whip in her hand, lightly hit Wang Luobin, and then turned away.

Wang Luobin stood by the fence blankly, looking at Dolma as he disappeared into the night, and caressing the place where Dolma had beaten him. This beautiful and unrestrained Tibetan girl left him an unforgettable blow.

Late at night, Wang Luobin wandered outside Zhuoma's father's tent. The felt window fell down, separating the daughter of the head of a thousand families and the Han musician into two worlds.

Early the next morning, the film team left Qinghai Lake. Zhuoma and her father rode horses one ride after another until they stopped on a hillside.

Wang Luobin was riding on a camel, constantly looking back. As the camel's hump rose and fell and the camel bells jingled, the emotions in Wang Luobin's heart turned into songs and sang out:

In that distant place There

There is a good girl

When people pass by her counting house

They all look back with nostalgia

I wish Be a little lamb

Stand beside her

May she hold the whip every day

Keep hitting me gently

In the 1950s, the world-famous singer Robertson regarded this song as his repertoire and sang it all over the world.

Wang Luobin’s name has entered thousands of households together with his masterpiece "In That Distant Place". He has devoted his emotions to the Northwest throughout his life, and "Hua'er" is his soul.

Our country has a vast territory. Due to the differences in historical development, social status, natural environment, customs and languages ??of various ethnic groups in various places, folk songs show different colors and sentiments. There is no art in the world that has more local color and sentiment than folk songs.

"One side of the water supports one side of the people", when you open folk songs from all over the country, the rich flavor of life and rural flavor come to your face. The authors are like skilled craftsmen who are good at weaving and embroidering. They draw colorful threads from life and use various genres of folk songs to combine the majestic natural scenery and simple folk customs of various regions with various characters and characters in life. The stories are cleverly twisted together to embroider a golden plaque that is both vivid, touching, and humorous. Each gold plaque presents a different style of mood and color. This is the artistic appeal of folk songs. Its natural scenery and human flavor have a special charm of beauty. It immediately draws people into the life it describes, making us feel as if we are enjoying the scenery of various places with the author. , I can’t help but feel refreshed and frightened, and my ears and eyes are refreshed.

Get aesthetic enjoyment and inspire people’s love for life and pursuit of beauty.

This is the charm of folk songs.

Content expansion:

The Qinghai folk song "Hua'er and the Boy" incorporates the melody of the northwest China folk song "Hua'er".

"Flower and Boy" is a love song

The Qinghai folk song "Hua'er and Boy" incorporates the melody of the northwest China folk song "Hua'er" and is mainly spread in Qinghai and Gansu , Ningxia and other places.

"Hua'er" is a kind of folk song originated in Qinghai. It is widely spread in four provinces (regions) including Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia in northwest my country. It has high-pitched and melodious tunes, simple and fresh lyrics, and free song expression. He is sincere and known as the "Soul of the Northwest". As a national music with northwest characteristics that spreads widely throughout the region, it has long been favored by musicians.

Close to life and reality

Since musicals are close to life and social reality and have civilian aesthetic characteristics, the performance techniques and vocal methods of character singing are similar to those of Western operas and even Chinese operas. Operas all have different standards. Western opera has developed a set of scientific and systematic singing methods for a long time. According to the different characters in the play, there are also well-known singing methods such as tenor, soprano, baritone, mezzo-soprano, and baritone. There are different voices such as bass and alto, and more detailed tenors include heroic tenor, dramatic tenor, coloratura tenor, lyric tenor, etc. Chinese opera is an astonishing artistic wonder. Its singing method has the same strict and detailed divisions as Western opera. Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou have their own singing requirements. However, this stylized and formulaic singing method would seem far removed from life if placed in a musical. What kind of singing technique does a musical require? In my opinion, it should be a singing method based on science, life, characters, and personality. This is easier said than done. Listen to the singing of the characters in the musicals "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Phantom of the Opera," "Cats" and "Les Misérables" and you will find that their voice images are so close to the characters they play.

Just by listening to the voice, you will have a sense of the characters they play, their personalities and hearts. Even from their singing state, you can feel the life background, destiny and environment of the character at that time. Therefore, singing that is close to the characters is singing that is close to life. Singing that is close to life is singing that meets the aesthetic standards of the general audience. It can be seen from this that the voice that matches the characters on the drama stage is very important in musicals. This is also the reason why popular singing is widely spread among the people.

"Flowers and Boys" talks about the people and things of the common people. Its singing method should be based on science, popularity, popularity, nature and life. The voice image of each character should conform to the living conditions, personality, living environment and other requirements of that character in the play. For example, the male protagonist Seld in the play is a horse from the grassland, a sunny and handsome young man from the security tribe, who is kind, brave, smart, and wise. Then his voice should be clear, high-pitched, passionate, and relaxed. . The heroine Mei Duo - the name Mei Duo means flower when translated into Chinese. In Selder's heart, Mei Duo is a gorgeous red peony, beautiful, straightforward, brave, and persistent. Her voice should be full of both charming and wild qualities. When expressing her inner emotions, she should be delicate, soft, and almost confiding, bursting out. When you are passionate in your heart, you should be free and unrestrained, calling towards the distance, and create the image of a western girl. As for the powerful and brave prairie harrier eagle Gahu, his voice should be natural and rich, while the beautiful and petite Salar girl Ma Lianhua should have a clear, bright, clean and simple voice. She is positioned as a popular singer with a floating and straight voice, partial to folk songs. Of course, the voice of the father of the majestic and solemn Tibetan leader Mei Duo belongs to the mid-low range and should be played by a baritone or bass. The father of Gahu is the local governor. We positioned his voice as a tenor, but it seems that the middle part of the voice is a bit lacking, so although the voice is high, it is a bit hollow, and the articulation is a bit theatrical. In order to maintain his status and dignity, his voice shape is high-pitched and low-pitched, and sometimes he sings in a broken voice. In the chorus of the performance, the chorus that first used people to set the scene had bel canto skills, based on nature, life, and unified sounds, and formed different singing styles according to the plot and artistic conception, and achieved good results.

When "Flowers and Boys" was successfully performed, it happened that Northwest Flowers had been declared as a world cultural heritage protection project by Gansu, which was a great news for us. As native art workers and music workers who have been influenced by Huaer music since childhood, it is our unshirkable responsibility to inherit and promote Northwest Huaer music. If Hua'er Music, which has long been in its original ecology in the northwest region, can go out of Gansu and go to the world through the platform of the musical "Flower and the Boy", it will not only provide valuable experience for our musical creation, but also bring benefits to the world. More people on the Internet can appreciate the wonderful music of our nation.

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