The first of the “Academic School” series – the concert of Chinese vocal works was held at the Mass Art Museum in Pudong New District, Shanghai. Photo courtesy of the interviewees
Chinanews.com, Shanghai, June 25th (Xie Mengyuan) “The great river goes east, the waves wash away, and there is a romantic figure through the ages. To the west of the old base, the human way is, Zhou Lang Chibi of the Three Kingdoms…” Different from the familiar poetry recitation, standing on the stage The male actors on the stage performed Su Shi’s masterpiece “Niannujiao Chibi Nostalgia” with bel canto, and the vigorous baritone presented the pride and tenderness of the poems in a different form.
The “Academic School” concert series is a cultural practice brand project jointly established by the Pudong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in professional exchanges. On the evening of the 24th, the first performance of the “Academic School” series – a concert of Chinese vocal works was held at the Mass Art Museum in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. Many young singers sang classic Chinese vocal works with bel canto. The reporter observed that the lyrics of the songs sung that day were almost all taken from Chinese poetry, and the content traced back to the “Book of Songs” and down to contemporary times, and the composers were more or less related to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Zhou Zheng, a baritone singer and professor of the Vocal and Opera Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, told reporters from Chinanews.com that to a certain extent, Chinese and foreign poetry have something in common. They are all great local poems, poems and other literary works that are composed to music. Singing, “For example, the art song teaching vigorously introduced by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The ‘art song’ here refers to Lieder (especially German and Austrian art song) from Germany and Austria. Its origin form is inseparable from the appearance of Goethe. Goethe There are many excellent poems in his works, so the composers used poems to compose music and created many excellent artistic songs full of poetry, exquisiteness and flesh and blood. These classic works have been widely circulated in the world and have also been introduced into the Domestically, it became the first appearance of art songs in China.”
“The “Great River Going East” sung in the first song is actually the first art song in the true sense in China.” Zhou Zheng introduced: “Using poetry as words is one of the important characteristics of art songs, and classic poems are composed into The songs are generally short and concise, so the composers are racking their brains to express and restore or even sublimate the original literary artistic conception of classic poems in the form of music.”
Take “The Great River Going East” as an example. The lyrics of this song are derived from “Niannujiao Chibi Nostalgia”, which was written by Su Shi, a writer of the Song Dynasty. At that time, Su Shi, who had experienced ups and downs in politics, was in a complicated and gloomy mood. In the first part, he drew out nostalgic thoughts with his eternal heart, and in the second part, he compared himself with Zhou Yu, and finally lamented that his years have passed and his ambitions have not been fulfilled.
In 1920, a foreign student named Liao Shangguo (Qingzhu) who went to Germany was in a foreign land. With a similar mood, he used the acquired Western composition techniques to compose this lyrics into an art song, and named it “The Great River Goes East” . The composer re-created the meaning of the ancestors’ words with the expression of music, so that the works not only have a simple and broad atmosphere, but also are full of stretch and chic style. What’s more worth mentioning is that the technique of creation is influenced by the art songs of Schubert, Wolff and others. Use the rhyme of poetry as the chain that binds music.
Chen Jiongran, the singer of the song, said that he has plans to study abroad, “Because the bel canto industry originated in the West after all, so I think it is very important to learn more about the original cultural origin of this singing method. When I am better Only by cultivating one’s own profession and having stronger abilities can one better sing the voice of China to the world.”
“In fact, we can do more Chinese art songs, because the piano is an instrument that has entered China strongly from Western culture. If we can combine Western culture with Chinese traditional culture, I think it will be a great thing.” Now for Shanghai Music Dan Mi, a young pianist living in Europe who is a lecturer of the college, believes that songs containing traditional Chinese culture and spirit can awaken young people’s more memories of their homeland and pass on their emotions and spirit.
“Let more and more Chinese students and even Asian faces stand out in international competitions. Let the world see Chinese performers from a professional level.” Talking about how to sing “Chinese voice” well, Midan said: “The second It is to let music and art enter the public. China has a large population base, so it is essential for more people to understand Chinese music and classical music.” (End)