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Preface
Generally speaking, adapting a musical work is not just an artistic creation.
After all, it's also a tribute and challenge to the original.
And when adapting classic works, it can be said that this state is more profound.
Obviously, Professor Lan Chengbao's two-piano work "Overlord Removes Armor" is such an example.
It's just that this song not only retains the musical theme of the original song.
More importantly, he also demonstrates the diversity and depth of the work in the performance of the two pianos.
But how did "Overlord Unarm" deal with it, and how could it retain the musical theme of the original work?
In addition, how does it show its uniqueness with new forms of performance?
Theme preservation and innovation in musical arrangements
There is no doubt that the soul of a musical work is embodied in the musical theme of the work.
Therefore, in the adaptation, the use and retention of the musical theme given by the original song is the primary consideration of the composer.
But it is very difficult for creators to adapt mature musical works.
After all, it is necessary not only to retain its original musical theme, but also to use and embody the advantages and characteristics of instrumental music in recreation.
In short, it is necessary to keep the theme of the music distinct while making it richer and more varied.
Since 1994, Lan Chengbao has been invited by Wei Youshan, chairman of the Hong Kong Pianists Association, to create a number of double piano arrangements including "Flowing Water" and "Overlord Unloading the Armor".
Of course, these works have also become the required repertoire of the previous "Chinese Piano Competition" in Hong Kong.
However, in the adaptation of the work "The Overlord Removes His Armor", the composer not only retains the theme melody of the original song, but also adds rich harmonies from the two pianos, so that the original song is more full and three-dimensional in terms of auditory effect.
It can be said that Lan Chengbao is a perfect combination of Chinese and Western elements.
Not only that, but he also applied these to this two-piano work based on the pipa set of martial arts.
This act allows Chinese classical music and piano performance techniques to be fused with each other, so that the piano retains the unique granularity and percussion of the original piece in the performance.
Of course, Lan Chengbao also used the deafening sound effects of the two pianos to enhance the shock of the original music, so as to vividly depict an ancient historical scene, as if people saw a tragic picture of thousands of troops fighting on the ancient battlefield.
In the end, this two-piano work "Overlord Unloading the Armor", which is adapted from the pipa big set of martial arts, is also divided into 14 sections: (1) camp drums, (2) raising the tent, (3) point generals, (4) the whole team, (5) platoon, (6) going out of the battle, (7) engagement, (8) the battle under the wall, (9) Chu Ge, (10) farewell concubine, (11) the sound of drums and horns, (12) out of the siege, (13) chasing soldiers, (14) the return of the army.
These fourteen paragraphs can be roughly divided into three parts.
First of all, let's look at the first part, which focuses on the preparation stage before the war, creating an atmosphere of active preparation for war by the officers and men in the barracks.
You must know that the whole piece begins with the deep bass area of the two pianos.
However, the composer used the "camp drum" as the introduction to the whole piece, and the melody was free and tragic, and the rumbling drum sound was carried out throughout the piece, in order to prompt and supervise the preparations before the war.
From the second stage of "raising the account" to the fifth stage of "arranging the array", it can be regarded as another whole. This part seems to have just dawned, but the Chu army camp has already begun to be busy. Both generals and soldiers are performing their duties, such as organizing the army, counting the soldiers, etc., in order to welcome the arrival of war at any time.
At this point, the melody becomes more and more tense as the preparations progress, until the "out of battle" in the sixth stanza is used as a preparation to end the battle, and then leads to the battle.
This is followed by the second part, which focuses on depicting the intensity and grandeur of the battle.
From the "engagement" in the seventh paragraph to the "Great War" in the eighth paragraph, the theme of war has officially begun. At this time, the tune is intense and tense, and there is not a trace of respite.
Because of this, this part is also the climax of the Great War, which is of course a part that is difficult to grasp in the performance.
To put it simply, the two pianos in this section use a large number of chords, and use a rapid and fast texture to make the two pianos reflect the sound effect together, in order to show the anger of the overlord for breaking the contract, as well as the determination of the soldiers to fight bravely to kill the enemy and defend their leaders and territories to the death.
As for the final third part, it is after the end of the war, that is, from the ninth paragraph of "Chu Ge" to the fourteenth paragraph of "The Return of the Army".
However, the division after the end of the war can be divided from two aspects: one is the portrayal of Xiang Yu's inner emotions after the defeat of the war, and the other is the state of the two armies after the end of the war.
Obviously, "Chu Ge" in the ninth paragraph and "Farewell My Concubine" in the tenth paragraph are portrayals of Xiang Yu's inner emotions.
Back then, Xiang Yu's army was outnumbered in the war and suffered frequent setbacks, and at this time it was surrounded by bursts of Chu songs from the Han military camp.
It is conceivable that at this time, there were almost no unaffected soldiers in Xiang Yu and the Chu army camp, after all, they all thought that the Han army had completely captured Chu.
Therefore, at that time, they did not have the slightest determination to fight again.
Therefore, this part uses the long melody of "Chu Ge" to play Xiang Yu's bleak and sad situation, which is like crying, which makes people heartbroken.
Obviously, this is in sharp and stark contrast to the fierce war scene in the second part.
And in the paragraph "Farewell My Concubine", there seems to be sadness, reluctance and reluctance, and even a musical tune that is doubtful and hesitant to believe it.
These can also show the complex thoughts in the heart of the overlord, and profoundly reflect the grief and despair of a generation of brave generals after the defeat, as well as the sad scenes of having to say goodbye to his concubine and the grievances of deciding to kill Wujiang.
From melodic to multi-part use
You must know that "Overlord Removes Armor" shows the heroism of Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu.
Because of this, the structure of the whole piece is compact and the rhythm is sonorous and powerful.
After all, in terms of emotion, it can be said that it not only shows the heroic side of Xiang Yu's iron man, but also shows his tender side towards Yu Ji.
Therefore, this piece requires high musical expression and performance skills of the performers.
When playing, the player should pay attention to the contrast and change in the strength of the music, and must not cause the timbre of the piano to be dry and sometimes empty for the sake of pure pursuit of strength.
At the same time, when grasping the melody of the whole piece, we should also pay attention to the direction of the melody lines of the whole piece, and combine the different emotional expressions of each section of the song to create a second creation.
Only in this way can the musical charm of the song be fully and completely expressed, so that the audience can feel the ideological connotation of the music with great artistic appeal.
And this is the reason why this song is adapted from the pipa song.
Obviously, before playing this two-piano piece, the performer should carefully listen to and grasp the performance style of the pipa, a national instrument, and strive to use the piano playing skills to express the performance characteristics of the pipa.
Therefore, the composer used the Chinese national pentatonic mode, which is completely different from the Western major and minor keys, and laid the whole piece on the B key mode, and the piano performance should retain the unique granularity and percussion of the original piece.
This method of playing makes the two pianos produce a deafening sound, which strongly enhances the shock of the original music.
However, in the performance of the double piano, it is necessary to pay attention to the joint cooperation to achieve the artistic effect to be expressed in the music, so that it will show the passionate style of the traditional martial arts music and reflect the unique artistic expression of the double piano.
Since this piece is typical of ancient Chinese music, it does not have the complex harmony and key of Western works.
But even so, the performer should pay more attention to practice and master the technique.
In addition to this time, you will also need to understand the background of the music, and you will be able to perform the work as if you were in the middle of a story.
And because there are a large number of chords in the music of "Overlord Removes Armor", the most common mistake in the performance of chords is the error in timbre and volume caused by the inability of both hands to be completely consistent in playing.
To put it simply, when playing chords that mimic the sound of war drums, it is necessary to achieve an absolutely precise and uniform tone between the left and right hands.
Although this is not an easy thing to do, it is a skill that players must practice and master.
One of the challenges for a player to test his finger control is to play a chord without missing any of the notes or making one of the chords particularly abrupt.
After all, playing several notes of a chord with one hand with different dynamics is one of the most beautiful expressions in piano playing.
So in practice, the player can try to break down the chords.
In other words, it is necessary to highlight the upper and root notes of the chord, fix the frame of the chord, and then use the auditory sense to distinguish the timbre while removing the unnecessary movement of the fingers, and to keep the hand closer to the piano keyboard to improve the accuracy of the chord playing.
Overall, melody is the most important component of music, and it embodies the theme and motive of a piece of music.
Although the composer uses the melody and texture to express his own musical thoughts, and then reflects the style of the music through the characteristics of the melody, the performer needs to make a second creation based on this information to accurately grasp and perform the music.
In piano music, composers will take advantage of the piano's wide vocal range and ideal multi-part performance method to express different forms of melodic writing.
In other words, some of the works use single-part melodic composition, some multi-part melodic lines, and of course, some hidden melodies.
In the two-piano work "The Overlord Removes His Armor", the melodic parts are mostly hidden in the chords or intervals.
Therefore, when practicing, first find the melodic part and practice the melodic tone alone, after playing it clearly and consistently, then practice with the harmonic texture of the lower part, and finally add the melodic tone to the chord.
In this process, you should listen to the sound you are playing, and self-check whether the melody hidden in the chords or intervals is clear and clean, so that you can adjust it in time.
Playing "Overlord Removing Armor"
As a large set of martial arts songs, the entire work of "Overlord Unloading the Armor" is from the perspective of the defeated Xiang Yu, and always reflects the characteristics of sadness and anger.
This is different from "Ambush on All Sides" because it depicts the joy of the victor.
And the work "Overlord Removes His Armor" is more of a low mood of grief and pain.
Therefore, it is important to fully understand the emotions or scenes that the composer wants to depict and express through the music.
That is, the piece is played with the imagination of being in the midst of this famous historical battle.
Remember not to stand beside the victorious Liu Bang, after all, this is the scene of reluctance to kill Wujiang after watching the defeated Xiang Yu Yu say goodbye to Yu Ji.
In fact, you often hear such a sentence: if you want to accurately interpret a work, you must give full play to your infinite imagination. Just like an actor, put yourself in the story itself, to experience the inner emotions of the protagonist, and to understand the ideological content of the work itself.
Needless to say, the same goes for piano playing.
Before performing any piece, the performer needs to understand what the piece itself contains, and then try to play the sound with his fingers to convey the mood and emotion he feels.
Piano pedal application
Aside from finger ability, pedals are the only way to assist piano playing and adjust piano tone.
In the early years, the pianist Anton Rubinstein once said: The pedal can be said to be the soul of piano performance.
It is enough to see that in order to successfully perform a piano work, you must not only have a solid playing foundation and skillful playing skills, but also know how to use the pedal correctly and appropriately.
First of all, there are three pedals on the piano.
Let's start with the upright practice piano, which has three pedals from left and right: muted pedal, practice pedal and sustain pedal.
However, the pedal of the triangle concert piano is slightly different from that of the upright piano, with the left pedal and the middle pedal.
Therefore, it is important to note that when using the pedal on the left side of the grand piano, the piano keys will move one position to the left. The effect of the muted tone is slightly altered at the same time, and the middle pedal is a partial sustained tone, which usually refers to the holding and extension of the low voice, without the extension of the upper register.
In contrast, the most used of the three piano pedals is the right pedal, also known as the sustain pedal.
You must know that the pedal of the piano, like the timbre of the piano, is spiritual, and it can sense the mood of a piece of music.
Adding pedals to the harmonies of a powerful tune will make the original shock effect more three-dimensional and the sound will be grander, while adding pedals to a sad and mournful tune will make the sound more sad and desolate.
All in all, the use of pedals is an important way to assist piano playing, but it is also necessary to pay attention not to use them indiscriminately.
Secondly, let's look at the use of pedals, which are usually divided into: preparation pedals, direct pedals, tone back pedals and jitter pedals.
In the work "Overlord Removes His Armor", the composer wants to use the strength of the volume of the music to reflect the fierceness of the battle and the delicacy of the characters' inner emotions.
For this reason, the use of pedals is an indispensable way.
At the same time, it was required to retain the granular sound effect of the original song, so a shake pedal could be chosen to keep the sound clean and grainy while increasing the rendering of the fierce emotions of the battle.
However, in the very weak sound processing, it is necessary to use a weak pedal, of course, a sustain pedal can also be used at the same time to emphasize the delicate emotions of the characters in the music.
However, in the seventh paragraph of "Engagement" and the ninth paragraph of "Chu Ge", the back pedal is used.
In addition to maintaining the harmony of the low voice, it is also necessary to reflect the breadth of the chords and the coherence of the melody.
However, in the first section of the "camp drum" and the fourth section of the "whole team", the direct pedal is used to set off the intense emotions of the war.
But remember not to be too long, to pedal quickly, so as not to make the sound confusing and difficult to distinguish, thus having the opposite effect.
"Overlord Removing Armor" fingering arrangement
In addition, reasonable and simple fingering arrangement is also a big "shortcut" for piano playing.
After all, doing so can improve the player's efficiency and the quality of the performance while practicing.
Generally speaking, the fingering that appears in the piano sheet is the easiest and most suitable fingering that the performer has come up with after repeated scrutiny.
However, it is a pity that for a new work such as "The Overlord Removes His Armor", the composer did not give much advice on the arrangement of fingering.
This requires the performer to find the most convenient fingering suitable for his own performance based on the experience he has accumulated in practice, and mark it on the scoremap to avoid the phenomenon of irregular fingering in practice.
For example, when playing a continuous fourth, the player is asked to play a legato.
This is especially important for fingering, so try to use the principles of proximity and smooth movement.
epilogue
It has to be said that the adaptation of "Overlord Removes Armor" provides the performers with a deep insight into the art of musical adaptation.
It is the emergence of it that makes people realize the importance of making rational use of new forms of performance and techniques.
After all, this not only preserves the essence of the original, but even gives the work a new lease of life.
Obviously, this spirit of innovation and reverence for the original is especially important for all creators and performers.