China: A Journey into Its Musical Art (Chinese Music Monograph Series) [Paperback]

Yuan-Yuan Lee (Author), Sin-yan Shen (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1880464071 | ISBN-13: 978-1880464076 | Publication Date: January 1, 2000

From the Chinese Music Monograph Series. An intimate journey with Professor Sinyan Shen into China's fascinating musical arts. The Chinese music authority leads the audience into his private journey of discovery of China's musical art over several decades - Dance, Theater, Orchestra, Ballad Singing, Instrumental Music, and Vocal Music. A profound personal account by one of the world's greatest minds and greatest teachers whose life is devoted to "what music really is?".

Editorial Reviews

Review

Any one or any musician going to China must read this book before they go to China... -- Robert Thayer, Dean of Music & the National Association of Schools of Music NASM

From the Inside Flap

One of the best erhu players in Shanghai asked me "Is there a simple rule on when to use, and when not to use what type of vibrato?" This also bring up the question of the scores, on what is notated and what is not? As you may know, erhu vibrato is extremely complex, but not without rules. Primarily because of the freedom of the strings that are not supported by a fingerboard, the erhu vibratos can be generally classified into tension-altering vibrato and rolling vibrato. In erhu classics such as "Wailful Wrath by the River" there is further the deliberate use of vibrato contrast: on specific notes vibrato is heavily used, on other notes vibrato is lightly used, while on some notes no vibrato is used. Most players, however, play by experience. They understand the requirements of the cultural acoustics by heart, but have no theory. My answer to the question is a simple one: musical interests are based on harmonic contrast. For example, in "Wailful Wrath by the River", the use of vibrato is based on contrast between the zhi harmony and the yu harmony. The zhi controls sol, do, and re. The yu controls la, re, and mi. The contrast between the two groups is clearly artistically very desirable. As you have heard from me time and time again, in Chinese music, songs with distinctly different melodic lines which sound totally different to the outside world, may sound the same to the Chinese, because, as a thorough analysis will show, the melodic lines of these particular songs were formed by members of the very "same series of harmonies". A class of music like "The Old Six Measures (Lao Liuban)" thus offer the harmonic framework for composition, providing incredible room for creativity, yet staying within the same recognizable class of "Six Measures". This brings us back to the importance of understanding the role of harmonic preferences in Chinese music. Instrumental performance, singing, and theatrical articulation are governed by harmony and the Chinese language. In instrumental music, since no vocal articulation is present, the freedom in expression is the greatest, and the role of harmonic contrast becomes the highest. In fact, there are many instrumental movements which are for the sole purpose of ascertaining the cultural acoustics, Li Yongnian on his yueqin is unbelievable. China was where the first music notation was developed and passed down. In folk and classical Chinese music, oral tradition and scores have always coexisted. At the same time, Chinese scores were never restrictive to imagination and creative - the case and point is the unnotated parts. Until very recently when western orchestral scores arrived, Chinese single instrument music was never fully notated, allowing for embellishments and variation according to players and environment, while orchestral scores permitted even greater extent of improvised performance. Thus sometime silk and bamboo is called Shanghai jazz in the west. In reality it's not just silk and bamboo that improvises in Chinese musical art. Across the board Chinese ensemble music and solo music are among the most improvised in the world. The art of improvisation has been around for so long in China that most people do not pay special attention to it. The general concept begins with the timeless notations whereby a dapu process is used to determine what goes into the performance. I have called these scores "timeless" as they permit the fullest transmittal of a composition in time, through drastically different stylistic periods. This is possible primarily due to the importance of interval relations in Chinese compositions. Classical composition such as the Old Six Measure merely provides the framework of interval series for the work. Embellishments and substitutions of individual notes by other members of the harmony used at the specific point in the "score". Recent studies of children have produced results that point to the importance of ensemble sight reading at early age. First, with a group of children of similar age, players are provided with the right environment for focusing on a language, the musical language in this case that is instructed through the score. After sight reading once, the musical patterns are imprinted in the player's mind, making the second time around much easier. Such training in focusing one's attention and energy in music playing is recognized as some of the best ways to gain the discipline of learning. This points to the importance of score and ensemble playing. Other studies also point to the differences between regular children and specially musical children. When provided with a piano, regular children will bang on the key to produce noise, while the musical children will focus on getting the proper tone he or she desires out of, say, a singer note produced by a single finger - they will hear the tone and improve upon it. This points to the importance of hearing of music in musicianship. In Chinese music, both of these aspects are fully promoted. In silk and bamboo ensembles, little kids learn by playing in ensembles. The existence of scores guides the framework of the compositions, while kids learn by listening to many masters and hearing his or her own tones. In western ethnomusicology, there has been an overemphasis on the focus on oral traditions. This emphasis was important for obvious reason, since main stream classical music of the west does not use the oral tradition very much. When it comes to the study of Chinese music, however, the overemphasis of the oral tradition lightens the attention paid to artistic creativity inherent to the Chinese musical system - its intentionally simplified score, and its freedom for musicians to create unique performances. In fact, Chinese instrumental music is not intended for an audience. They are in reality only intended for music lovers and friends. Is their an audience for silk and bamboo? Sure there is. But the few members of the audience are there because they love the music making and desire to make similar music in the near future. Thus little kids would stick around older masters for ever, trying to get his or her attention, and eventually to benefit fully from his teaching. The future students usually demonstrate over a number of years their true quality and dedication to being a student and to the art form. They learn from the teachers everything from music to how to become a contributor to the art form. Most importantly, they learn from the teachers how to become a human being. Music making in China is a life-long process. Classical Chinese music is also a discipline in which musicians learn to become a full person. This, however, is not true of all musical art forms of China.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Chinese Music Society of (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880464071
• ISBN-13: 978-1880464076
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,784,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing book, September 27, 2002

By 

J. P. J. Stock (Sheffield, S. Yorks United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: China: A Journey into Its Musical Art (Chinese Music Monograph Series) (Paperback)

The author describes himself as "one of the world's greatest minds" and his book as "a profound personal account" (rear cover). He may be one of the greatest minds of all time, but it is clear that this book is poorly written, haphazard in its range and content, and, in places, insufficiently researched and so inaccurate. Worst of all, the author puts forward his quite personal speculations about Chinese music as if these were proven facts. This could mislead the first-time reader.

There is a lot of scope for an enthusiastic and inexpensive book about Chinese music, one that will help the non-specialist approach this fascinating subject. There is also a place for speculation in opening up new research areas, but a good author needs to exercise self-criticism, check facts through careful research (including reading the work of others), and avoid bombast. Mr Shen fails on all three counts. The cover is a very nice shade of vermillion, however.