Bao Yuankai
Explanation of the piece
(I) The Story of Yanzhao
1. The Little Chinese Cabbage
This is the first folk song I heard in my childhood ------ a song that has been handed down for a long time, which expresses the tragic situation of a child who has lost his mother and suffered from the mistreatment of his stepmother and his nostalgic feelings for his birth mother. The song shows the tragic situation of a child who lost his mother and was abused by her stepmother, and his nostalgia for his birth mother. Based on the poignant melody of this folk song, I have used strings to portray the protagonist's longing for the warmth of his old family ties and his memories of his mother's funeral. The melody of the middle section is re-composed by me based on the tone of the Hebei folk song "Crying for Five Nights", which contains mournful whimpers, helpless sighs, and short-lived longings. When the melody returns to "Little Cabbage", the violin's ethereal sound full of fantasy brings people to the vague dream of this bitter child hoping for heaven.
2. The Little Cowherd
This is a rural song and dance piece, which has been written as a Peking Opera and a Kunqu Opera skit and has been popularized throughout the country.
Early in the morning, when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing warmly, the shepherd boy plays the bamboo flute on the back of the cow and walks out of the village. On the way, a beautiful village girl asked the cowherd boy for directions, and the cowherd boy said, "What kind of person repairs the stone bridge in Zhaozhou? Who keeps the jade railing? Who rides a donkey on the bridge? Who pushes a cart and rolls over a ditch?" The village girl was asked to answer a series of questions as a condition to show the way. The clever village girl answered all the questions and responded to them one by one, and the two of them sang and sang to each other in a joyful atmosphere. The music to tone antithesis of the technique to show a question and answer of the witty interest, and finally to the full orchestra will be the climax of the joyful atmosphere.
3. Jasmine
Almost every part of China, especially the eastern provinces, has its own version of "Jasmine" with different melodies and lyrics. I have chosen the melody of "Jasmine Flower" from the Cangzhou region of Hebei, my ancestral home. It is an elegant and delicate song with exquisite euphemisms, expressing the rosy feelings of a young girl who uses the jasmine flower as a metaphor for herself and is full of fantasies about beautiful love. The melody of "Jasmine Flower" is played by violin and viola successively, sometimes it is quiet and tranquil, sometimes it is affectionate, and sometimes it expresses the maiden's sadness in her heart with dissonant chords. When another melody is sung over the "Jasmine Flower", it is like an ode to love. The music then turns contemplative, adding a touch of confusion at the end.
4. To the flowers
"What flowers bloom in spring? What blooms in spring is the spring flower ......"
Couplet songs are a common form of folk song, and quizzing the name of a flower with a seasonal title is a common element of a couplet song. The theme of this piece is "Pairing Flowers" from the Cangzhou region of Hebei province, while the center is the melody of another Cangzhou folk song, "Flying Kites".
The whole piece is characterized by varied rhythms, contrasting timbres, and rich changes in intensity, depicting a scene of jubilation and enthusiasm on the singing field: a series of repetitive tones of chattering and chattering is like a hustle and bustle of cheering and shouting outside the field, which turns the field of singing into a frenzied scene. The slow movement inserted in the middle of the piece is a dance scene in which women entering with bamboo boards hit the beat of the drum perform "luazi" (Lotus Flower Drop).
(2) Sketches of Yunling
1. The River Runs Through the Water
"The moon comes out brightly, remembering that my brother is deep in the mountains; my brother is like the moon walking in the sky, and the water of the river under the mountain is clear and easy." This is a Yunnan love song with a deep feeling and a blending of scenes.
The song takes the time (moonlit night) and space (beside the small river under the mountain) provided by the lyrics of the original song as the background, and simulates the hazy moonlit night with the fuzzy sound of the stringed soprano region, and simulates the flowing water of the small river with the ding-dong sound of the piano, harp, and steel piece piano. On such a background, the tranquil English winds and the bright flute sing this soft and moving melody successively. When the melody turns to all strings, the low voice simulates the "Brother" with the same melody slowed down to double the warmth of the response, the fiery song of love to the climax.
2. The Song of Releasing Horses
"Releasing horses in the first month of the lunar calendar is the first month of the lunar year, and the horses are driven on a journey; releasing horses in the second month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ponies are fed with grass and climb up the mountains. ......" This Yunnan folk song, which has been popular all over the country, expresses the bold and generous character of the people who release the horses. In the piece, percussion instruments and violin slide are used to simulate the sound of horse bells, hooves, whips and the yells of the horse-herders. In the middle of the piece, the leisurely rhythm and sweet and smooth melody of "Catching Horses" delineate the resting scene of the horse-herders on the way.
3. If the rain doesn't sprinkle flowers, the flowers won't be red
"Brother is a dragon in the sky, sister is a flower on the ground, if the dragon doesn't turn over, the rain won't fall, and if the rain doesn't sprinkle flowers, the flowers won't be red." The lyrics of this Yunnan love song are double entendre, simple and concise; the melody is unique and touching, and has been widely circulated all over the world. The music symbolizes raindrops of triplets throughout the whole song, has used the tuba, clarinet and piccolo, as well as strings and woodwinds of the alternating performance of this beautiful and fascinating melody.
4. Guess the Tune
This humorous Yunnan nursery rhyme expresses the lively interest of the sisters' question-and-answer session with a tongue-twister rhythm: "Little boy, come little boy, let's say it for you to guess: What's so long, it's so long, it's so long, it's so long, it's so long, it's so long, it's so long. What is long, in the middle of the sea? What's long enough to be sold in front of the street? What kind of long in front of the sister?" "...... The Milky Way is long, long in the sky; the lotus root is long, long in the middle of the sea; the silver thread is long, long in front of the street; the silk thread is long, long in front of the sister." The bright tones of the woodwinds and the brisk rhythm of the strings highlight the playful atmosphere of the melody, and in the middle of the piece, the beautiful melody of another Yunnan folk song, "Anning Zhou," is quoted.
(III) Sorrow and Happiness in the Yellow Earth
1. A Woman Carrying Water
The theme of the piece is a Shanxi folk song reflecting the difficult life of a woman in the countryside in the old times. The whole piece adopts the traditional genre of variations, revealing the inner world of the woman in distress from many sides. The theme and the first two variations are bleak and sad, the third variation delineates the psychological activities of the owner's despondent and uneasy, the fifth variation shows the writhing of her attempts to fight against her miserable fate, and the last variation returns to the sad theme and becomes even more weak and slender.-------- Suffering is hard to get rid of.
2. Couple teasing
"Say you ah, scruffy ah, really scruffy ah, head of the Jinshi yo messy ah such as hemp ah, baby his mother!" This duet depicts a playful scene in which a husband and wife make fun of each other. The sanxian and banhu symbolize a couple in the midst of a playful scene. The dissonance of the piano and the comic tone of the small gongs reinforce the comedic color of the piece, and the chromatic tonal oppositions and metronomic dislocations make the piece full of humor.
3. Going to Jiangzhou
This song, popular in Shaanxi and Shanxi, expresses the happy mood of the protagonist, who is carrying a flat burden and singing a ballad to Jiangzhou with a brisk step. The melody of the Banhu is relaxed and happy, and the fixed pattern of the violin resembles the elastic movement of the flat stretcher, showing a beautiful picture of the countryside.
4. Orchid Blossom
Orchid Blossom is a narrative song that originated in the northern part of Shaanxi province and has been circulated throughout the country. The song is a strong indictment of the destruction of free love by arranged marriages in the olden times, and celebrates the young woman, Lan Hua Hua, who rebels against feudal rituals and pursues a happy marriage. However, in the feudal society, she inevitably has to pay the price of her life to the tragic end.
The first part of the piece features soft oboe and passionate cello to express the sweet and fantastical love between Orchid Flower and her lover. In the middle section, the brass and strings symbolize the struggle and anger of Orchid Blossom, while the timpani and gongs signal the end of the tragedy. At the end of the piece, the timpani play the theme dully, leaving a faint final cry.
(IV) Ba Shu Mountain Song
1. When Will the Sophora Blossoms Bloom
The mountains and rivers of Ba Shu have nurtured the industrious, brisk and humor-rich character of the Sichuan people. The song "When Will the Sophora Blossoms Bloom" is a typical Sichuan mountain song. There are only four lines in the song, but they are very meaningful: "There is an acacia tree on a high hill, and I look to Lang Lang with my hand on the railing, and my mother asks my daughter what she is looking for, and I am looking to see when the acacia blossoms will bloom." The melody is also very unique, from the highest note of the song, each lyric is split into two sections, and add the unique Sichuan mountain song liner notes, ups and downs, heart-warming.
The piece features oboes, horns, strings, flutes and English winds playing the beautiful melody of the song. The harmonies are set against the background of another tonality, depicting a picture of a mountain village where the distant and near scenes are both separate and together.
2. Huang Yang Bian Tan
This is a Sichuan Xiushan lantern song, which shows a young man carrying a load of rice to Youzhou, but observing the Youzhou girl combing her hair and dressing up with great interest. The lyrics are playful and funny, with the characteristic liner notes of Sichuan folk songs adding to the humor of the lyrics: "The poplar stretcher is soft and slippery, picking a load of rice to go down to Youzhou."
The piece is characterized by a strong full cadence that portrays the toughness of the young man, and a duet of a mountain song in the middle section that expresses the young man's relaxed demeanor as he rests.
3. Embroidered Purse
"Embroidered Purse" is a common theme in Chinese folk songs, which expresses the excitement and shyness of a young girl embroidering a purse for her lover. The purse is a cloth bag that men tie around their waists to hold money and odds and ends, and women often give it to their lovers as a token of their love. The folk song "Embroidered Lotus Bag" is most widely circulated in Sichuan, Shanxi and Yunnan.
The piece begins with a string quartet, then shifts to woodwinds, interspersed with decorative glissandos from the harp and florid phrases from the flute, like flying needles in a girl's hands.
4. The Sun Comes Out Joyfully
This is a bright and cheerful Sichuan mountain song: "The sun comes out joyfully, picks up the flat burden and goes to the hillock, takes the mountain axe in his hand, and is not afraid of tigers, leopards and jackals." The full orchestra plays throughout the song, with brass instruments shouting roughly, strings switching from repression to outburst, and timpani drums banging furiously, showing the virility of male eruption.
(V) Gangnam Rain
1. Wuxi Scene
Wuxi, the famous city in the south of the Yangtze River, famous for Mount Xishan, Mount Huishan and Taihu Lake, has always been a source of inspiration for poets, painters and musicians. The famous songs with Wuxi as the theme, one is Ah Bing's "Two Springs Reflecting the Moon", and the other is this Jiangnan ditty "Wuxi Scene": "The second spring in the world, half of Mount Huishan's foot, the spring water is blue and clear, the tea bubble fragrance piece, Mount Xishan relative to Mount Huichuan, the foot of the mountain, the two halves of the mountain, to open a mud Buddha store." This orchestral piece depicts the beautiful and charming lakes and mountains of Wuxi with the clear woodwind tone and hazy string tone.
2. Yang Liu Qing
This is a cheerful and lively Yangzhou ditty. The word "Yang Liu Qing" is a liner note in the original song and has no special meaning. The lyrics of this ditty are not fixed, and are often filled with witty, funny, and cheerful phrases. The piece uses strings plucked, starting from two parts, and gradually moving to all strings plucked, and pizzicato simulation of folk percussion rhythms of gongs and drums, highlighting the cheerful atmosphere and playful character of the piece.
3. Pluck the Roots of the Firewood
This is a rice-planting song of Jiangdu County, and the liner notes of the original song are "Pluck the Roots of the Firewood".
4. Purple Bamboo Tune
This was originally a popular love tune in Suzhou, and later became a Shanghai opera tune. Its lyrics have been modified by generations of artists, and it has become a subtle and interesting love song: "A purple bamboo is straight and slim, and I gave it to my brother to make a pipe-xiao, and the pipe-xiao is facing the mouth, and the mouth is facing the pipe-xiao, and the pipe-xiao is blowing out a blossoming tune. I ask my brother, is this pipe-whistle good?" The piece plays the melody with strings and erhu, pipa, and qu flute, with the crystalline arpeggios of the harp harmonizing with it, quite in the style of Jiangnan silk and bamboo.
(F) Spring and Autumn on the Taihang River
1. Going to the West
"Going to the West"
The "Going to the West"
tells the story of people living in the barren areas of the Loess Plateau in the past era who carried their wells behind their backs and crossed the mouth of the Yellow River in the west to make a living, and it was popularized in the northern part of Shanxi and Shaanxi and the western part of Inner Mongolia. The contents of "Going West" are similar in different places, but the tunes are very different. The melody adopted here is that of a Shanxi minor key: "Brother, you go to the west, little sister, it is hard for me to stay, holding brother's hand, all the way to the entrance of the small village." The music is like a sobbing string tone and delicate fall wrong polyphonic voice to show a pair of lovers reluctant to part with the sadness of parting ------ Here there is a lingering murmuring murmur, more liver and intestines want to break the parting of life and death.
2. Lantern Festival
"Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month, Taiyuan city is very lively, this side of the lamps play dragon swinging tail, that side of the rice-planting song twisted well." This is a joyful and enthusiastic Shanxi folk song, which expresses the people's happy mood on the night of the Lantern Festival. The introduction of brass and the tune of suona bring people into the atmosphere of the annual Lantern Festival. When people are immersed in the joy of the festival night, the affectionate "Embroidered Lotus Bags" slowly flows into people's hearts: "From the first day of the month to the fifteenth day of the month, the fifteenth day of the month is high, and the spring breeze blows the tips of the Yang ah Yang Liu." It expresses the unique state of mind of "thinking of your relatives twice as much as you do at festivals".
3. Mountain Climbing Tune
The Mountain Climbing Tune is popular in the area of Hequ in Shanxi Province and Wuchuan in Inner Mongolia, and is also known as the Mountain Tune. It is structurally very similar to the Shaanxi Albatross, which is a loose board structure of upper and lower lines. The content is also based on the theme of love, and the piece consists of two mountain-climbing tunes. From this, we can see the scene of young men and women in mountain villages expressing their hearts with mountain songs.
4. Watching Yangge
Yangge is a kind of folk song and dance popular in the northern countryside, and the Yangge in Shanxi is most famous for the Qitai Yangge in Jinzhong. Qitai Yangge was produced in Qixian and Taigu, and is mainly narrative songs and skits. This piece, "Watching Yangge", is itself a rice-planting song, describing a pair of sisters who go to a neighboring village to watch a rice-planting song, with interesting incidents along the way. The piece highlights the percussion sound of the rice-planting songs and climaxes with the characteristic fiery atmosphere of the north.