Spring here is at its most beautiful - the story of two "spring songs"

Author: Wang Lei (Professor, School of Music, Ningbo University); Lu Jiani (Master student, School of Music, Ningbo University)

"Little swallow, wearing flower clothes, come here every spring..." The little swallow in the song, holding the affectionate spring letterhead, swept the childhood sky, returning to his hometown from a distant foreign land, the black and white dexterous figure, just like a delicate spring flower, brings spring to all things. Under the blue sky, willow branches are like braids combed by the spring breeze, gently brushing up the rippled pond. The hills are full of pink flowers, and pines and cypresses stretch their rings in the dripping spring rain. The roof tiles are blue and gray, and the cooking smoke is overflowing, and these messengers of spring peck at the verses of spring, fly sideways over the backs of the peasants' labor, and rush to a spring date. As written in the primary school Chinese textbook: "The blue sky, with a few thin lines connected between the poles, how like a stave!" The resting swallows become musical notes, composing a song of spring waiting to be played. ”

The children's song "Little Swallow" is an episode composed by composer Wang Yunjie for the feature film "Diary of a Nurse" produced by Shanghai Jiangnan Film Studio, written in 1957. The song uses fairytale-like language to vividly depict the ever-changing face of the socialist new China, compares the heroine to a hardworking little swallow, and calls on the vast number of aspiring young people to take this as an example and actively participate in the upsurge of building a socialist motherland. The song goes along with the film, and the gentle tune accompanies countless people of different generations through their golden childhood.

According to the eldest daughter of the lyricist Wang Lu, the source of inspiration for her father's creation was the group of swallows that nested under the eaves of his hometown in Queshan, Henan Province when he was a child. "My father once said that when he was brewing "Little Swallow", he often thought of the scene of swallows nesting under the eaves of the roof in spring when he lived with my grandmother in his hometown in Queshan. The swallow always made his father miss his hometown and his mother. Wang Lu weaves his fiery emotions for childhood, hometown and mother into a string of simple and smooth lyrics. From the winter of 1956 to the spring of 1957, Wang Yunji experienced life in Baotou Steel, "At that time, the Baotou Iron and Steel Complex was still under construction, and the pictures of Baotou Steel's grand construction plan were drawn with powder lines, and it was in the process of transforming from a beautiful ideal floor plan to a beautiful realistic three-dimensional construction. The fresh sight captivated me powerfully and made me like a child into a beautiful fairy tale world! (Wang Yunji, "Little Angel Liberated "Little Swallow")

Chunyan Tujiang Hanting

Wang Yunji took a fancy to this heartfelt little poem, revised it according to his feelings in life, felt that the meaning was not exhausted, and wrote a supplementary lyric, and changed the "black" character of "Little Swallow Wears Black" to the character "flower", and composed the music according to the tone of the folk song he learned in Inner Mongolia. The song is a five-tone palace tune, 4/4 beat, written in the form of a universal song, the melody is mostly carried out in a small three-degree ascending pentatonic scale, which matches the tone of the language, and several times there are dotted notes, all skillfully combined with the rhythm and rhythm of the language, the tune is stable, the structure is regular, and the lyrics are closely combined, telling the heart-to-heart of the children of New China and the little swallow friends to talk heart-to-heart, singing catchy and beautiful. After the affectionate interpretation of actor Wang Danfeng, "Little Swallow" flew into thousands of households and thousands of homes and was written into primary school music textbooks. Fang Shumin and Huang Jichang recorded a touching scene before the sacrifice of the martyr Xiang Xiuli in the book "Xiang Xiuli":

Finally, she asked the medical staff: "Please sing a song." "What do you like to hear?" "Sing the episode of "Nurse's Diary" again." The song gently echoed in the ward: Little swallow, dressed in flowers, comes here every spring. I asked the swallow why you came, and the swallow said that spring is the most beautiful here.

At this time, a smile appeared on Xiangxiuli's lips, and she also sang along: Little swallow, tell you, this year here is more beautiful, we have built a big factory, installed new machines, welcome you, live here for a long time.

In 1992, "Little Swallow" won the first Contemporary Children's Favorite Song Award. Now, when this familiar melody resounds, we can still witness the joyful notes of blooming pink dimples one by one, witnessing this group of homecoming wanderers spreading their wings and embracing the grass and trees, hovering on the willows, lakes, and eaves, sending flowers to the spring; The swallows suddenly chirped from afar, as if eagerly announcing: the swallows are still looking for the old stronghold, and a new peach and plum.

"Warbler beak pecking flowers red slippery, swallowtail dotted wave green wrinkles", "Several early warblers compete for warmth of the tree, who new swallows peck spring mud", the spring spirit of Jiangnan brought by swallows and spring water is also spread in ancient poetry. "Spring sleep does not dawn, birds are heard everywhere, the wind and rain come at night, and the flowers fall to know how much." In the five-word sentence "Spring Dawn", the poet captures the typical spring atmosphere through auditory feelings and associations, vividly depicting the image of spring day, which not only has the laziness of spring nights, but also expresses the feeling of pity for the passing of spring light.

In addition to swallows chasing the silhouette of spring, children are also looking for the footprints of spring. The song "Where is Spring" composed by Pan Zhensheng, the "king of children's songs", cleverly uses the crisp chirping of orioles to express the beauty of spring. The spring in the lyrics, new shoots spring up in the branches of awakening, little by little covering the bleakness of winter, awakening the whole forest; On the surface of the water reflecting the mountains, it turns into a drizzle and gently ripples, revealing a smile like a flower... The three lyrics depict the spring hidden in the verdant mountain forest, reflected in the reflection of the lake, and blooming under the eyes of children, full of childlike fun. After reading the lyrics of the poet Wang An, Mr. Pan Zhensheng couldn't help but come to the lake, communicate and play with the children, and quickly became inspired, and completed the composition in one night. This song "Where is Spring" has also become an irreplaceable "Ode to Spring" in the hearts of children.

"Where is spring, where is spring", this is the proposition that countless artists have continuously interpreted from the perspective of beauty from ancient times to the present. Perhaps spring is on a drizzling morning, riding the wings of song, firmly landing on this vast and rich land, facing the warm sun under the eaves of the farmhouse. The creators of children's songs picked up the seeds of notes from a pool of deep green, and planted the wind and warmth to the children and us who were children many years ago, so that spring not only flowed into poetry in song, but also deeply rooted in our passing years, in the expectation of the future, and became a comfort and strength on our growth road. Whenever we sing spring again, it will surely pick up the carefree time of childhood, walk through the emerald green and fragrant earth, and awaken the once icy thoughts.

Guang Ming Daily(Version 16, 07.04.2023)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily