A brief analysis of the performance requirements of "Lin Chong's Night Running" Summary: "Lin Chong's Night Running" was created by the famous yangqin master Professor Xiang Zuhua in 1984 based on the musical elements of the Kunqu opera "Lin Chong's Night Running". The theme and concept of the work are based on the perspective of traditional Chinese cultural aesthetics, exploring a musical way of thinking with national charm. While using the rhythm of Kunqu music, it also draws on Western composition techniques, and through the use of two-tone bamboo, Yamaguchi slip Innovative techniques such as plucking, sliding and rocking, chromatic variations, and polyphonic textures make the music full of drama and heroic spirit. This piece not only involves many difficult dulcimer playing techniques, but also puts forward high requirements on the cultural quality of the performers. This article mainly analyzes the work from two aspects: musical performance and performance techniques. Keywords: Yangqin; Lin Chong's Night Running; Music Performance; Technical Skills Preface: The story of "Lin Chong's Night Running" comes from Chapter 10 of the novel "Water Margin" - "Lin Jiaotou visits the Fengxue Mountain Temple, and Lu Yuhou burns the forage farm" . In traditional opera, "Lin_Running at Night" tells the story: Lin Chong was framed and imprisoned unjustly because he offended the powerful, but the powerful still refused to let him go and wanted to put him to death. So he set up a conspiracy and sent him to guard the military fodder yard after he was sentenced to be expelled from the army. He planned to set fire to him at night. Even if he could not be burned to death, he could be framed to death with a more serious crime. This repeated persecution pushed Lin Chong's tolerance to the limit. He threw away his illusions and fought back angrily, killing his enemies and fleeing to Liangshan overnight. This story has ups and downs, prominent characters, and strong drama. It has always been a good material for scripts written by various operas and rap performing arts. There are more than one musical works with this theme, and the dulcimer solo "Lin Chong Night Running" is just one One of them. The composer drew on the tones and techniques of Kun Opera and traditional opera music, and appropriately applied various technical techniques of the dulcimer to write this solo dulcimer work with percussion accompaniment. The theme and musical materials of this piece are full of drama and have a strong traditional Chinese opera style. The structure, spin, phrasing, and "breathing" of the piece all incorporate elements of traditional opera performance. The emotional expression of the music is very detailed and requires high musical performance ability of the performers. There are many specific performance techniques involved in the dulcimer, the key ones are the use of "double-tone bamboo" and "glide finger cot"; The use of "rock picking" techniques, and the playing techniques of fast chromatic scales that use the sound effects of howling wind and snow to express inner peace, etc. Because there are so many techniques, it is easy for us to become obsessed with technique and ignore the inherent performance of music during practice. In fact, all the playing techniques involved in the song are designed for emotional expression. In addition, because of the special style of the music, if the performer is not familiar with the music and expressions of traditional Chinese opera, it will be easy to be confused when playing. Therefore, before playing this piece of music, you can listen to more Kun Opera or Peking Opera music. Watch stylized performances of traditional operas to gain visual associations. The structure of the music is basically arranged according to the storyline, and is divided into five parts: "Introduction", "Indignation", "Night Running", "Snowstorm" and "Up the Mountain". According to the author's intention of "starting, multiplying, turning, and combining": "introduction" should be "starting", "indignation" should be "carrying", "running at night, wind and snow" should be "turning", and "going up the mountain" should be the last part of the whole song. "combine". The description is as follows in order: 1. Introduction The introduction at the beginning of the music draws on the strong rhythm changes and intensity changes in Peking Opera percussion to express inner emotions. It highlights the image of a troubled hero from the beginning. The decorated bass uses a rhythm like "drumming", which rises in one hit, leaving a lingering aftertaste, and echoes the bass drum to create a specific atmosphere of the music. The application of double-tone bamboo makes the sound richer and powerfully evokes the musical theme. Such a musical atmosphere cannot be achieved by just changing the volume. When playing, you might as well imagine the stylized performance of Lin Chong in the opera. Starting from the inner feelings, make the strength and elasticity of the string strikes just right. Every blow here must be deep. Rich and shocking. When playing the introduction, large changes in dynamics are key to expressing emotion.

Technically speaking, the key to large and rapid changes in intensity is the difference in the force point. Here we need to coordinate the fingers, wrists, wrists and arms well, make full use of the power of the forearm to control the string, and release it after touching the string. The speed should be fast, and when playing single and double notes, pay attention to using different string touching angles. The wheel tone should be "dense" and the left-hand tone should be "slightly stronger" than the right-hand tone, because the left-hand tone is all high-pitched and main melody tones. The control and application of "breath" during performance is a very important part of expressing musical emotions, especially during strong emotional transitions. For example, in the first and second beats of the introduction, when playing, there should be a deep-set emotion that is bound to erupt but is forcibly suppressed. The breath should be as deep as possible, and the fulcrum of breathing should also be lowered accordingly. Use "hold your breath" to make these two beats There is a slight pause in between, and then gradually reaches the climax. This section is borrowed from the rhythm of the percussion in the martial arts field of opera, so it is extremely dramatic. It gives us the impression that we are on the stage: Lin Chong is stepping on the drums, slowly and quickly, walking from the backstage step by step. When he came out, he looked ahead, walked faster and faster, and walked quickly around the stage. This requires us to combine the use of breath with musical expression when playing this section. In section 6, the first four beats are explosive. On the fourth beat, you suddenly hold your breath and lengthen your "breath" to change your mood. After the lingering sound disappears, start slowly and gradually with gentle movements and very weak strength. Play the following pattern at a fast crescendo. This kind of technical processing can more deeply express Lin Chong's grief and indignation in the hero's dilemma. There are many infinite repetitions in the music, which are borrowed from Chinese opera music melodies. Some of the "infinite repetitions" are actually based on the changes and decorations of a note (such as bars 3 to 5). For such places, you need to learn the Peking Opera board. The expression of drums seeks the tension of musical expression in speed and intensity, depicting Lin Chong's mood of "knocking on the sky and asking the earth". The ending of the introduction has the characteristic of "sighing", and finally ends on the long round of harmonies that slowly disappears, paving the way for the musical emotional tone of the first section of the music, and the narrative section officially begins here. . 2. Indignation The Adagio of "Indignation" is a piece of lyrical music, which is a musical description of Lin Chong's inner world. The difference between it and ordinary lyrical passages is that the music narrates Lin Chong's sad and helpless mood after experiencing family destruction, being wronged, and having no place for heroes. The performance must have a classical charm, be slow but not sloppy, the sound of the wheel must be dignified and deep, and the breathing must be steady and deep. . The imitation of bamboo in the high register produces a timbre with a metallic sound of strings. The use of this technique not only adds a desolate color to the music, but also expresses the sadness of Lin Chong's inner world. In the Adagio section, the decorative sounds imitate the sound of the lower arpeggios of the traditional Chinese instrument guzheng, and the descending three-note sequence is used to decorate the melody sounds, making the music more like a traditional opera. The emotional tone of the entire Adagio is depressive, from the key of C to the key of F. With the gradual development of the storyline, the same theme melody becomes richer and richer, the tension becomes stronger and stronger, and the emotional accumulation is about to happen. At the end of the Adagio, the composer used the overtone performance technique. Its hazy and elegant sound effects not only vividly express the protagonist's tragedy, but also truly demonstrate his enduring character of compromise. The end of this section is full of multiple emotions such as misery, grief, anger, and patience, and the work naturally transitions to "Night Running". Source: Shenzhou Late Edition