A colorful variation of ancient rhymes

Author: Zheng Haiou Cao Lingjuan Cao Xuemeng

Play with the astronaut Wang Yaping who is on the space station, so that folk music can sing in unison in heaven and earth; intersect with 5,000 years of history, let folk music stories take the stage; with the help of XR (extended reality) and other high-tech means, let folk music sound good and look good... On the stage of this year's CCTV Lantern Festival Gala, the folk music creative program "Qi Tianle" performed by the Central Chinese Orchestra was eye-catching.

In recent years, with the heat set off by the national trend, more and more people have deepened their understanding and love of China's excellent traditional culture, and the relatively niche folk music in the past has also gained more attention, and has continuously innovated in content creation and expression forms, winning the love of more audiences.

Stills from "Qi Tianle". Courtesy of the Central Chinese Orchestra

Stills from "Chinese Chaoyin". "China Chaoyin" program group courtesy of the picture

Stills from the performance of the Zide Qin Society. Courtesy of zideqin society

Integrate art and technology to broaden the development path

Against the background of the landscape, the piano, ruan, zhen, sheng and drum appeared in turn. As soon as the background picture turns, the Silk Road camel bell and the Western Regions Market gradually appear, and the pipa, erhu, zhen na, zhen zhen and karma drum play the rhythm. Next, the program was pushed to a climax in two or two "stubble organs", and finally, 40 performers shared the stage to show the beauty of instrumental music and chimes, ending "Qi Tianle".

Zhao Cong, director of the Central Chinese Orchestra, introduced: "The creativity and form of Qi Tianle are completely new. "Every instrument can be associated with a historical figure, and each character can be associated with a story. Zhuge Liang Fuqin, Ruan Xian plucked Ruan, Li Ping played the basket ... "Qi Tianle" "reproduced" these characters one by one and combined with instrumental performance, presenting a very creative folk music program on the stage.

In addition to the show itself, Qi Tianle also uses XR technology to create a virtual environment for human-computer interaction, allowing the audience to feel like they are under the stars, in the landscape and in the Dunhuang Grottoes, bringing a shocking and immersive experience.

"Qi Tianle" is not the first time that the Central Chinese Orchestra has explored "tradition + fashion". On January 6 this year, at the opening ceremony of the "Meet in Beijing" Olympic Cultural Festival and the 22nd "Meet in Beijing" International Arts Festival, the Central Chinese Orchestra and the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra cooperated to form a "Folk Music + Symphony" more than 100-person band lineup to perform jointly, through the innovative expression of Chinese stories and excellent traditional culture, using virtual reality, holograms and other stage technologies to achieve the innovation of art and technology integration.

"The audience affirmed the achievements of our exploration, gave great encouragement to all the members of the orchestra, and spurred us to continue to tell the Chinese story well." Zhao Cong said that in recent years, the Central Chinese Orchestra has continuously explored the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional folk music, and the orchestra has been boldly walking on the road of new folk music exploration, adhering to the principle of integrity and innovation, on the basis of inheriting tradition, leading the creation, innovation and creativity of national music in an all-round and multi-dimensional way, committed to establishing a good-sounding and good-looking image of national music, and constantly expanding the development path of national music.

Close to the aesthetics of the times, explore vivid expression

Pale yellow backgrounds such as rice paper, musicians wearing scarlet collared robes, ai green tops, blue silk shirts, etc., or playing the guqin, or playing the flute, or playing the drum... Playing traditional Chinese instruments, the flowing music is the theme song of the movie "Harry Potter", Bach's "Aria on the G String"...

The short video of the Young Chinese Wind Orchestra Zide Qin Society is like an "ancient painting that can move". Whether it is Tang Dynasty Huqu or Song Dynasty Music, the video of just a few minutes combines tradition and modernity, making people feel like swimming in a painting.

In 2014, Zhu Liyu, who loves the guqin, and his friends founded the Zideqin Society to promote traditional Chinese instruments based on the guqin. Nowadays, the scale of the piano club is slowly growing, and more and more young people have joined in and launched a series of folk music works.

The guqin is one of the oldest plucked instruments in China, but there are only a few dozen melodies that are familiar to the public today. "When promoting traditional art, we are constantly exploring how to get close to modern aesthetics and appreciation habits." Zhu Liyu said, "We want to express the understanding of contemporary young people and make the guqin 'come alive'." ”

In order to break through the relatively monotonous paradigm of guqin soloism and make it easier for the public to accept and remember the guqin melody, the works of the Zideqin Society have gradually formed the existing small ensemble mode. It is like a modern band, with flutes and flutes based on melody, guzheng and Zhongruan with harmony as the mainstay, guqin that renders the atmosphere, and percussion instruments that bring a sense of rhythm.

In addition to playing music, they also use visual expression to set off the musical atmosphere and mobilize multiple senses. In 2019, the Zide Qin Society combined the performance of traditional musical instruments with the restoration of costumes, and made a national style video and posted it on social platforms. On the basis of the original song's guzheng and guqin performance, they added box drums, small hits, flutes, and ode bowls, and let the musicians sit in a row in traditional costumes to play. After the video was launched, the number of views quickly exceeded one million.

This distinctive band uses the mode of "ancient assembly guqin", plays ancient instruments, adapts traditional famous songs and modern music, and explores the use of modern communication methods to lead traditional folk music "out of the circle". According to incomplete statistics, the videos of the Zide Qin Society have been played more than 100 million times on the whole network, and this group of young people is using national musical instruments to attract the world's attention. "This is what we are looking forward to seeing," Zhu Said, "and only by bringing these ancient instruments into life can they survive and develop better." ”

Enrich the way of communication and reach more audiences

Zhongruan player Feng Mantian and Zhenzhen player Cui Junzhi cooperated with the contestants, and the encounter of different instruments stimulated different effects; Yang Bowen, a post-80s boy, combined shakuhachi with electronic music, and the audience expressed their love with the bullet screen brushing screen... Folk music is displayed in front of the public with a novel appearance, and in the music variety show "China Chaoyin", there are many similar "famous scenes".

In recent years, the figure of folk music has increasingly appeared on the screen. From the evening party "New Folk Music National Wind Night" with folk music as the protagonist, showing the cross-border integration of folk music and lion dance, opera, poetry, etc., to the variety show "Chinese Music Ceremony" that has been broadcast for four seasons, it is still constantly renovating its form and popularity, and variety shows and various evenings have increasingly become a new way for folk music to "break the circle" to spread. Stepping out of the theater and stage, folk music reaches the audience with more diverse forms and richer channels.

More and more programs present the collision and integration of folk music and multiple cultural elements, and explore the youthful expression of folk music. For example, the "Chinese Music Classic" constantly tries new presentation methods and narrative structures of folk music by adapting popular music, creating new Chinese style music, and introducing scene-based instrumental music. In "Chinese Chaoyin", ethnic instruments such as Ruan, Big Drum, Bamboo Flute, Guzheng, Chimes, Oh Na, Shakuhachi and other ethnic instruments appear in turn, and are combined with various elements such as electric music, pop, folk songs, rap, and opera. Meng Qingguang, director of "China Chaoyin", said that he hopes to use the most popular musical expression means that young people like to see to show China's excellent traditional culture, "I look forward to young people being able to have new feelings and dialogue with traditional repertoire and instruments when they face them." On the basis of bringing audiovisual enjoyment, the program also set up a special link to popularize the knowledge of traditional musical instruments for the audience, "We hope to break the boundaries of the circle and let the essence of traditional culture be seen by more audiences." Meng Qingguang said.

"In the past, most of the music programs were based on the aesthetic of popular music, but now the emergence of programs with the theme of classical music such as folk music has brought a refreshing feeling to the audience." He Tianping, deputy secretary-general of the Film and Television Art Committee of the China Television Art Exchange Association, believes that such programs creatively interpret classics, and make traditions and classics popular through the new expression of musicians, the new interpretation of musical attitudes, and the new presentation of audiovisual technology. "As long as you find the right form to connect with the present, the charm of folk music can last forever." He Tianping said. (Zheng Haiou, Cao Lingjuan, Cao Xuemeng)

Source: People's Daily