Ninety-two-year-old conductor Zheng Xiaoying came again with the symphonic poem "Echoes of Tulou"

Zheng Xiaoying directs the symphonic poem "Tulou Echo" photographed by Luo Wei

When the famous conductor Zheng Xiaoying walked into the softly lit National Centre for the Performing Arts Concert Hall, the scene sounded a warm applause, she was dressed in black, full of silver hair, steady walking, spirit, it is difficult to imagine that she is 92 years old. On the evening of April 16, Zheng Xiaoying and the Xiamen Song and Dance Theater Symphony Orchestra participated in the "7th Chinese Symphony Spring" of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, and once again played the symphonic poem "Tulou Echo". The concert was sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Xiamen Municipal Party Committee, the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and the Xiamen Municipal Federation of Literature and Literature.

Symphony is good at conveying a spirit that can inspire people's emotions

The symphonic poem "Tulou Echo" is a magnificent epic chapter that shows the comprehensive elements of Hakka struggle, survival, development, and character. The work is composed of five movements: "Labor Trumpet", "Boat on the Sea", "Tulou Night Language", "Giant Axe Opening the Sky" and "Hakka Song", which vividly shows the arduous process of unity and mutual assistance, tenacious struggle and survival and development of the Hakka people who migrated from the Central Plains to Western Fujian with musical language, and vividly expresses the spiritual outlook of the Hakka people who are indomitable and brave to move forward.

Composed by composer Liu Xiang, the play premiered in 2000 under the impetus of Zheng Xiaoying's planning and won the only gold medal at the first Golden Bell Awards for Chinese Music the following year. For more than 20 years, Zheng Xiaoying has brought the symphonic poem "Tulou Echo" to 12 countries and performed more than 70 times, and this time it was performed at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, which is the 76th performance of the symphonic poem "Tulou Echo".

Recalling the original intention of creating this work, Zheng Xiaoying said, "I have the impression that there is little culture in the remote and poor rural areas, and in the Hakka settlements, so many tulous reflect the Hakka people's cherishing of the splendid culture created by their ancestors, and in such difficult living conditions, they do not forget to strive to inherit the spirit of traditional culture, which deeply shocked me." So Zheng Xiaoying wanted to create a symphonic work, "symphony is not good at telling stories, but good at conveying the spirit that can enlighten people's emotions."

Twenty years ago, when the symphonic poem "Tulou Echo" was composed and premiered at the Longyan Gymnasium in Fujian, it was faced with Hakka people from all over the world, many of whom were symphony lovers, but most of them may not even be music lovers. They listened quietly to the 40-minute work, and there were some clips in between that brought them to tears of excitement. I was very touched, and I felt that it was rare for a new symphony to elicit an inner response from the audience. Later, in addition to performing in large and medium-sized cities, Zheng Xiaoying also took this work into dozens of counties in Fujian, "As a conductor, I have the responsibility to discover excellent works and then promote it, especially in an environment where most people do not understand the value of symphony, so that more audiences can hear, although sometimes it is difficult, but this is my responsibility."

"Playing with a big knife in front of Guan Gong"

The symphonic poem "Tulou Echo" is a work with great national significance. In the second movement " Boat on the Sea "Boat on the Sea", a Hakka mountain song with strong regional characteristics was added, sung by Zhang Dongmei, a Hakka woman from Yongding, Fujian Province, and the inheritor of the Hakka mountain song of the provincial intangible cultural heritage; Qiu Shaochun, a provincial non-hereditary inheritor of leaf blowing skills, brought a leaf blowing song expressing mournful thoughts to the audience in the third movement "Tulou Night Language". When the form of Western symphony is integrated into The Chinese national music culture, the work has more vitality. "Our work will be a strange flower that the seeds of Western symphony are sown on the land of the East." Zheng Xiaoying has this confidence.

In 2007, Zheng Xiaoying brought the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra to perform at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall with the symphonic poem "Tulou Echo". "Before I left, I wrote an article where I said we were going to 'play a big knife in front of Guan Gong' because Germany is Beethoven's hometown, and there are the most discerning audiences." And Zheng Xiaoying has courage and more confidence, "The performance was very successful, and the actors said excitedly after the end, Teacher Zheng, we have 'conquered Berlin'." We need to let Western audiences know about our development and progress in the symphony."

In addition to adding Hakka traditional cultural elements to the symphonic poem "Tulou Echo", there is also a highlight - the end of the symphony, according to the requirements of the composer, the local people's choir is needed to join, interact with the band on the stage, and sing the simple Hakka mountain song "You have the heart to come and have feelings, I am afraid that the mountains are high and the water is deep; the mountains are high and there are people who open the way, and there are bridge builders in the depths of the water." On April 16th, the performance at the National Centre for the Performing Arts invited from the Air China Choir, Beijing Kalinka Choir, Beijing Haiyan Choir, and Beijing Aerospace University Student Choir, and about 220 members of these four choirs temporarily formed the Beijing "Tulou" Philharmonic Choir, becoming the largest lineup in the history of the domestic tour of the work, presenting the fifth movement of Hakka songs with magnificent momentum. Finally, the band players also put down their instruments and sang in unison, showing the Chinese spirit of unity and hard work, the spirit of the times, and the atmosphere of the scene was high and shocking.

Zheng Xiaoying said: "Many times, we sing 'Ode to Joy' in half-baked German, and when we take this work to perform abroad, foreign choirs also need to sing that Hakka mountain song in Chinese dialect. They may not be able to understand the meaning of the lyrics exactly, but they are afraid that they will not be able to memorize them, so they write the lyrics in their hands. They sang with us very seriously and happily, and this emotional resonance in the musical exchange is, I think, the hardest to forget. ”

From "Peace is very little" to "Peace is more and more numerous"

In the evening concert, the young conductor Xia Xiaotang also brought to the audience the symphony "Anqi Caprice" based on the Battle of Zhangxiajin, which was composed of the opening soundtrack poem recitation "Eyes of Eternal Life", as well as "Preface", the first movement "Battle", the second movement "Diary", and the third movement "Eternal Life", which were composed for those heroes with flesh and blood, love and righteousness, and also for those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people and the reunification of the motherland. It is worth mentioning that Xia Xiaotang has studied symphony conducting with the famous conductor Yu Feng since the age of 16, and Yu Feng is a student of Zheng Xiaoying. Zheng Xiaoying has cultivated a number of outstanding conductors, such as Wu Lingfen, Chen Zuohuang, Lü Jia, etc. are now famous in the music world.

In addition to passing on the torch of art, Zheng Xiaoying has put a lot of thought into how to enhance the public's awareness of symphony. During the performance on the same day, Zheng Xiaoying will guide the audience from the aspects of emotional expression and playing instruments before each movement is performed, her thinking is clear, her language is fluent, and the audience frequently nods her head with her explanation. The reporter learned that this is Zheng Xiaoying's consistent style, and she hopes to use her own explanation for even a few minutes to let the audience better approach the symphony. Just the day before the performance, she also gave a public lecture on the symphonic poem "Tulou Echo" at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

Zheng Xiaoying said that although The Chinese symphony has made great progress, it is still facing the problem of uneven development in various places, and how to make the symphony popular among a wider range of people still has a long way to go. She herself has always taken it as her responsibility to improve the public's music appreciation level and artistic accomplishment, and she is always full of enthusiasm for sharing the charm of music with the people. This is inseparable from Zheng Xiaoying's early experience, she joined the revolution at the age of 19, received the initial party education in the literary and labor troupe, "'Literature and art serve the people' This simple and profound outlook on life has influenced and guided me for most of my life." Zheng Xiaoying said emotionally.

To this end, Zheng Xiaoying continues to practice, in the face of new things, bravely "taste the new", innovative forms to make the symphony closer and closer to the people. Last year, Zheng Xiaoying opened the "Zheng Xiaoying Studio" on Douyin, and also interacted with music lovers on WeChat video accounts and WeChat public accounts. Affected by the epidemic, the trainees could not come to the opera class of Zheng Xiaoying Opera Center, so she did a live broadcast on Weibo. Nowadays, Zheng Xiaoying's performances or lectures have been recorded by professionals and released on douyin, video numbers, and public accounts, and more and more people have met symphonies on the "cloud".

In addition, Zheng Xiaoying also suggested that the relevant institutional departments may wish to investigate what works are often played on the program list of the National Symphony Orchestra, and which works are often selected by conductors. I hope that the relevant awards can use this as a reference item. In Zheng Xiaoying's view, the development of Chinese symphony is still in its infancy, and it is necessary to have more grounded works that can be accepted by the audience, which is beneficial to guide the audience and gradually improve their appreciation taste. "All the efforts are to promote the art of symphony from 'peace is very little' to 'peace is more and more'." Zheng Xiaoying said.

This is Zheng Xiaoying's fourth participation in the "Chinese Symphony Spring" of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, this year's Symphony Spring will last until May 7, and 22 symphony orchestras from all over the country will bring 21 performances, presenting a number of Chinese symphony works that praise the party and the people, write heroic stories and legends of the times for the national audience. Zheng Xiaoying said that this activity can allow the audience to concentrate on hearing the symphony classics and new works in various places, and it is also of great significance in promoting the development of local symphonies.

Author: Wu Hua

Source: China Art News