4^th March 2006

This, the 18^th meeting of the London Youlan Qin Society, was held at SOAS, University of London London, and was the first for 2006.

Introduction

This was our first yaji at SOAS, and was somewhat more formal than usual.

Programme

As there were a number of new people, not all of whom were familiar with the qin, Cheng Yu gave a short an introductory talk. She explained the importance of the qin within Chinese culture and beyond, citing its designation by UNESCO in 2003 as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. She also announced the designation by by the Chinese government of an annual Cultural Heritage day on the second Saturday of every June. On that day in China and overseas there will be many qin-related activities, and we will arrange our next yaji to coincide with it as closely as possible. She went on to describe the London Youlan Qin Society's activities since its formation in 2003 and the annual Chinese Music Summer Schools.

The following music was played:

Liu Shui 流水 (Flowing Water), played by Charlie Huang, learned from Zeng Chengwei at last year's Summer School. It is associated with the story of the scholar Yu Boya and the woodcutter Zhong Ziqi, and with the concept of zhiyin (close friendship).
Meihua San Nong 梅花三弄 (Three Variations on the Plum Blossom), played by Zhu Wencheng. This was originally composed as a flute piece, and was later adapted for the qin.
Yunü Yi 玉女意 and Xian Pei Ying Feng 仙佩迎风 (Immortal Jades Welcome the Breeze), played by Julian Joseph. Xian Pei Ying Feng comes from the qin handbook Xilutang Qintong 西麓堂琴统 (1593). It is in Yunü mode, the tuning is lowered 1st and 3rd strings. It is preceded by the Yunü modal prelude (Yunü Yi). Based on a story about Zheng Jiaofu of the Zhou Dynasty meeeting two river princesses as he crossed the Han river.
Yi Guren 依故人 (Memories of an Old Friend), played by Chen Jinwei.
Ping Sha Luo Yan 平沙落雁 (Wild Geese Descending on the Level Sand), played by Cheng Yu.
Kongzi Du Yi 孔子读易 (Confucius Reads the Book of Changes), played by Charlie Huang, learned from Zeng Chengwei at last year's Summer School.
Guanshan Yue 关山月 (Moon Over the Mountain Pass), played by Zhu Wencheng.
Meihua San Nong 梅花三弄 (Three Variations on the Plum Blossom), Guangling version, played by Chen Jinwei. The rhythm of this version is different to the "traditional" version, and is more syncopated.
Shenren Chang 神人畅 (Joy of Gods and Men), played by Cheng Yu. The harmonics, which comprise more than half the piece, represent the gods; the stopped notes represent humans.
Tian Lai 天籁 (Sounds of Nature), played by Julian Joseph. This piece was composed by Zhang Ruishan in the late 19^th century and published in the Shiyi Xian Guan Qinpu 十一弦馆琴谱 in 1907.
Qiu Feng Ci 秋风词 (Ode to the Autumn Wind), qin song, played and sung by Charlie Huang.
Liu Shui 流水 (Flowing Water), played by Cheng Yu. The "northern" version, as notated by Guan Pinghu.

Before and after the qin playing, there was a question and answer session and discussion:

Q: Is Western music notation used for the qin?
A: It is used only alongsie jianzipu tablature for learners, so that they can learn the "standard" pieces which have already been transcribed and have established rhythms and phrasing.

Q: Are note lengths indicated in the tablature?
A: In ancient times, music notation was very complex. Pipa notation goes back to 802 AD, but the system was different from that for qin, different again for folk music. Only in the last half century has the same notation been used for all instruments.

Q: Is any new music being composed in China for the qin?
A: A very good question. Compositions for other instruments, such as the zheng, dizi, erhu etc., are much more common. Qin pieces are different in that pieces have continued to develop, for example the "72" gunfu were not in the 1425 score of Liu Shui, but were added much later. So qin music is highly developed both technically and aesthetically, and today's composers are afraid to compose for the instrument. a few pieces have been composed by qin players, but new pieces cannot compare with the traditional ones.

Q: So the main problem is composers' fear of comparison with the tradition repertoire. Doesn't great music exist for other instruments? Why is it different for the qin?
A: Several reasons: firstly, the qin is not a popular instrument. Lots of composer write for other instruments, which are easier to compose for. The modern pipa is now comparable to Western instruments in terms of its use of the chromatic scale etc. The qin is different: it is more difficult to tune and difficult to play with other instruments. It is basically a solo instrument, though it is sometimes played with the xiao. There are few new compositons for the qin with either Chinese or Western orchestras. Secondly, In old times, before the establishment of the conservatory system in the 1950's, musicians were very creative, developing not only their playing technique but also composing pieces. In the conservatory system (which actually began in the 1940's), the roles of composer and performer were separated, so composers do not know the techniques for the instruments they compose for or how to make the most of an instrument's expressive power, and players don't compose. So playing a new composition can be hard work. It is not an ideal situation.

Q: I would have thought that amplification would enable the qin to be played in an orchestra, even though it is naturally soft.
A: You can amplify it in a concert hall. In the modern world everything has changed. Silk strings are rarely used any more - they are expensive and break easily, and the technique of making them is almost lost. It is a shame. Qin and pipa makers now use all sorts of modern materials.

Q: Do you get the secondary sound of the hand moving against the strings with silk strings?
A: More so, and many people consider them a part of the music.

Q: Are there many tunings?
A: There used to be, but only a few are used now. Aside from the standard tuning, there is Manshang (1st two strings are at the same pitch) and Ruibin (raised 5th string).

Q: Are the strings always tuned to a pentatonic scale?
A: Wu Wenguang wrote a paper in which he listed all the ancient tunings and modes. Some tunings had more than 5 notes, including, for example, a flat 7 or a sharp 4.

Q: There are a lot of sliding notes, so there are an infinite number of pitches.
A: Cheng Yu plays mainly the pipa, on which it is easy to get the right pitch. On the qin, a slight error will give a wrong pitch. But actually the situation is no different to that of other unfretted instruments, and in practice it is not dificult to get the right pitch. You just need a good sense of pitch, and must not use too much force. You can always slide up to a pitch if you are not quite there.

Q: Slides help to get the right pitch. On the violin you have to go straight to the correct pitch, which is much harder. There seem to be a lot of glissandi on the qin. Is this so for any other Chinese instruments?
A: The erhu does, but not as much as the qin. Very large slides, as in Changmen Yuan, are charateristic of the qin. The qin has three types of sound: harmonics, slides and open strings.

Q: It is not true that all Chinese music is pentatonic. Much qin music uses non-pentatonic scales. I suspect that as the pentatonic scale was increasingly adopted through Chinese history, the ancient scores were reworked to fit it. If you look at the ancient manuscripts, you see a lot of intervals preserved; newer ones are pentatonic. So I suspect that the tradition was not correctly transmitted.
A: A lot of traditional knowledge has been lost. The piece I just played [Shen Ren Chang] has many harmonics, such as sharp 4, which you can see in the 1593 score. The common qin tunings are pentatonic, but if you analyse the modes and scales, you see that the music itself is not.

Q: Presumably after the first, second and third harmonics, the music begins to leave the pentatonic scale anyway and produce notes which don't belong in the scale.
A: Yes.

Q: The main principle behind this music seems to be tone colour. I notice endless repetitions of the same patterns; it is as if the music stops there, plays in various ways, then moves on a bit further, and so on in steps. I noticed this when listening to recordings, but it doesn't quite feel the same when I see the player and notice the colouring. Tell me as a performer what you think of this.
A: Two things about Chinese music: First, Chinese music, especially classical Chinese music, is very descriptive. Each piece tells a story or expresses a kind of philosophy. For example Flowing Water, Three Variations on the Plum Blossom, Dialogue of the Fisherman and the Woodcutter. The same applies to the pipa. Even the individual sections have titles. Second, Chinese music has a theme. Each variation appears many times but the theme is quite similar. for example in Three Variations on the Plum Blossom, the same theme appears in three registers, high, middle and low, so there are three colours. This principle is used a lot in qin and other kinds of Chinese music. The theme is important. Similarly with Ping Sha Luo Yan. To a westerner, qin music seems not to have a regular metre. This is one of the difficulties in expressing it in Western notation. In fact there is no regular metre and it is based on feeling. If you try to tap along you soon get lost. There is a change of emphasis on the notes. This is very important, because it translates the sentiment of the composer. If you read the notes and don't understand this, and apply a regular beat, you lose the music altogether.

Q: I noticed that most qin music is based on this freedom - there is nothing metronomic and nothing like in Western music, where we can have, for example, a passaage consisting entirely of semiquavers. It is very fluid, constantly changing, and feels like an improvisation.
A: My understanding is slightly different. I think a lot of parts are semi-improvisatory, but other parts do have a rhythm, no matter how you define it. for example, the three variations in harmonics in Three Variations on the Plum Blossom have rhythm. There is much combination of fixed and free rhythm.

Q: I feel that whenever rhythm is about to be established, it is somehow dissolved. Suddenly it starts to glide and the sound fades. This happens all the time. The moment you say "Ah, now I have it", it just disappears.
A: It is not continuous but shifts from one rhythm to another, freer style.


Cheng Yu, played Shen Ren Chang	Charlie Huang, played Liu Shui	Zhu Wencheng, played Meihua San Nong

4th March 2006

Introduction

Programme

4^th March 2006