Qin Workshop 14-18 July, 2003

Guqin master Gong Yi of Shanghai and Cheng Yu gave a highly successful three day series of workshops on the guqin (7-stringed zither) music at SOAS, University of London. It was part of the Summer Music School programmes organised by Asian Music Circuit (AMC). Fourteen people attended, many of them new to the guqin, and all of them very enthusiastic.

In the three days, we learned about:

Introduction to qin music, and elementary left and right hand techniques
Qin construction and symbolism; fitting, tuning and adjusting strings
Qin schools (qinpai) – forms, differences, characteristics and status in modern society, and a comparison of northern and southern styles
The “forbidden” aspects of the qin – restraint vs. music from the heart
Development and practice of present day qin music and modern compositions.

Gong Yi began each session by playing a piece, and explaining its history and significance:

Guangling San - believed to have originated more than 2000 years ago
Shen Ren Chang (Harmony of Gods and Men) - another very ancient piece
Yi Guren (Thinking of an Old Friend) - a rather new piece by qin standards, having been first published in 1937
Chun Feng (Spring Breeze) a truly modern piece, which he co-composed in 1982
Yangguan San Die (Three Variations on the Yang Pass Theme) - an appropriate piece with which to conclude the workshops. The music is based on a poem by the famous Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei about the parting of friends. Unlike Yuan Er in the poem, however, there would be many friends for Gong Yi, should he choose to journey west again.

We then had a final opportunity to practice what we had learned the previous day, before playing our efforts for Gong Yi and the rest of the class to hear:

Kanding Qingge (Love Song from Kanding) - Caroline Firman
Dongting Qiu Si (Autumn Thoughts at Lake Dongting), Qiu Feng Ci (Ode to the Autumn Breeze) - Kazumi Taguchi
Xian Weng Cao - Marnix Wells
Kanding Qingge, Liang Xiao Yin (Prelude for a Pleasant Evening) - Li Yan
untitled piece - Peter Sahota
Kanding Qingge - Shao Tzuling
Qiu Feng Ci, Ping Sha Luo Yan (Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank) - Dan Ing
Tian Lai (Sounds of Nature), Shishang Liu Quan (A Spring Flowing over Stones), Liang Xiao Yin - Julian Joseph
Guan Shan Yue (Moon Over the Mountain Pass), Meihua San Nong (Three Variations on the Plum Blossom Theme) - Cheng Yu

Gong Yi rounded off with:

a Japanese popular/folk song of the type known as enka adapted for the qin
Dongting Qiu Si
three interpretations of Jiu Kuang (Drunken Ecstasy):

Japanese (quadruple time)
Standard Chinese (triple time)
Gong Yi’s own (drunk and irregular)

Ping Sha Luo Yan

Everyone agreed that the workshop had been a resounding success. Some had been introduced to a type of music they had hitherto been totally unaware of; others who already played the instrument were able to improve their skills under the tutelage of one of the finest exponents of the art. We are looking forward to another, longer series of Chinese music workshops in 2004.