Love, Passion, and Dance

Songs of Mongolian, Lahu, Miao, Yi, and Uyghur minorities on Chinese guzheng 古箏

Yawen Yang ‘18 Senior Recital Asian Studies Spring 2018 Advisor: Jennifer Matsue

Picture of the Performer’s guzheg at 2015. Photo courtesy of the performer.

Program

* Spring, River, Flower, and Moonlit Night [an excerpt] (春江花月夜) Ancient tune, composed between 1730 and 1820, adapted by Chen Lingzhi.1 Rearranged by the performer. Han

* The Milking Song (擠奶舞曲) Composed by Wang Suofu, edited by Sun Wenyan. (Year unknown) Mongolian

* Moonlight Love Song (月夜情歌) Composed by Yang Nani and Chai Yu (1979). Lahu

* Dance of Miao Tribe (苗族舞曲) Composer unknown, performed by Zhao Zhiyang (2006). Miao

* Dance of Yi Tribe (彝族舞曲) Performed on guzheng by Wang Zhongshan.2 Yi

* Muqam Free Prelude & Dance (木卡姆散序與舞曲)------Modified G Major. Composed by Zhou Ji, Shao Guangchen, and Li Mei (1981). Uyghur

1 Spring, River, Flower, and Moonlit Night [an excerpt] (春江花月夜) is an ancient piece. Since there are many versions of the song that the actual composer is uncertain. In contemporary China, it’s been adapted into pipa solo, pipa and guzheng duet, and also guzheng solo, etc. 2 Dance of Yi Tribe was originally composed by Pipa performer, Huiran Wang, as a pipa solo in 1965, and was later adapted into guzheng solo piece by the well-known guzheng artist, Zhongshan Wang.

Biographies

Yawen Yang ‘18 (aka Padma), majors in Asian Studies and participates actively in arts and music activities at Union College. Raised in a Cantonese family, Yang has been exposed to various forms of contemporary music and was cultivated in a traditional Chinese cultural atmosphere during her childhood. She took piano lessons from four years old through fifth grade and later switched to the distinctively Chinese guzheng (a 21-stringed zither) after Junior high school. She studies under the retired artist, Quan Xiaolan, and has achieved level ten in the amateur guzheng test in China Nationalities Orchestra Society evaluation system. She is a Hollander Prize winner and has performed solo guzheng at Convocation for Union College, as well as at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute and the University of Albany her Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years for the celebration of Spring Festival and New Year’s Eve. She has also collaborated with various artists for a performance at the Schenectady Public Library. This recital is part of her senior project, with a theme on loves in the minority music of China.

Teacher’s Info The performer’s long-time guzheng instructor, Quan Xiaolan, is a retired artist born on October 10, 1950 in Jingdu, Hu Bei Province of China. Although being raised in a rather untraditional and Western atmosphere (her parents were math teachers), she developed deep interest in traditional Chinese instruments since she childhood. Besides guzheng, her most beloved instrument, she also is experienced in the Chinese guqin (seven-stringed zither), pipa (pear-shaped lute), yangqin (butterfly-shaped dulcimer), and several other traditional instruments. Quan developed her career as an artist, instrumentalist, stage supervisor and director, choreographer early in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. She is a member of China Nationalities Orchestra Society and is now teaching students guzheng at the Chopin art institute in Shenzhen, China Songs

Spring, River, Flower, and Moonlit Night [an excerpt] (春江花月夜) Ancient tune, adapted by Chen Lingzhi. (Guzheng version)

春江花月夜(Chinese title of the song), a name that is borrowed from the famous Tang poem, is also called 夕陽蕭鼓 (The Duet of Xiao and Gu at the Sunset). It is regarded as one of the most representative pieces of traditional Chinese folk music. Originally a pipa solo, it was later adapted into pieces that are to be performed on different kinds of Chinese musical instruments. The melody of the entire song is soft and pleasant, just as calm water slowly flowing beneath the boat. Spring, River, Flower, and Moonlit Night is successful in capturing the beauty of the nature and the accordingly reflections of human emotions through magnificent combinations of music and art.

The Milking Song (擠奶舞曲) Composed by Wang Suofu, edited by Sun Wenyan.

The Milking Song is a cheerful dance song that shows the beautiful scenery of the boundless Mongolian grassland and joyous time of Mongolian women milking cow and hanging out together. The piece opens with a rhythmic finger shaking movement (aka lun zhi 輪指 in Chinese) on alternative strings, which, immediately introduces the audience to a peaceful and harmonious Mongolian community. However, the melody suddenly switches to a brisk and ebullient tune that imitates the light and heavy footsteps of men and women dancing together. The smooth transition between fast part and slow part in this piece shows the people’s changing inner emotions. The overall song sings the harmonious life that the Mongolian people enjoy: men racing with the wind on horsebacks, women milking the cows while chatting with each other cheerfully, lovers cuddling and exchanging love words, and children laughing and playing freely…

Moonlight Love Song (月夜情歌) Composed by Yang Nani and Chai Yu (1979).

Written by the famous Mongolian composer, Yang Nani, in 1979, Moonlight Love Song is a graceful musical piece that is based on the melody of folk music of the minority community, La Hu, in the Southwestern County of China. The piece opens with quadruple chords that peacefully build up the crescendo and the rubato continues, imitating the unique sound and texture of the La Hu folk musical instrument, the three-stringed snake-skinned fiddle. The interchanging between the Adagio and Allegro foils the mysterious atmosphere in the moonlight and romantic emotions between lovers. As Yang’s representative piece, Moonlight Love Song successfully reflects the very musical characteristics of La Hu minority and vividly portrays sweet and beautiful symbols of love in their passionate ethnic dance.

Dance of Miao Tribe (苗族舞曲) Composed by unknown, performed by Zhao Zhiyang (2006).

Dance of Miao Tribe is a piece that is based on typical Chinese pentatonic scale, which, means the entire song only has three pitches, do, mi, so repeated in different scales on the zither. Inspired by the musical elements of the Miao minority in Hunan Province, China, Dance of Miao Tribe is a song that contains rich festival atmosphere and contents that start from the early morning and last through late night. There is a fair amount of imitations of the sounds of Miao vocal singing, for example, the echoing loving conversations between male and female in deep mountains, through the bending of strings in the piece, which, adding timbral variety to the expression of music. This is a piece that celebrates the grand festival in the Miao tribe. It presents the simplicity of lifestyle in the mountains and the passionate yet pure love between lovers.

Dance of Yi Tribe (彝族舞曲) (Dance of Yi Tribe was originally composed by Pipa performer, Huiran Wang, as a pipa solo in 1965, and was later adapted into guzheng solo piece by the well-known guzheng artist, Zhongshan Wang.)

Dance of Yi Tribe is a beautiful and elegant musical piece that portrays the fascinating night scene of the Yi tribe and the delightful dance moments of its people. However full of the typical characteristics of ethnic music, this is a piece that is also full of the personality of contemporary era, which, makes it popular among musicians of different backgrounds and enables itself to be adapted into multiple performing versions such as three-stringed, Chinese dulcimer, and orchestral music, etc. The entire piece can be divided eight parts: the picturesque scenery of mountains, river, and sky, the soft and graceful dances of girls, the strong and high-spirited dances of boys, the rough and passionate mixed dances of all the people in the village, the smooth and artistic duets, the great contrast between solo and mixed dances, the secret moments when lovers express feelings to each other, and the final happy ends of the night.

Muqam Free Prelude & Dance (木卡姆散序與舞曲) Composed by Zhou Ji, Shao Guangchen, and Li Mei (1981).

Muqam is a classic melody that is used by the Uyghurs in their composition of Xinjiang music. There are twelve different types of Muqam in total and each of them is made up of three parts: Grand Song (naghma), Narrative Poems (dastan), and Folk Music and Dance (mashrap). This is a musical form that includes creative improvisation and composition. Muqam begins with a long freestyle introduction and is followed by characteristic rhythmic patterns that slowly build up the speed and enhance the atmosphere of the piece.

Finally, my greatest appreciation for Professor. Jennifer Matsue’s generous help and support that she offered during the long process of preparation for my recital and for the Asian Studies Department’s and the Music Department’s efforts to organize the program.

And thank you Lily, who is also a guzheng player, for loaning me her zither and making it possible for me to presenting the unique characters and music qualities of certain pieces.