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Ancient capital's ensemble music
May 15, 2011, Sunday
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XI'AN wind and percussion ensemble music, which has been played for more than a millennium in China's ancient capital of Xi'an, in Shaanxi Province, is a type of music integrating drums and wind instruments, sometimes with a male chorus.
Vocal content is mostly related to local life and religious beliefs and the music is mainly played on religious occasions such as temple fairs or funerals. The music can be divided into two categories, "sitting music" and "walking music," with the latter also including the singing of the chorus.
Marching drum music used to be performed on the emperor's trips, but has now become the province of farmers and is played only in open fields. The drum section is composed of 30 to 50 members, including peasants, teachers, retired workers and students.
The music has been passed down between generations through a strict master-apprentice mechanism. Scores of the music are recorded using an ancient notation system dating from the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. Approximately 3,000 musical pieces are documented and about 150 volumes of handwritten scores are preserved and still in use.
Xi'an wind and percussion ensemble music was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.
(UNESCO website)
Vocal content is mostly related to local life and religious beliefs and the music is mainly played on religious occasions such as temple fairs or funerals. The music can be divided into two categories, "sitting music" and "walking music," with the latter also including the singing of the chorus.
Marching drum music used to be performed on the emperor's trips, but has now become the province of farmers and is played only in open fields. The drum section is composed of 30 to 50 members, including peasants, teachers, retired workers and students.
The music has been passed down between generations through a strict master-apprentice mechanism. Scores of the music are recorded using an ancient notation system dating from the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. Approximately 3,000 musical pieces are documented and about 150 volumes of handwritten scores are preserved and still in use.
Xi'an wind and percussion ensemble music was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.
(UNESCO website)
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