Customer Reviews

China: Music of the Pipa

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I hope Chinese music lovers won't find the title of this review demeaning. The joy of listening to really good 'plucking' on an instrument like the pipa, in the hands of a master of his/her tradition, transcends all cultural boundaries. The pipa does in fact sound something like a banjo in timbre and a lot like a mandolin in playing technique. Track 5 on this CD, "Snow on a Sunny Spring Day," will definitely win the hearts and ears of bluegrass fans.

Chinese classical music, for an outsider like me, has a way of sounding very close to its folk roots while also obviously being very sophisticated in technique. The titles of the compositions on this CD, if the translations are accurate, clearly convey the spirit of the music, a contemplative rapture at the beauties of nature. The only previous reviewer found that spirit "soothing," but I find it more exhilarating - cheerful and open-faced.

This Explorer Series of recordings is a treasure trove of the very finest pre-pop-influenced music of many of the great and endangered classical traditions of world cultures. I've already reviewed two of the series - Music of Iran and Shakuhachi music. A listening comparison of this Chinese performance on pipa with the Japanese performance on shakuhachi is worth a whole college course in cultural diversity, as well as being a beautiful musical experience -- Confucian earthliness versus Zen other-worldliness. Lucky us! We get to hear the sounds of both!

That's the best way I can describe this wonderful music. It is great background music and very much enjoyable as one cooks, paints, meditates, or just relaxes. It is very pleasant to have when greeting guests for that Chinese meal you prepare. This music should be played in restaurants, instead of pop music (as many Chinese restaurants play pop). It would certainly be more inviting...