How can Chinese symphonies tell the story of China well and truly go to the world?
In recent years, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has commissioned a group of Chinese and foreign composers to create a number of excellent musical works engraved with Chinese "genes", and explored a complete set of "turning in models" from artistic production to performance promotion. A series of new measures and mechanisms, such as joint commissioning, relay performances by Chinese and foreign orchestras, modification while performing, and opening up the copyright of commissioned works, have enabled China's original musical works to move towards the world at a more confident pace, and have also become a carrier for disseminating China's excellent traditional culture.
A reporter from Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News interviewed Zhou Ping, head of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and listened to her tell the story of the "commission" handed in.
Read Chinese civilization with your ears
Not long ago, the orchestra concerto "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", composed by composer Zhou Long, commissioned by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, was performed at the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall. Following its premiere in June 2019, this work has been unveiled at the commissioned new creation concert submitted in Shanghai.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas is a strange book that records Chinese mythology and is also an encyclopedia showing the geography of China. The well-known "drilling wood for fire", "Houyi shooting day", "Jingwei reclamation", "Dayu Zhishui" and so on are all derived from this.
However, Zhou Long did not use music to describe these myths, but based on the geographical distribution of the five directional systems of China's mountainous areas, the whole song was set into five movements, named after the North Mountain Classic, the West Mountain Classic, the East Mountain Classic, the South Mountain Classic, and the Zhongshan Classic. This work uses sound to portray a map of the Chinese region, which includes the water system mountains, folk customs, and rituals of worshiping gods, leading the audience to read Chinese civilization with their ears.
Zhou Long is known for his ability to blend Chinese and Western aesthetic concepts and musical elements, and his opera "The Legend of the White Snake" won the 95th Pulitzer Prize. In Zhou Long's view, the Chinese elements in his works can be recognized by foreign audiences are very critical. "Foreign audiences don't need you to write like Beethoven, because they already have Beethoven, and you have to write works with Chinese elements that highlight Chinese culture." He hoped that this "Classic of Mountains and Seas" would become a guide for the world to understand China's mountains, rivers and civilization.
After the performance, well-known domestic composers and music critics gathered together to conduct a special discussion on the "Classic of Mountains and Seas". Some music critics said: "The 'mountains and seas' are Chinese, but this 'sutra' will be the world's and will be Chinese." Many commentators have also said that the current Chinese symphony should explore ways to combine modernization and internationalization with modernization and internationalization while adhering to the national style.
Zhou Long and conductor Shui Lan
Invite Chinese and foreign composers to write about China
This road has been explored.
Zhou Ping told reporters that in recent years, including the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has launched a number of excellent musical works with international standards and engraved Chinese "genes" by entrusting Chinese and foreign composers to create.
In 2013, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, together with the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, commissioned young Chinese composer Zhao Lin to compose the cello and sheng duo concerto "Degree" against the background of Xuanzang's story, which was premiered by the famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
In 2014, Shanghai-born composer Chen Qigang was invited to compose the premiere of the symphonic prelude "Peking Opera Moments" for the opening of the Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall.
In 2015, SSE invited Andy Akiho, a cutting-edge American electronic music composer, to compose the Ping Pong Concerto, and table tennis was brought to the stage as a solo instrument. The performance video of the work received more than 3 million views in just one month on the classical music video website Medici.tv.
In 2016, Fazil Say, known as one of the world's most promising young composers, premiered his concerto "Rhapsody of China" based on Chinese cultural elements.
At the opening concert of the 34th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra invited Ye Xiaogang, chairman of the Chinese Music Association and a famous composer, to perform the world premiere of the symphonic suite "Dunhuang" inspired by the Silk Road.
In 2019, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai Ccedic, the Chinese composer Zhou Tian, who was nominated for the Grammy Award, was invited to compose the premiere of "Gifts".
On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Party, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for the first time tried to simultaneously entrust a number of composers to create themes, including "post-50s" composer Jia Daqun, "post-60s" composer Yu Yang, "post-70s" composer Hao Wei, and "post-80s" composer Yang Fan, with different artistic tentacles and creative concepts, writing the theme of the times.
dialogue
Good works must be performed frequently to have vitality
Shangguan: Over the years, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has commissioned a group of Chinese and foreign composers to create musical works with Chinese elements.
Zhou Ping: Music is a bit like a pyramid, the cornerstone is the music that is easy for the people to understand and easy to sing, and the symphony is the spire of the pyramid, the functions of the two are not the same, and the number of audiences is different. Although the symphony has a certain threshold for appreciation and the number of listeners is relatively small, the spire must play its leading role and make highly quality works.
As we move on the world stage, we need musical works that can truly show Chinese culture and are international, not just works that satisfy the curiosity of foreign audiences and are like watching "Oriental Mirrors". That's why we insist on opening our doors and collaborating with outstanding artists from around the world to explore the best expression of Chinese stories.
Shangguan: In the process of cooperation with Chinese and foreign composers, what impressed you?
Zhou Ping: At the 2015 Shanghai Summer Music Festival, we invited up-and-coming American composer Andy Qiubao to compose the Ping Pong Concerto and make its world premiere at the closing ceremony. The composer was described by the Western media as "out of line, stimulating, and full of drama.". He believes that there is a rhythm in the rhythm of ping-pong, and in this work, he uses many instruments to imitate this rhythm.
When the composer came to Shanghai, he "disappeared" after staying in the hotel, and we couldn't contact him for several days. Later, I learned that he had been "hiding" in the room, making final changes to the work, and seeing that the performance date was approaching, he "got out", and we all sweated. When the "Ping Pong Concerto" was first performed, the effect was very amazing, and many overseas music video websites later asked us to play the rights. The New York Philharmonic also performed this bold work.
In 2016, Fazier Say's concerto "Rhapsody of China", which was composed on the theme of Chinese cultural elements, was premiered. Before writing this work, he listened to a large number of Chinese works and studied many Chinese instruments. At the premiere, he lifted the lid of the grand piano and plucked the strings to imitate China's national instruments. In the future, if we have the opportunity, we want to perform this work again.
Shangguan: How to make these works have more opportunities to meet the audience, rather than "pressing the bottom of the box" after a performance?
Zhou Ping: We've been thinking about this. In addition to constantly commissioning composers to create new works, we are trying to create more opportunities for audiences to listen and understand for those works that have been tested and recognized as excellent. Because a musical work can only gain real vitality if it is constantly staged and constantly revised.
We did think of a lot of ways to promote these works. For example, we designated Mr. Chen Qigang's "Sorrow and Joy"as a required Chinese piece for the second Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, so that more young musicians can play this excellent work.
In 2021, to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, we also commissioned four composers — Jia Daqun, Yu Yang, Hao Wei, and Yang Fan — to create four new works. We proposed that we wanted the work to be as tightly controlled as possible to about 20 minutes, because this length is easier to integrate in a concert. As it turns out, these works have appeared in some recent concerts, and the audience acceptance is very high.
Shangguan: In the process of entrusting these four composers to create, what new attempts have you made?
Zhou Ping: In the creative stage, we give composers sufficient creative space and allow them to get effective feedback at different stages of the writing process. In the process of performance, we adopted the creation and touring mechanism of "multi-group co-performance + multi-site tour" to expand the influence of the work.
In order to promote the four works of "Ode to China", "Let's Run to the Sea and Look Up at the Stars", "Fathers" and "Chasing the Waves", we have been opening the copyright of the works to the public for two years since July last year. That is to say, whether it is a professional orchestra or an amateur, you can log on to the official website of the shanghai and contact the band to obtain the score of the four works, and there is no need to pay any copyright fees during the rehearsal process. We hope that by opening up copyrights, we will encourage more orchestras and musicians to play, so that good works can be passed on in continuous interpretation.
Shangguan: In several of the commissioned works in recent years, there have been joint commissions with other orchestras, will this method be continued in the future?
Zhou Ping: Yes. Several orchestras jointly commissioned a new work, which determined that the new work would be interpreted by more orchestras. For example, the three regiments jointly commissioned, and all three regiments will play this work to facilitate the wide dissemination of the work.
Recently, we signed an agreement with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to co-commission artists to create a oratorio about Shanghai, hoping to meet the audience next year.