A
brief introduction to Traditional Chinese Classical Music
- The
differences and common ground between Classical (literati) and Folk
traditions from a Historical Perspective
- Liu
Fang
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This
is a famous painting "Listen to the Qin" by the Emperor Huizong
(1082~1135)of the Song Dynasty, one of the greatest artists
in Chinese history.
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Generally speaking, there are two kinds of music traditions
– classical and folk. Music from the “classical tradition”
refers to art music or “sophisticated” music composed
by scholars and literati in China’s historical past. Chinese
classical music
often has thematic, poetic or philosophical associations and is typically
played solo, on instruments such as the qin
(commonly known as guqin), 7-string zither with over 3000 years of
well-documented history, or the pipa,
a lute with over 2000 years of history. Traditional music in the classical
sense is intimately linked to poetry and to various forms of lyric
drama, and is more or less poetry without words. In the same manner
as poetry, music sets out to express human feelings, soothe suffering
and bring spiritual elevation. The instruments demand not only a mastery
of technique but a high degree of sensitivity (and inner power) to
evoke the subtle sonorities and deep emotional expression that rely
very much on the left hand techniques (such as sliding, bending, pushing
or crossing of the strings to produce typical singing effects and
extreme dynamic ranges), where synchronized ensemble playing is virtually
impossible without losing certain subtlety. This type of music has
come down to us as an oral tradition from masters to students, although
written scores that combine numbers and symbols representing pitch
and finger techniques respectively have been in use for nearly two
thousand years. For instance, the earliest scores for guqin we still
have today were from the third century. However it is almost impossible
to play directly from the score without first having learnt from a
master.
In traditional China, most well–educated people and monks
could play classical music as a means of self-cultivation, meditation,
mind purification and spiritual elevation, union with nature, identification
with the values of past sages, and communication with divine beings
or with friends and lovers. They would never perform in public,
or for commercial purposes, as they would never allow themselves
to be called “professional musicians”. This was in part
to keep a distance from the entertainment industry where performing
artists used to be among the lowest in social status
.
In fact, masters of classical music had their own profession as
scholars and officers, and would consider it shameful if they had
to make a living from music. They played music for themselves, or
for their friends and students, and they discovered friends or even
lovers through music appreciation (there are plenty of romantic
stories about music in Chinese literature). Up to the beginning
of the twentieth century, classical music had always belonged to
elite society and it was not popular among ordinary people. Today
it is really for everybody who enjoys it, and professional musicians
playing Chinese classical music are as common as elsewhere in the
world. However, it is still rare to hear classical music in concert
halls due to the influence of the so-called “Cultural Revolution”
(1966-1976), when all classical music was deemed to be “bourgeois”
and outlawed, and the spiritual side of traditional arts was "washed
out" through the "revolutionary" ideology.
As well, the influence of modern pop culture since the 1980s has
had a negative impact on the popularity of classical music performances.
The
above is a painting from the "Five Dynasty" (907-960 AD)
depicting pipa playing
While the classical tradition was more associated with
elite society throughout Chinese history, the resources for folk traditions
are many and varied. Apart from the Han Chinese, there are many ethnic
minorities living in every corner of China, each with their own traditional
folk music. Unlike classical music, folk traditions are often vocal
(such as love songs and story telling etc), or for instrumental ensembles
(such as the “silk and bamboo” ensembles, and music for
folk dances, and regional operas). The various folk melodies have
become a major source of inspiration for the growing repertoire of
contemporary music. In fact, in many contemporary compositions, existing
folk melodies were simply modified, enriched (creatively through advanced
playing techniques and the use of harmonies), and extended. Some were
transcribed so successfully that they may be regarded as an important
part of the growing classical repertoire; for instance the famous
"Dance
of Yi People" composed by Wang Hui-Ran for solo pipa. The
repertoire is further extended by pieces composed or arranged for
multi-instrument ensembles. Needless to say, most contemporary works
are quite Westernized, particularly those for ensembles and orchestras
(modelled on orchestras in the West), which are easily accessible
to the general public, yet veer further away from the classical traditions
. Quite often some of the traditional classical masterpieces are presented
in commercially-packaged shows to look and sound “modern”,
which often gives a wrong impression to listeners who never really
knew the original flavor of the music, particularly the spiritual
side of the classical tradition.
With all that said, there are still a growing
number of performers and listeners who have begun to seriously rethink
the spiritual side of the classical tradition, such that there seems
to be a revival of traditional culture as part of a growing interest
in Chinese classical philosophy, literature, traditional medicine,
calligraphy, painting, Taiji and Qigong.
On the one hand, it goes without saying that
some of today’s excellent creations will become tomorrow’s
traditions (and faked arts will soon be forgotten); on the other hand,
it requires a true master to deliver the vast spiritual and the profound
meaning (inner-feeling) of the masterpieces from the traditional classical
repertoire in such a way as to touch the souls of the listeners, and
indeed, great masters from various musical traditions all over the
world have never failed to support the famous statement: “Authentic
traditional music remains forever contemporary”.
[Note
from Liu Fang]: The above
text was prepared for the lecture
& demonstration at the Julliard School on November 19, 2008
in New York and for several interviews (newspapers and radio).
Special thanks Dr. Annette Sanger (ethnomusicologist and professor
at the University of Toronto) for proof reading and improving
English.
Notes
to the above text
Ancient court music is also referred to as "classical
music", however there is a distinct difference from
the classical literati music discussed here. The court
music was made by "professional musicians" whose
lives and careers very much depended on the personal interest
of their patrons, the emperors. Those musicians (many
of whom were great masters in history and made great contributions
to the music culture of China) were appointed as music
officers of the court, and had a certain degree of privilege
in society but never enjoyed the same freedom as the scholars
who played music but were not relying on it for a living.
The court music was often performed in ensembles or even
big orchestras, often in association with dance and ceremonial
performances (whereas the classical literati music discussed
here was mainly played solo, and associated with private
occasions). The concept of the concert hall in the present
sense did not exist before the end of the last dynasty
(beginning of the last century). Public places for music
making were often associated with tea houses, restaurants
etc. Classical types of music were often performed in
private settings such as palaces or private houses. The
most miserable were the "professional musicians"
in the entertainment industry, where musicians were either
courtesans or slaves (who could be sold by the owner,
or presented as gift), and therefore among the lowest
social status. It is inconceivable how it came that people
enjoyed their arts, but not show respect to the performing
artists (the situation was somewhat similar in Europe
before the renaissance); indeed it was a shame in human
history! In fact, even business people were considered
among the lowest in social status (which was one of the
important factors that prevented China from developing
fast economically in the past; so was also the fate with
music development!). An example of this can be found in
the famous Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi's "pipa
song"
(772-846 AD) describing a courtesan he met during his
exile:
"....
For every song she received endless bolts of silk.
She sang, she beat time, all through the day,
She danced till her head gear fell to the floor.
Wine spilled, skirts stained,
Delicacies rivaled gaieties.
Day after day, and joy upon joy,
Her best years slipped away.
Then her brother joined the army, and her aunt died.
Times changed, and her beauty faded.
Her patrons wandered off, went elsewhere,
And the carriages at her door got fewer and fewer,
Till finally she had to lower herself to
marry a tea dealer ..."
With
the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949,
the 1950s may be considered the best period for traditional
classical music in China. This type of music could then
reach the general public through radios, records, and
live performances of master musicians who were sponsored
by the government. The attitude of the society toward
performing artists has dramatically changed ever since.
Masters of classical music no longer consider it a shame
to perform in public and make a living from live performance.
They were proud to be "people's artists" and
to perform for the people. Indeed, there seemed to be
a revival of traditional music before the disastrous movement
of the "Cultural Revolution". The destruction
of the traditional values and the spiritual side of the
traditional music through the overwhelming propaganda
of the "revolutionary" ideology during the Cultural
Revolution (1966-76) has led to several consequences as
far as music playing is concerned, particularly for those
who grew up during that pathetic period. For instance,
one of the most obvious consequences is that the pursuit
for spiritual elevation has quite often been replaced
by the pursuit for technical perfection (often narrowly
understood as the ability for fast and precise playing).
Needless to say, masterpieces from the traditional repertoire
require more than just technique to deliver in a way to
touch the soul of listeners; even the techniques for some
traditional pieces might be superficially regarded as
being too "simple" to be of interest by some
players, particularly for those who consider music making
as "show-business". Therefore, "If
the audience is not moved by the music, particularly if
it is a masterpiece from the guqin core repertoire, it
is usually the player's fault and not the listener's",
so said Prof. Li Xiangting, internationally-renowned Chinese
guqin master. This is very true for the masterpieces for
all kinds of traditional instruments.
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©2008 Philmultic (All rights reserved).
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