In the beating of 13 sets of timpani drums, the footsteps of "time" are firmly forward and run endlessly. Since the opening of the Winter Paralympic Games, the athletes' hard work in the 9 days and the wonderful highlights of the event have been continuously traced back, and finally fixed at the moment when the torchbearer Li Duan lit the fire at the opening ceremony. A blind violinist sounded, and the main torch on the snowflake platform began to slowly extinguish. Disabled artists push the "singing needle" away from the venue, and time seems to freeze and be silent at this time...
"We want to leave you with a memory and more affection." Shen Chen, director of the closing ceremony, said. On this basis, the main creative team also looks forward to exploring new paths of artistic creation, such as the music performed by 13 sets of timpani drums, which is the bold practice of Chinese composers.
"Timpani drums are percussion instruments, and it is very difficult to use percussion to shape the image." Shen Chen said. Shang Junli, music director of the closing ceremony, further explained, "The pitch of the timpani drum itself is not so clear, and it is difficult for ordinary listeners to distinguish. A set of timpani drums are like thunder, 13 sets of simultaneous, what should it look like? Initially, we felt that 13 sets of timpani drums were just a 'concept'. But Shen Chen insisted that there should be musical creativity from Chinese artists on the stage of the closing ceremony. Although the idea of 13 sets of timpani drums was almost unanimously opposed by composers, he told everyone, "We want to complete the contribution that a generation of musicians should make to provide a direction for world music." ”
Why do you insist on choosing 13 sets of timpani drums? Shen Chen explained that this piece of music has the meaning of "sharing the moment and going to the future together" around the world, "13" represents the history of the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, the sound of the timpani drum is just like the rhythm of the clock second hand "drip, answer, tick, answer", and "time" is the landing point of the entire closing ceremony theme of "Eternity in Warmth".
"In the early stages, we used all kinds of techniques and grinded for more than two months to find some feelings." Shang Junli recalled that at first, 3 composers began to create, but writing and writing, it always seemed to be almost interesting, until the composer Li Shicheng's creation brought a breakthrough point, "I cut a piece of his music, everyone listened, felt good, let him continue to write in this direction." With the cooperation of Shang Junli, 13 sets of timpani drums finally converged into this unforgettable melody.
At the closing ceremony, 12 able-bodied drummers stood in a circle, and another disabled drummer stood in the center of the circle, like the dial of a clock. The music began with a 26-second lead, and the drummers on the scene "made two laps of 60 seconds strictly according to the concept of the clock." Some of the timpani drums have been restoring the concept of the second hand 'drip, answer', other accents in the first circle in turn to light up 12 points, the second circle is the color of the timpani drum, and then the music unfolds and develops, which is more futuristic and experimental. Shang Junli said.
Source Beijing Daily client reporter Gao Qian
Edited by Meng Ziwei Xie Yongli
Process Editor Yan Shengmiao