Drums in Celebration of a Bumper Harvest Peng Xiuwen, Cai Huichuan
Written in 1972, this work features an adaptation of certain drum beat and cross-striking techniques commonly found in traditional wind and percussion music. It gives an ample demonstration of the expressiveness and colours of traditional Chinese percussion instruments, and is at once an embodiment of ethnic characteristics and the spirit of our time.
The work is in four sections. The introduction begins with the sonorous and brilliant sound of the; wind instruments. A scene of passionate joy follows with brisk, jumping rhythms. Then there is a drum and gong passage featuring the shimianluo, a set of gongs used in Zhejiang music and known for its rich and colourful sonority, making the music even more boisterous. Section two also begins with the wind instruments but the melody is of a more invocative nature. Then a cantabile melody is heard on the strings and the winds. The light, brisk rhythm and leaping melody on the plucked and bowed instruments express the people’s great happiness.
Section three begins with the reappearance of the opening theme, and a rubato passage of bright tonal colours is played by the dizi to resemble the picturesque beauty of the natural landscape. Soft arpeggios are played on the yun gongs to evoke the rippling surface of clear water which gives dazzling reflections in the sunlight. The last section features the grand drum and gong techniques of Chaozhou, showing an adapted form of its “artillery drumming” technique to bring forth impressive effects. The section begins with a recapitulation of the opening theme. In the meantime the percussion instruments deploy adaptation of techniques such as the “Rapid wing” and the “horse leg” from the wind and percussion of Peking Opera, and the “cluster of clams” technique from the wind and percussion music of southern Jiangsu Province. These bring the work to a close in a mood of heat, speed and urgency.
The Silk Road Jiang Ying
Stretching for thousands of miles as an early conduit of East-West exchange, the Silk Road carries with it a wealth of mysteries and heritage about the human world. It has the pulse of millennia of ancient cultures as it was the hub of the four ancient civilisations. The music culture of this enchanting route has been the source of inspiration for musicians of different cultural background, and similarly, the present work showcases the musical properties, tonal character and performing techniques of ethnic musical instruments in an eclectic interpretation of the characteristics of music of China’s west, its neighbouring Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as elements of world music. It evolves in an open structure, its latent energy gradually pushing the orchestra to a glorious climax, like the sun shining on the Gobi Desert, turning Man’s passions in life and dreams into gleaming gold!
- Jiang Ying
