2^nd October 2005

Programme

1. John Thompson: Evening Melodies for the Silk String Zither; Jiu Kuang* - see below
   
2. Charlie Huang: Gao Shan*
3. Dan Nung Ing: Ping Sha Luo Yan^#
4. Christopher Evans: Jiu Kuang^
   
5. Julian Joseph: Ping Sha Luo Yan^
6. Marnix Wells: Guanshan Yue*

Introduction

Evening Melodies for the Silk String Zither

A qin recital by John Thompson

1. Guanghan Qiu (Autumn in a Lunar Palace) (Shenqi Mipu, 1425)
   Guanghan (broad, cold) refers to the moon. The original preface says: "During the clear autumn season, nights are cool and people are tranquil; the heavens are vast and bright, the moon ascends gloriously, and the moon [goddess] is beautiful. A pure fragrance spreads throughout the universe, and red cassias seem to float around in the Heavens. This piece has the joy of wandering to and fro while doing what one wants. How could a commonplace person achieve or understand this? So these interests are best expressed on the qin. Only people who eat the wind and drink the dew can attain this".
   
   
2. Tian Feng Huan Pei (Jade Pendants in a Heavenly Breeze) (Shenqi Mipu, 1425)
   The original preface says: " The predisposition of this piece is like a white moon on a pleasantly cool evening. The clouds are light and few stars can be seen, the cornelian jade tinkles in the wind, and there is a lot of jade-like dew. Floating like a spirit wandering in the heavens, the immortal wanders in the darkened universe. Some jade clinks and other jade tinkles. Nobody can be seen, one just hears the sounds of jingling jade, causing those who hear it to be able to bring up thoughts of immortals, and ideas of becoming an immortal. If one is not among spirits and immortals, how can one have knowledge of this?"
   
   
3. Wu Ye Ti (Evening Call of the Raven) (Shenqi Mipu, 1425)
   This piece was reconstructed during the 1950's, and has since then become a popular part of the modern repertoire. It concerns a specific event in the 5th century: prince Liu Yikang was banished from the capital because of a supposed offence against his brother the king. He and his nephew cried about the situation. When the king heard about this, he summoned him back to the capital, causing him great fear. However the evening before he was due to return to the capital, some women in his household heard a raven calling. Such a call was considered lucky, and sure enough he was forgiven and restored to his former rank.
   

4. Feng Ru Song Ge (Song of Wind through the Pines) (Taigu Yiyin, 1511) - qin song
   
Taigu Yiyin (1511) says the melody was written by Ji Kang, but does not identify the source of the lyrics. The lyrics translated below are included in Yuefu Shiji, and are said to be by the Tang Dynasty monk Jiaoran:

In the Western mountains the pines have sounds in the setting sun of autumn, 1,000 branches and 10,000 leaves in the wind sough.
A wonderful person takes his qin and his playing forms a song, creating amongst the pines sounds both brief and long.
Sounds brief and long clear my spirit; one need only mention (such melodies as) Flowing Waves and Ruined Mounds.
The wonderful person at night sits under the bright moon, with little discourse plays clear tones.
The breeze: how cool; whirling and fluttering, stirring up the cool pine trees, and night arrives.
At night before midnight the tune is so long, (moving on the) qin top in an even greater hurry as the sound becomes agitated.
What person at this time would not be thoughtful, with such bitter feelings and sad notes heard in the guest hall?

John played this first as an instrumental solo, and then sang it with qin accompaniment.


5. Zui Weng Yin (Old Toper's Chant) (Two versions: Fengxuan Xuanpin, 1539 and Longmu Qinpu, 1571) - qin song
John played the two versions first as instrumental solos, and then sang them with qin accompaniment. He originally thought the later version would be the harder to sing, but found in practice it worked fairly well. Where qin tablatures have lyrics, he finds there is usually no indication as to how the words relate to music. Usually, he assumes one character per right-hand stroke, and one per left hand pluck or slide. He uses the rhythms suggested by the fingerings, which in this case is much the same for both versions.


6. Mei Shao Yue (Moon Atop a Plum Tree) (Xilutang Qintong, 1549)
This melody survives only in Xilutang Qintong (1549), which says it was inspired by the reclusive Song dynasty poet Lin Bu (967-1028). A lifelong resident of Hangzhou, Lin spent 20 years as a recluse on Orphan Mountain, an island in Hangzhou's West Lake. He never married, claiming that he considered plum trees his wife and pet cranes his children. The preface in Xilutang Qintong compares the beauty of the melody to the beauty of a line in Lin Bu's poem "Small Plum Tree in my Mountain Garden", which has been translated as follows:

7. Zui Yu Chang Wan (A Drunken Fisherman Sings in the Evening) (Xilutang Qintong, 1549)
   This early version is musically unrelated to the melody of this title played today, the first occurrence of which was not until Tianwenge Qinpu of 1876, which attributes it to the Sichuan qin player Zhang Kongshan.
   

8. Zhong Qiu Yue (Mid Autumn Moon) (Songxianguan Qinpu, 1614)
   This piece exists only in this one handbook, which contains no prefaces.
   

9. Qiu Jiang Ye Bo (Autumn River Night Anchorage) (Songxianguan Qinpu, 1614)
   The melodies in Feng Xuan Xuan Pin are said to be as played by Yan Tianchi, founder of the Yushan School. Three titles appear in it for the first time. One of these is Qiu Jiang Ye Bo, which is actually very similar to Yin De (Hidden Virtue) in Shenqi Mipu. According to Yushan School tradition, Yan Tianchi was playing qin within earshot of of Maple Bridge and the nearby Chan (Zen) temple bell. Inspired by a poem of the same title, he extemporised this piece. Yin De exists in several earlier handbooks but always in the same version, which suggests that people must have been playing it strictly from scores. John believes Yan Tianchi must have changed it sufficiently as he played that it became a new piece.
   
   
10. Liang Xiao Yin (Peaceful Evening Prelude) (Songxianguan Qinpu, 1614)
    Liang Xiao Yin is still in the active repertoire. This is the earliest occurrence of the piece under this title.
    
    
11. Jiu Kuang (Yang Lun Taigu Yiyin, 1609)
    This version has lyrics, an English translation of the first verse of which is given below. John sang the Chinese and English versions. One of the reasons he does not think Jiu Kuang has triple rhythm is that these lyrics do not seem to fit when triple rhythm is used.
    
    
Fleet worldly matters: I laugh at the strain. Quiet, sad feelings are wasted pain.
How to cure sadness: call for wine! When drunk all day bad manners are fine.
Each day of my whole life through, I should drink great pots of brew.
It is such bliss, to cruise the Land of Booze;
Sober, then drunk; drunk and wild as I choose.
Once in the hills I forget big news.


This piece was not played as a part of the evening theme, but to try out Dan Nung's recently repaired Qing Dynasty qin.

Questions and answers

Q: How do you go about determining rhythm?
A: I look for structures and repeated patterns. It's more straightforward for songs, where I try to fit the rhythm of the melody to a possible rhythm of the lyrics. I start by reading through through the tablature and putting in whole notes, looking for repeating patterns. These may be variations, as in some passages in Qiu Jiang Ye Bo. In this piece, pairs of structures, like a question and answer, are common. It usually ends up fairly "4-square", and then becomes more free. Like most Chinese music, qin music is in double rhythm, but is played in a more free manner.
Q: Did any of these tunes originate from folk songs?
A: It's hard to tell the origin of melodies. The official position is yes. The Yuefu Shiji is said to be a collection of old melodies, and contains many song texts. A common belief about qin music is that originally, the music used predomionantly right hand techniques. Guangling San is a very early piece, and it does use a lot of right hand techniques and harmonics. But You Lan, documented from the 6th century, uses many left hand techniques, so qins must have had a smooth playing surface by then.
Q: Do Zhou Dynasty qins show signs of wear where they were rubbed by the left hand?
A: I don't know. Bo Lawergren's research has led him to think that the qin originated from instruments found in 3rd-5th century tombs in south China. He has written articles showing how they have become longer and narrower, and thus more qin-like. These early qins had about 10 strings, reducing to 7. However Chinese tradition says that qins started with 5 strings, and 2 were added later. Perhaps the qin developed from a 5-stringed northern instrument which has not survived in tombs. The northern soil is said not to be conducive to the preservation of wooden objects.



Charlie Huang plays Gao Shan	Brian Cox plays Tao Yuan	Dan Nung Ing plays Ping Sha Luo Yan




Copyright the London Youlan Qin Society, 2005. All rights reserved.