the Silk Road Project
May. 16th, 2002 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jinianLast night I went to see a musical performance in the Silk Road Project. It was amazing. I was regretting my lack of musical education throughout (and wishing I were less tired), but I did my best to take some notes on my experience.
The only one reading this may be![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gwynyth, but that's okay by me. :) You're who I took the notes for, though I know my descriptions will be inadequate.
Pre-show lecture
I was hoping for a lot of information on the instruments, but instead what we got was a local music teacher talking mostly about Buddhism and a wee bit about the Silk Road, with some music samples at the very end. She was clearly pretty nervous, and there were some difficulties with the slides, but she did fairly well at giving an idea of Buddhism. I'm just not sure how relevant it was to the performance.
First piece
Legend of Herlen, Byambasuren Sharav
The list of instruments on each song is here, but it's incomplete for this piece. There were also three trombones and half a dozen big boomy drums. They started out very simply, with each instrument taking turns in the forefront, and with two solos by the long song singer, who was stunning. I can't describe what she's like. A high wailing -- they said it was meant to communicate over long distances -- and wonderful vocal control, putting little hiccuppy sounds into the pure notes right where she wanted them to be. Eventually they all started playing together, and built to a huge crescendo with the big drums and trombones. The long song sliced into it, and you could barely hear it, then the other sounds all faded away to nothing except for a very quiet morin khuur accompaniment to that great, powerful voice.
The morin khuur is a Mongolian two-stringed fiddle with a horse's head on top. Yo-Yo Ma has learned to play it, and he was the one performing here. He seemed very attached to it because of the horse's head, and he pointed out that two of the Finnish folk songs in the later piece had to do with horses as well. His family name is Ma as in "horse", he says. It was sweet to see this famous artist being silly in ways I like.
The long song singer had a very impressive costume -- an electric blue dress with a long-sleeved, sashed lab coat over it, in purple spiraled material with wide salmon-colored borders. I have sketches of her pointy black hat, too. It had a small mirror on the front, and narrow yellow tassels hanging from the upturned brim in front of her ears. I didn't ever figure out where the red streamer in the shape of a long diamond attached, but it hung down the back.
Second piece
Moon Over Guan Mountains, Zhao Jiping
This one was much more small and cozy-feeling. The tabla are a pair of little gourd-shaped drums, and they were played by striking them with fingertips and then sliding the heel of the hand into the center for a Dopplery sound. I really wanted a closer look at the sheng, a native Chinese mouth organ. We were told that it worked on similar principles to a harmonica, but it was much bigger and looked like it had pipes.
The piece was less dramatic than the first, but it contained a sense of urgency while at the same time lulling me into a bit of a trance. It's like the first one was more participatory and the second more like a movie. There were ominous parts at the beginning and end, but my main experience of the music was that it was like someone running through fields and countryside, then a town, then fields again, town, fields. I enjoyed it very much.
Third piece
Habil-Sayagy, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
The part I liked best about this one was the prepared piano and creative methods of playing it. They placed beads and some muting stickers into it to evoke a Middle Eastern feel, which was very effective. Unfortunately, I didn't like the piece very much, though the rest of the audience went nuts over it.
It started with a long, boring, frenzied part on the cello, with the pianist banging on the strings inside the piano. He looked like he was finger-painting, that same kind of glee and haphazardness. I preferred it when they moved into a more ghostly and spiritual part where the piano was being played high and eerie, with the beads reverberating against the strings. The best part was the energetic, bouncy section, when the piano's key cover was closed and the pianist was drumming on it. That was great. They ended with a slower, heavier section with dramatic bass chords on the piano.
Intermission
All the pieces in the first half went a little long in parts, but the third was definitely the worst for that. The first one was my favorite, but the second was charming and more like the kind of thing I'd want to listen to normally.
Fourth piece
Traditional Korean music
The instrument here, the changgo, is a two-headed drum placed horizontally, so that it's played with one hand to strike each head. The player was very skilled and made some amazing high-speed crossovers. We were told that the piece was a lament or contrition prayer, and the emotion came through somewhat (though I couldn't help noticing that he sounded a bit like an overwrought rock singer in places). He had a nice vocal range, but the drumming was definitely the best thing he did.
His costume (the ones I don't mention were all in suits and stuff, boring) was a black tunic with a white shirt and pants. The trousers were tied tightly at about mid-calf and bloused above that, and he had silken, pointy, white slippers on. There was a yellow sash from his right shoulder to his waist on the left, and a red one around his waist. They were tied at the back left, where you could see the blue one, which was concealed under the yellow, hanging down with the others.
Fifth piece
Five Finnish Folk Songs, Michio Mamiya
I was pretty disappointed in this one. North Side Records has given me an idea of what Finnish folk music sounds like, and this sounded like just plain European classical stuff. The composer was trying to blend things, and I suppose I blame my own faults that I couldn't hear it, but I was bored with most of this set.
I found that the piano annoyed me, too. (It had been de-prepared by this time.) The notes were too high and loud compared with the cello, though I might've minded less if my head hadn't hurt. The music came in fits and starts during a couple of the songs, which didn't please me either. I did enjoy some of the cello parts during the middle, though; they were nicely complicated and interesting.
Sixth piece
Piano Trio in A minor, Maurice Ravel
I was really tired by this time, so I was grumpy all through this one. And again, I could really only hear European influences in it, though supposedly the composer was influenced by a gamelan orchestra. I found it too long and repetitive, though I liked parts of it, especially the melancholy third section.
First Encore
This was a wonderful drum number. All the percussionists (well, not the guy who banged on the piano) came out with different little drums and played what sounded like an energetic jam but has to have been preplanned. It was pretty funny to see men in suits having a drum jam, especially the geeky-shy, balding, Midwestern-looking boy with glasses. The rest of the performers were standing on stage listening, and the pipa player was just adorable, cuddling his instrument and bouncing.
Second encore
A lovely folksy minory gypsy-fiddle sort of thing, sounding a little like console RPG town music only more complex and pretty. All of the performers had a little something to do, even if it was just tiny cymbals (for the long song singer) or bitty maracas (for the pianist).
Third encore
I was tired, you will recall, but I cannot fathom that people left before these encores. This last one was a long, beautiful solo long song, which was kind of piercing on my painful head. It was enchanting. She showed us parts of her range she hadn't even gotten near in the other pieces. Just stunning.
Post-show lecture
We missed the beginning of this because we were trying to get our party all together, but we got to see a couple of the artists talk about themselves. The Korean drummer was a few courses from a degree in mechanical engineering when he decided he wanted to play traditional music instead. I really admire all the artists who came to a foreign country to give their music to us. There were some smarmy and pompous people there who got to talk, too, but it was worth sitting through their bits, because at the end Yang Wei played "Home on the Range" for us on the pipa. That was one of the loveliest things I've ever heard.
The only one reading this may be
gwynyth, but that's okay by me. :) You're who I took the notes for, though I know my descriptions will be inadequate.Pre-show lecture
I was hoping for a lot of information on the instruments, but instead what we got was a local music teacher talking mostly about Buddhism and a wee bit about the Silk Road, with some music samples at the very end. She was clearly pretty nervous, and there were some difficulties with the slides, but she did fairly well at giving an idea of Buddhism. I'm just not sure how relevant it was to the performance.
First piece
Legend of Herlen, Byambasuren Sharav
The list of instruments on each song is here, but it's incomplete for this piece. There were also three trombones and half a dozen big boomy drums. They started out very simply, with each instrument taking turns in the forefront, and with two solos by the long song singer, who was stunning. I can't describe what she's like. A high wailing -- they said it was meant to communicate over long distances -- and wonderful vocal control, putting little hiccuppy sounds into the pure notes right where she wanted them to be. Eventually they all started playing together, and built to a huge crescendo with the big drums and trombones. The long song sliced into it, and you could barely hear it, then the other sounds all faded away to nothing except for a very quiet morin khuur accompaniment to that great, powerful voice.
The morin khuur is a Mongolian two-stringed fiddle with a horse's head on top. Yo-Yo Ma has learned to play it, and he was the one performing here. He seemed very attached to it because of the horse's head, and he pointed out that two of the Finnish folk songs in the later piece had to do with horses as well. His family name is Ma as in "horse", he says. It was sweet to see this famous artist being silly in ways I like.
The long song singer had a very impressive costume -- an electric blue dress with a long-sleeved, sashed lab coat over it, in purple spiraled material with wide salmon-colored borders. I have sketches of her pointy black hat, too. It had a small mirror on the front, and narrow yellow tassels hanging from the upturned brim in front of her ears. I didn't ever figure out where the red streamer in the shape of a long diamond attached, but it hung down the back.
Second piece
Moon Over Guan Mountains, Zhao Jiping
This one was much more small and cozy-feeling. The tabla are a pair of little gourd-shaped drums, and they were played by striking them with fingertips and then sliding the heel of the hand into the center for a Dopplery sound. I really wanted a closer look at the sheng, a native Chinese mouth organ. We were told that it worked on similar principles to a harmonica, but it was much bigger and looked like it had pipes.
The piece was less dramatic than the first, but it contained a sense of urgency while at the same time lulling me into a bit of a trance. It's like the first one was more participatory and the second more like a movie. There were ominous parts at the beginning and end, but my main experience of the music was that it was like someone running through fields and countryside, then a town, then fields again, town, fields. I enjoyed it very much.
Third piece
Habil-Sayagy, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
The part I liked best about this one was the prepared piano and creative methods of playing it. They placed beads and some muting stickers into it to evoke a Middle Eastern feel, which was very effective. Unfortunately, I didn't like the piece very much, though the rest of the audience went nuts over it.
It started with a long, boring, frenzied part on the cello, with the pianist banging on the strings inside the piano. He looked like he was finger-painting, that same kind of glee and haphazardness. I preferred it when they moved into a more ghostly and spiritual part where the piano was being played high and eerie, with the beads reverberating against the strings. The best part was the energetic, bouncy section, when the piano's key cover was closed and the pianist was drumming on it. That was great. They ended with a slower, heavier section with dramatic bass chords on the piano.
Intermission
All the pieces in the first half went a little long in parts, but the third was definitely the worst for that. The first one was my favorite, but the second was charming and more like the kind of thing I'd want to listen to normally.
Fourth piece
Traditional Korean music
The instrument here, the changgo, is a two-headed drum placed horizontally, so that it's played with one hand to strike each head. The player was very skilled and made some amazing high-speed crossovers. We were told that the piece was a lament or contrition prayer, and the emotion came through somewhat (though I couldn't help noticing that he sounded a bit like an overwrought rock singer in places). He had a nice vocal range, but the drumming was definitely the best thing he did.
His costume (the ones I don't mention were all in suits and stuff, boring) was a black tunic with a white shirt and pants. The trousers were tied tightly at about mid-calf and bloused above that, and he had silken, pointy, white slippers on. There was a yellow sash from his right shoulder to his waist on the left, and a red one around his waist. They were tied at the back left, where you could see the blue one, which was concealed under the yellow, hanging down with the others.
Fifth piece
Five Finnish Folk Songs, Michio Mamiya
I was pretty disappointed in this one. North Side Records has given me an idea of what Finnish folk music sounds like, and this sounded like just plain European classical stuff. The composer was trying to blend things, and I suppose I blame my own faults that I couldn't hear it, but I was bored with most of this set.
I found that the piano annoyed me, too. (It had been de-prepared by this time.) The notes were too high and loud compared with the cello, though I might've minded less if my head hadn't hurt. The music came in fits and starts during a couple of the songs, which didn't please me either. I did enjoy some of the cello parts during the middle, though; they were nicely complicated and interesting.
Sixth piece
Piano Trio in A minor, Maurice Ravel
I was really tired by this time, so I was grumpy all through this one. And again, I could really only hear European influences in it, though supposedly the composer was influenced by a gamelan orchestra. I found it too long and repetitive, though I liked parts of it, especially the melancholy third section.
First Encore
This was a wonderful drum number. All the percussionists (well, not the guy who banged on the piano) came out with different little drums and played what sounded like an energetic jam but has to have been preplanned. It was pretty funny to see men in suits having a drum jam, especially the geeky-shy, balding, Midwestern-looking boy with glasses. The rest of the performers were standing on stage listening, and the pipa player was just adorable, cuddling his instrument and bouncing.
Second encore
A lovely folksy minory gypsy-fiddle sort of thing, sounding a little like console RPG town music only more complex and pretty. All of the performers had a little something to do, even if it was just tiny cymbals (for the long song singer) or bitty maracas (for the pianist).
Third encore
I was tired, you will recall, but I cannot fathom that people left before these encores. This last one was a long, beautiful solo long song, which was kind of piercing on my painful head. It was enchanting. She showed us parts of her range she hadn't even gotten near in the other pieces. Just stunning.
Post-show lecture
We missed the beginning of this because we were trying to get our party all together, but we got to see a couple of the artists talk about themselves. The Korean drummer was a few courses from a degree in mechanical engineering when he decided he wanted to play traditional music instead. I really admire all the artists who came to a foreign country to give their music to us. There were some smarmy and pompous people there who got to talk, too, but it was worth sitting through their bits, because at the end Yang Wei played "Home on the Range" for us on the pipa. That was one of the loveliest things I've ever heard.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2002-05-16 01:44 pm (UTC)*grin* Nope!
Thanks for the detailed report. I'll look for this if it comes to Charm City.
no subject
Date: 2002-05-16 01:59 pm (UTC)It all sounds very cool indeed, however. My music training, I fear, did not do much at all to cover anything non-European. (Well, given that I did 10 courses in college, plus a year of theory in high school, plus all the other stuff I picked up by performing it, and still sometimes barely think I scratched the surface of 300 years of common practice period music in Europe, I suppose that's not too suprising.)
The only stuff I've had any real exposure to was a visit from the Peking Opera when I was about 13, and my father really firmly insisted we go (which was incredible, even though I had very little background.)
But it all sounds very cool and intriguing and stuff.
Yo-Yo Ma is also immensely cool: he used to go to my Episcopal parish when I was young, and a good friend in high school was having scoliosis surgery at the same time he was at Children's Hospital in Boston when I was about to be a junior in high school, and got to spend some time talking to him.
no subject
Date: 2002-05-16 02:48 pm (UTC)There was a professor from the UW in the lecture at the end who recommended a new book on Mongolian music and dance. It comes with a cd, too. Mongolian Music, Dance, And Oral Narrative: Recovering Performance Traditions by Carole Pegg. It was recommended. I imagine it would have some of the long song stuff on the cd, and it would certainly be an interesting read.
I liked what I saw of Yo-Yo Ma. He didn't come to the post-show lecture, which was too bad. Neat that you got to talk to him.
no subject
Date: 2002-05-16 05:58 pm (UTC)