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Instruments that keep ancient music alive
By Lu Feiran |
September 29, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Minhang District Museum is exhibiting Chinese traditional musical instruments that once belonged to nationally renowned musicians of the 1920s and 30s.
The instruments, such as pipa, sheng and erhu, looked worn, but they remain a treasured reminder of one of the most significant periods in the development of traditional Chinese music. Some are meticulous replicas of the original instruments.
They were played by the music group Datong Yuehui, which was founded in Shanghai in 1920 by Zheng Jinwen, a music teacher who gathered together some of the most talented Chinese players of the era.
"Datong Yuehui brought innovation to traditional playing," said Song Yu, an official with the museum. "The group laid the foundation of the traditional Chinese musical instruments commonly played now. The instruments they used expanded the range of traditional Chinese music, making it possible to play grander works rather than just short tunes."
After the Chinese War against Japanese Aggression broke out in 1937, Datong Yuehui moved to the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing. Soon after, the group disbanded.
Their instruments were either lost or damaged during the war, so parts of the current exhibit are scrupulous replicas copied from old documentation.
That's also the case for instruments once used by other influential musicians, such as erhu player A Bing and composer Liu Tianhua.
"The museum has been collecting traditional Chinese instruments since it opened in 2003," said Song. "But because of space limitations, many instruments ended up in storage. Eventually, they will all be on public display."
Replica of A Bing's erhu
Made of bamboo, this two-stringed erhu is about 2 centimeters shorter than the original due to a lack of genuine materials for reconstruction, but the instrument can still evoke the beauty of A Bing's masterpiece "Moon over a Fountain."
He wrote the piece after he lost his eyesight at age 34 and played it in public only once, at a 1950 concert in Jiangsu Province.
After hearing the work, Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa deemed it a masterpiece and said "people should fall on their knees to hear it."
Replica of the hulei used by Liu Tianhua
This plucked string instrument was widely played in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) but is rarely seen in performances of traditional Chinese music nowadays because its range is not compatible with modern scores.
Liu Tianhua, a master musician, contributed much to the improvement of ancient musical instruments during the early 20th century.
At one time, he often played the hulei, which resembles the shape of a turtle, a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture.
Replica of the pipa modernized by Cheng Wujia
Shanghai musician Cheng Wujia made a great contribution to traditional music by adding half-steps to the pipa in the 1920s. That expanded the stringed instrument's range from the diatonic to the chromatic scale.
At first, his fellow musicians refused to play the improved instrument, seeing it as a kind of cultural "heresy."
But eventually Cheng's pipa gained public acceptance and became part of the modern repertory.
Date: Daily (closed on Monday), 9am-4:30pm
Address: 2/F, 85, Mingdu Rd
Tel: 5460-4660 ext 6413 or 2056
The instruments, such as pipa, sheng and erhu, looked worn, but they remain a treasured reminder of one of the most significant periods in the development of traditional Chinese music. Some are meticulous replicas of the original instruments.
They were played by the music group Datong Yuehui, which was founded in Shanghai in 1920 by Zheng Jinwen, a music teacher who gathered together some of the most talented Chinese players of the era.
"Datong Yuehui brought innovation to traditional playing," said Song Yu, an official with the museum. "The group laid the foundation of the traditional Chinese musical instruments commonly played now. The instruments they used expanded the range of traditional Chinese music, making it possible to play grander works rather than just short tunes."
After the Chinese War against Japanese Aggression broke out in 1937, Datong Yuehui moved to the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing. Soon after, the group disbanded.
Their instruments were either lost or damaged during the war, so parts of the current exhibit are scrupulous replicas copied from old documentation.
That's also the case for instruments once used by other influential musicians, such as erhu player A Bing and composer Liu Tianhua.
"The museum has been collecting traditional Chinese instruments since it opened in 2003," said Song. "But because of space limitations, many instruments ended up in storage. Eventually, they will all be on public display."
Replica of A Bing's erhu
Made of bamboo, this two-stringed erhu is about 2 centimeters shorter than the original due to a lack of genuine materials for reconstruction, but the instrument can still evoke the beauty of A Bing's masterpiece "Moon over a Fountain."
He wrote the piece after he lost his eyesight at age 34 and played it in public only once, at a 1950 concert in Jiangsu Province.
After hearing the work, Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa deemed it a masterpiece and said "people should fall on their knees to hear it."
Replica of the hulei used by Liu Tianhua
This plucked string instrument was widely played in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) but is rarely seen in performances of traditional Chinese music nowadays because its range is not compatible with modern scores.
Liu Tianhua, a master musician, contributed much to the improvement of ancient musical instruments during the early 20th century.
At one time, he often played the hulei, which resembles the shape of a turtle, a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture.
Replica of the pipa modernized by Cheng Wujia
Shanghai musician Cheng Wujia made a great contribution to traditional music by adding half-steps to the pipa in the 1920s. That expanded the stringed instrument's range from the diatonic to the chromatic scale.
At first, his fellow musicians refused to play the improved instrument, seeing it as a kind of cultural "heresy."
But eventually Cheng's pipa gained public acceptance and became part of the modern repertory.
Date: Daily (closed on Monday), 9am-4:30pm
Address: 2/F, 85, Mingdu Rd
Tel: 5460-4660 ext 6413 or 2056
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