I play the piano for Mr. Yang Baosen
Golden Land
In my decades of practicing the piano, I have been a very fortunate person, and I have met many mentors and close friends, among which I have been most influenced by Mr. Yang Baosen and the musicians who have contributed to the art of Yang School.
In the early 1940s, Ma (Lian Liang), Tan (Fu Ying), Yang (Baosen), and Xi (Xiao Bo) "Four Great Su Sheng" rose. Among them, I am particularly fond of Yang Pai's repertoire. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, I accompanied Li Mingsheng, whose voice was thick and round, emphasizing charm, similar to the Yang style. The drama that Da Fan Yang is good at acting, he can introduce. In 1952, I traveled south with Mingsheng to cooperate with the theater in Carlton (now the Yangtze River Theater) in Shanghai, when the General Political Peking Opera Troupe came to adjust Mingsheng and Mr. Yang Baozhong (who had already negotiated in advance), the two of them allowed to invite the troupe and secretly signed an official contract, and I was stranded in Shanghai, and had to cooperate with Huang Guiqiu and Chi Shigong for a period to solve the urgent need to return to Beijing. Although this was unpleasant, it led to a major turning point in my life of piano playing.
At that time, Mr. Yang Baosen was going to Jinan to perform, and no one played the piano. After Mr. Baozhong recommended me to take over, he said: "Among my apprentices, I can't find a suitable candidate, you go to the right path, and my third brother (referring to Mr. Yang Baosen) and Mr. Hang help you, I believe you will cooperate very well." When talking about official business, Cao Shijia introduced him, and Zhang Boquan came forward, saying: "Mr. Yang has called (not in Shanghai), and since the new violinist is doing this work, he will take the money according to his original share." For a young violinist, this treatment is very generous. This really flattered me, and I felt that the responsibility was heavy and must be taken seriously and meticulously. I asked when to talk about the play, and please open the repertoire of the performance.
The first four days of "cannon fighting drama" were listed: the first day evening show was "Lost Street Pavilion, Empty City Plan, Horse Chopping Rumor"; The next day's matinee was "Asking the Tree, Beating the Stick Out of the Box", and the evening show was "Drumming and Scolding Cao" and "Hong YangDong"; The evening show on the third day is all "Yang JiaJun"; The evening show on the fourth day was all "Wu Zixu".
Yang Baosen's "Lost Space Chopper"
After I returned to Beijing, Cao Shijia expected that I would be a bit angry and told me, "You can first talk to Mr. Hangzi and Mr. (who has been Yang Sigu for many years) about drama." So, through Shi wei, the son of Hang, I met this famous drummer. Elder Hang knew about this and received me warmly. After the cold noise, Elder Hang picked up a pair of chopsticks from the table and began to talk about the drama, even if our grandfather and son were just building a teacher-student friendship. Together with the way to Shandong and the same room after arriving in Jinan, Elder Hang gave me a lot of specific guidance and help.
Mr. Yang Baosen arrived in Jinan before us, and when we arrived in Jinan, it was only two days before the performance, and I thought that Mr. Yang would immediately talk to me about the play. But no one mentioned the right thing, busy with all kinds of entertainment, my hanging heart mentioned the throat eye, and I only saw him at the hotel where Mr. Yang was staying at nine o'clock in the evening. After the meeting, he just looked at my huqin first, looked left and right, and said from the eyes of a connoisseur: "This piano is good, what is the famous (origin)?" You are so young, the guys (Peking Opera band commonly known as instruments) are quite exquisite. I was anxious to ask him to play, and said a little timidly: "I don't have any good guys, give you a hanging voice, you tell me about the drama!" Mr. Yang said happily, "All right!" We began to raise our voices, starting with "Erhuangyuan Plate" in "Ma'anshan", "The Old Eyes Are Dizzy and Difficult to Walk," hanging [Erhuang] and singing [Xipi], there are as many as six or seven paragraphs, but there is not a single singing section of "Loss, Emptiness, and Chop" (the repertoire of the first day's performance), I still have no bottom in my heart, I still ask him to talk about this play, he knows that I have already found Elder Hang, and he said very frankly: "Mr. Hang has told you that I can do it, I am all 'official' (that is, the ordinary meaning, this is Mr. Yang's self-effacing word)." I remember cao Shijia's words: "The characteristics of Mr. Yang's plays are that the rhythm is flat and fast, and he does not ask you to be strict with the score of the accompaniment, but the rhythm should be strict." With a nervous feeling, I was ready to appear in the "smashing pot".
The first day of the performance, as soon as the curtain opened, I sat on the side of the stage, and saw the audience talking about it, pointing fingers and feet, I was like sitting on a needle felt, and my heart was beating a drum. Fortunately, I have come to Shandong with Mr. Shang Xiaoyun and Liang Qingyun before, and I am still a little popular. Before going on, Elder Hang instructed me: Yang's play pays attention to rhythm, cannot drag, and emphasizes the transformation of rhythm, so as to set off the change of singing voice and show the rich emotional connotation of the characters. I saw Mr. Hang sitting firmly in his right position, and his heart was solid, and he gave me a ride!
Mr. Jia Xianying, a senior violinist, once said to me: "Those who play the huqin must have the ability to bump into each other." What does this mean? He said: "The opera industry often says that one is clear, two is hun and three is not seen. Today we are going to do the opposite, called the first sight, the second skill, the third yan; When you meet an actor who cooperates for the first time on the stage, as long as you pay attention to the scene of catching him, you can cooperate with the tacit understanding, which is like Mr. Face, look at the face, and know eight or nine when you meet. "By analogy, I look at its shape (facial expressions, lip changes, emotional transformations), listen to its sounds (the virtual, real, large, small, high, low, and strong, weak, sick, slow, dun, and frustrated of the melody of the voice), so that the actor can sing comfortably and help him perfectly shape the character. From this, I realized that to play the piano to pull the "god", it is to pay attention to the fast, slow, urging, and pulling of the rhythm, the strong, weak, large, and small volume, and the synchronization of the inhibition, yang, containment, dew and the polyphony of the accompaniment.
The first performance was basically a success. Mr. Yang invited me for a late night snack after the performance, and he said to me with a smile: "We worked well together for the first time, and it seems that our uncle (the honorific title of his brother Bao Zhongzhi) has eyesight." At this time, a stone in my heart fell to the ground. He said with great interest: "After eating, don't sleep first, let's talk about the drama." ah! Because when I performed, I was too mentally burdened on the stage, the operation was tense, and I was tired enough, sitting there for a late night snack and yawning, he was going to say drama. It is rare for him to take such an initiative, this is an excellent opportunity for me to become familiar, improve, and learn deeply, and I can't let it go. My spirits lifted.
Mr. Yang talked about a passage [Erhuangyuan Ban] when Fan Zhongyu saw Ge Dengyun in "The Haunted House", and when he sang "I used to drink and drink alcohol and not get drunk", Mr. Yang had a body performance, and he asked me: "When I showed this figure, how did your huqin pull" I immediately pulled a double-pip cushion head. Mr. Yang said: "Yes, you will at this point, I will be relieved." This pad head is a dead bone eye, not alive, Mr. Yu (Shu Yan) has a record, otherwise I am not comfortable with such a pad. Mr. Yang also talked about the drama when he saw the god of fire, and also detailed the key points in the dramas of "Scolding Cao" and "Hong Yangdong". We talked for a long time, and our hearts were very full and our spirits were happy. I fell asleep that night with excitement.
Early the next morning, I asked Elder Hang to talk about "Asking the Trees to Make Trouble, Beating sticks out of the box." He pointed out that after Fan Zhongyu came on the second game, the [little puller] when he grabbed the collar in his hand must slow down. He said, "Mr. Yang has been doing this for a long time, so you must not push hard as soon as you come up, otherwise your hands will be sore." I once heard senior artists say that in the old society, because they were not familiar with actors and dramas, they were often caught and embarrassed and fell into laughter. Mr. Hang loved and promoted the younger generation so much, which made me very moved.
Mataba's "Haunting, Out of the Box" is relatively smooth. The late show was Yang Yan's double appearance of "Scolding Cao" and "Hong YangDong". Before going on, Mr. Hang instructed me; "Although the singers should be fast, you have to make 80% of the strength, otherwise you can't stand it." His reminders and guidance made me mentally prepared. When it came time to perform "Scolding Cao", Mi Heng sang [Xipi Kuaiyuanban], from the beginning of "Chu and Han fighting for guns and knives". In the past, when I was playing for others, I was not too fast, and I pulled the double door, but this time I quickly changed the pull single, and finally did not shake the "leak". After the play came down, Elder Hang said: "I see that your sweat has also come down, your face is also white, and I want to relax a little, and I am afraid that Mr. Yang will not sing comfortably, it is not good to withdraw, you are really good today." Later, "Hong Yang Cave", this scene is more familiar, so it ends smoothly.
Through the "collision" of two days and four plays, I initially touched the characteristics of Mr. Yang's singing, and on the third day, all "Yang Jiajian", Yang said that the next sentence of "Touching the Monument" [Anti-Erhuang Scattered Plate] "Passing the Door" must fall on the "2" tone, because most of the first tones of the next sentence are "2" or "1" sounds, the distance is close, the connection is natural, and the singing is comfortable. I still remember it. In "Trial Pan Hong", when Kou Zhun sang [Erhuang Sanban] "Since Pangu where there is a king and a subject with a horse", he has one more beat than the usual singing method, which I did not notice beforehand, did not pull Strict, I was fully engrossed, the accompaniment strived to conform to the plot drama, set off the actor's technical skills, and got Mr. Yang's approval. In particular, I would like to mention that in all the "Wu Zixu" in the "Wen Zhaoguan" [Xipi Fast 26], when Wu Ziqing sang "When transported away", the pad head of the Huqin flashed the board and brightened the outer string, which was the special pad that Mr. Yang taught me. This kind of accompaniment, not only in line with the feelings of the characters, but also makes the singing stretch smoothly, singing with companions, accompanied by the collar, passed down to this day, and has been used no more. I am honored to be the first to change this accompaniment score, Mr. Yang is not only a performance artist, but also proficient in accompaniment, erudite and versatile.
Yang Baosen's "Fish Hidden Sword"
After twelve days of the first performance in Jinan, Mr. Yang was very satisfied with me, and he said to others: "JinLu is pulling well, and I am also very comfortable." He said to me again: "I didn't expect that you had a good hand, and it was very rare for young people to pull without anger, if they were not abandoned, our grandfather and son would get together (long-term cooperation)." His remarks did not disparage his brother Mr. Baozhong. In terms of artistic skills, the two of them are equally superb, and together with Mr. Hang's drums, they were praised by the Peking Opera circle as "Three Masters" in the 1940s. Mr. Yang's words are encouragement to me.
Although Mr. Yang Baozhong is not my master and has not performed a ceremony to worship the master, his preference and guidance for me is something I will never forget. He said: "Jin Lu, I see that your learning method is the right way, learning from me is not a dead set, but from the aspects of shen yun, rhythm, accompaniment and singing, which is right." I am different from other violinists, because I used to be an actor who sang opera, and the singing voice of our third oldest (referring to Mr. Baosen) was in my stomach, so I pulled up lightly and was familiar with the road, relaxed and relaxed, I had decades of basic skills to practice violin, fast bow never worried, like playing, others learn these things to me. I advocate that to play the piano, we must first learn to sing, and if we can't sing, we will play blindly. I see that most of the things you pull will be sung, so that they will have today's level. ”
His old man's words warmed up in my heart. After I went to his home to learn the piano, he had to answer questions, and even asked ten questions and answers, which can be described as "giving each other", which made me further improve the accompaniment of Yu Pai and Yang Pai singing.
Heading south to Shanghai, we performed at the Hongdu Theater (formerly known as Paramount, at Jing'an Temple), which was at the time of the Peking Opera Grand Event: the People's Grand Stage had the Mei Lanfang Troupe; The Tian toad Stage is a Cheng opera troupe led by Mr. Cheng Xianqiu; Ma Lianliang's Troupe is at the China Grand Theatre. The four major Beijing classes, gathering heroes, set two students and two dan, four different genres in one city, competing with each other to perform good plays, unprecedented sensational Shanghai.
In forty days, we performed forty-five plays, and Mr. Yang was very interested, in excellent technical condition, and dedicated all the Yang Pai repertoire to the audience. This period was the period when Mr. Yang spoke the most detailed plays and pointed out the most, which enabled me to have a more comprehensive understanding of Yang Pai art.
Mr. Yang is always talking about drama when hanging his voice. In the course of our play, wherever I could not pull it up, he would pick up the huqin, play it to me himself, and teach it to me hand in hand. For example, in "Battle Fan City", wu yuan sang [Xipi yuanban] "Calling the family courtyard to see the wine bottle" after singing, Mr. Yang taught me to pull a tune on the huqin with flowers on the top, and then [long hammer]. Such a change, the connection is comfortable, but also in line with the mood of the character at that time. For example, in "Wen Zhaoguan", Wu Yuan's singing of [Xi Pi Fast 26], when singing "One Heavy Grace Should Repay Your Nine Heavy Graces", the "One Heavy Grace" singing cavity notation convention here is Larry Strings, Mr. Yang taught me to pull the outer strings, raise the score by octaves, and Hang Lao then paired it with a special drum set, so that the three of singing, pulling, and playing are combined, a new ear and ears, and are very popular with the audience.
Mr. Yang's singing pays attention to the rounded voice, mellow charm, and pays attention to words and feelings. For example, in "Hongyang Cave", Yang Yanzhao sang a passage [Erhuang Slow Plate], the second sentence "It is really regrettable that Jiao Meng will die in fan camp"; In "Mulberry Garden Sender", Deng Bodao sang the second sentence of the same plate style, "Leaving the young child is not hurt", and the penultimate words of the above two sentences, "Fan" and "hurt", sing the same melody, the emotion is also similar, are sighs, sorrows. Mr. Yang is not allowed to pad flowers through the door here. He gave me a detailed analysis of the two characters, explained the singing voice, he said, at this time the accompaniment should become an extension of the character's sadness, lamentation, can only pad a single, elongated bow word, otherwise it violates the performance of the character's emotions.
I deeply realized that as a violinist in the Peking Opera band, the main task is to accompany, whether it is the opening singing, the line, the end, or even the door, the pad, to highlight a "companion" word. Singing is the Lord, accompanying the guest, and cannot be noisy. The performance of the organist is subject to the constraints of the plot, characters and environment, in the process of accompaniment, the design of each melody of ours, the strength, weakness, tightness and slowness of the door, and the softness, hardness, length and shortness of the bow are all for the characters in the play. These understandings were inspired by Mr. Yang's infusion, which made me realize the three ambiguities and open up.
When I performed in Shanghai, I had the privilege of knowing the famous violinist Mr. Zhao Jitang, who explained clearly to me the special treatment of Yang Pai's accompaniment. For example, in the first scene of "Drumming and Scolding Cao", Mi Heng sang "Xipi Fast Three Eyes", and after the second sentence "Like a dragon trapped in shallow water", Hu Qin changed from "Fast Three Eyes" to [Original Plate] Through the Door, which is in line with the mood of the character. The third sentence, "One day spring thunder", accelerates the rhythm to show the arrogance, height, and conceit of Mi Heng. If this singing voice is pulled to the end at the size of "Fast Three Eyes", it will drag on the rhythm and appear mediocre, dull, and dark. Later, when I asked Mr. Bao Zhong to tell me about this accompaniment, it was the same, which showed that the two teachers were "heroes who saw". In "Empty City Plan" [Xipi Slow Plate], I was originally accompanied by an old gentleman's Rafa, which was a bit of a "soup". Mr. Zhao said, "Grandpa, what is the rhythm of him pulling someone?" What is the rhythm of Mr. Jan ?") Teach me from the third sentence "First Emperor under the Nanyang Royal Driving Three Please", speed up in the original size, and simplify the accompaniment score for me word by word, reflecting that one sentence is faster than the other, which is the characteristics and style of the Yang Sect.
Yang Baosen,"Drumming and Scolding Cao"
When Mr. Zhao told me about "Hong Yang Dong", he particularly emphasized that all the plays [loose boards] of the huqin must be able to sing, otherwise they will not be able to pull well. He pointed out unceremoniously: "The last thing you pull now is [loose boards]." I want to pay attention to it, because in the performance, this kind of plate is often overlooked. In fact, on the contrary, [loose plates] are the least easy to pull, the most difficult to be strict, and the most likely to expose the problem. He told me the most Yang Pai dramas, "Loss, Emptiness, Chopping" is from the beginning; "Drumming and Scolding Cao" is delicately pointed, this play has three sections [Xipi 26 plates], which should be three sizes, such as before the third section is sung, there are two "Dora" (Shan Jian quick combos), and the second time through the door 62 must be played at the same time as the drum ("Dora"). If the piano is behind the drum and repeats it with the front, it destroys the mood of the whole section. These tricks he taught me were all valuable experiences he had gained from years of intensive study of Yang Pai art and from the practice of accompaniment, which were completely consistent with what Mr. Yang said, and they were tightly sewn upon the stage. It can be seen that he really studied Yang Pai art at home.
Mr. Yang Baosen is generous to people, clear about right and wrong, noble in character, and in terms of how to behave, he is also praised by Peking Opera fans, and has become a model for me to learn. I remember that when we performed "Drumming and Scolding Cao" in Shanghai, because someone (who was not a member of our band) picked up the moon piano and stirred it blindly, there was an accident when Miheng drumming accompanied by the "Deep Night" song. After the play, I reviewed mr. Yang, who said, "If I had known about it earlier, I could have stopped it." Don't you be sad, who do we act? The audience just picked the hair (picked the fault), they can't smash it!" Try to comfort me, worried that "Hong Yang Dong" behind me will be affected. After this matter came out, he received the understanding of his peers and praised Mr. Yang for handling the matter with non-discernment.
I played the piano for Mr. Yang for more than two years and learned a lot of things. For example, the singing voice and accompaniment of his representative play "Wen Zhaoguan" are the fine works that he has pondered, studied and created together in his long-term cooperation with Mr. Baozhong and Hanglao. In 1958, I made a record, and although I was replaced by a piano player, I cooperated with him as a junior and a student, and recorded according to his new ideas and requirements. I think he has many unique features in the treatment of the cavity, the use of the four-tone value of the word, and the coordination of the singing cavity with the door, the cushion head and the gong and drum, which reflects the complete unity of the Yang Pai singing voice. Vividly and delicately express the complex inner world of the characters, so that the singing and accompaniment are more organically connected.
I think that the emergence of a genre stems from singing and flows to the audience. And this source cannot be created only by the innovation of the actor's singing melody, the variation of the singing method, and the change of timbre and sound quality. In addition, there must be long-term cooperation between like-minded and dedicated piano and drummers of equal level. The three families of singing (actors), playing (piano) and playing (drums) have sublimated the general repertoire into special representative masterpieces, which have been accepted and recognized by many audiences and widely sung, in order to create a new genre with the power to promote the progress of Peking Opera art.
I am an admirer of the Yang school of art, a descendant of the founders, who have written here in order to teach my predecessors and peers.