The Chinese musical instruments are sometimes played abroad. However, a formally organised national orchestra had never visited a foreign country until the Chinese Goodwill Orchestra to the Philippines made the historical trip in August, 1951.
The overseas Chinese in the Philippines have several times sent visiting groups to their Fatherland-Free China as an expression of loyalty and support to the National Government. It seemed proper that we should return the visit. As most of them had long expressed a desire to hear the fine music of their homeland, the musical experts in this country thus cherished an idea to form an orchestra and send it abroad. Meanwhile, they realised that China and the Philippines have been culturally inter locked for centuries, and a further understanding of each other would be beneficial to both nations. From these considerations, the musicians determined upon the maiden trip of the Chinese orchestra.
Under the auspices of such patrons of art as Dr. Wu Te-cheng, Mr. Chang Tao-fan, Dr. George K. C. Yeh, Mr. Cheng Yin-fuan, Mr. Hsiao Tse-cheng, who gave all their enthusiastic support and encouragement, the first Chinese Goodwill Orchestra thus favourably took its way to visit a friendly country. However, but for the kind service of the Philippino musical experts and Chinese Ambassador Chen Chi-ping who all rendered much assistance to make arrangements for performance, the Orchestra could not have been easily crowned with such successes, To them our hearty gratitude must be extended.
Now the Goodwill Orchestra to the Philippines has already carried out its mission to introduce the Chinese classical music to our overseas fellow-countrymen and our Philippino friends, who arc renowned for their musical tradition, and returned with much honour and praise from that country. But such an honour and praise is due more to our noble ancestors who created the finest instruments in the Orient and composed the lovely tunes than to the Orchestra members who, as envoys of our people, merely shouldered the responsibility of introducing Chinese culture to a friendly nation.
II.
During the four weeks of visit, the Chinese Orchestra played nineteen times altogether. The places visited included Manila, Baguio—the summer capital, and the American air base Clackficld. Of the performances the most important one was that played to receive Philippino musicians and cultural personalities as well as the western musical experts in the Philippines. This performance was made in the Far Eastern University auditorium and honored with much applause. But the success is largely attributed to Prof. Hilarion F. Robio, U. P. Conservatory of Music, who had lent a useful hand to the Orchestra in preparing the performance.
The Philippines is a country imbued in a great musical tradition. But it was regretful that a good number of Philippino musicians were little aware heretofore of the Chinese classical music. One of the Philippino friends had once remarked that the Chinese music was nothing but a loud noise made by gongs and drums and other simple-tone instruments. However, he changed his idea as soon as he became one of the audience of the Chinese Orchestra. After coming back from the concert, he showed great surprise and said: "How wonderful China has possessed such a fine music but we never heard it played!"
Prof. H. F. Robio, an expert in oriental music, is well known in Philippino musical circles. He asserted that the performance of the, Chinese national orchestra was no less exciting than that of the western orchestra. He confessed that he had had no practical knowledge in Chinese music until that time. After listening to Mr. Sun Pai-chang's Pipa solo on the old piece of "The Great Ambush," Prof. Robio said: "From Mr. Sun's skillful performance with his fingers and the excellence of the music itself, I found myself just in an ancient battlefield where thousands of men and horses were engaged in a dogfight, This performance is surely the best interpretation of the whole fighting story of Hsiang Yu. How fine it is!"
Another professor of music made almost the same remark as Prof. Robio's, so it seems to be unnecessary to be repealed. However, Prof. Anguita of St. Thomas University viewed in another way, he said: "I have had no sufficient knowledge in Chinese music, but anyhow I will begin to study it."
Whether there were any unfavorable remarks on the Chinese national orchestra, it is not known so far. However, we are still anxious to hear.
III.
Regarding the Chinese instruments, there are about forty to fifty kinds which have been ordinarily used. Of them several kinds can be played by either an orchestra or a soloist. Approximately, those which are named by a single character are created originally by the ancient Chinese, those which are named by a double character have a foreign origin, but are improved by the ancient Chinese musicians.
In the following I am to introduce some examples of the instruments. The well-known ancient tunes which have aroused much interest among the Philippinos are also explained together.
1. Ancient CHIN
This is the most ancient string instrument in China played by plucking. The original instrument supposed to be invented by Emperor Fu Hsi in 2953 B. C. had five strings. In Chow Dynasty about 1122 B. C., two more strings were added, making seven strings in all. The silk strings are coated with another silk layer. The body is made of Tung wood. The pegs for tuning the strings arc located below the body. The seven strings are tuned thus: small A, B, one-line D, E, F sharp, A, and B.
2. SHENG
This instrument belongs to the wind group with reeds. It has been popular with the Chinese people for more than 3,000 years. The basin-like base, to which the mouth-piece is attached, was once made of gourd or calabash; but, since Chin Dynasty, (3rd century B. C.) it has been made of copper. On this base, the seventeen pipes of bamboo in different lengths are arranged in a circular row firmly held by a rattan ring. The holes for the fingers are at the base of each pipe. The reed of bronze is attached to the plug made of a kind of pinewood at the lower end of each pipe.
Both blowing and sucking produce tones from the instrument. The range is one octave and a half. The intervals that can be given are the octave, third, fourth, and fifth. The tone-quality resembles that of the harmonica, although the former is more mellow and less metallic.
3. PIPA
It is a string instrument played by plucking or strumming. It was invented in 139 B. C. during the Han Dynasty, but became popular in 627 A. D., the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. Plectrum was used at first; but, later on, string were plucked by fingers. In earlier times, the string's were stretched on the four boxes or tangents at the upper part of the finger-board, and thirteen frets at the lower part. The present type has six tangents and eighteen frets. There are four single strings of silk.
They are tuned to small A, one-line D, E, and A. The range is three and half octaves. Single and double-stopping are possible. The tone-quality is weak and mellow, reminding us of the lower range of the "bandurria".
4. TSENG
It is a string instrument played by plucking. The instrument has been popular since 331 B. C., in the Chin Dynasty. The ancient type, now obsolete, had 12 strings and was classified into two types-the plucked and the bowed.
The modern Tseng has 13 to 16 strings with a bridge or each. The body is made of Tung wood. Only three fingers of the right hand are used individually in plucking the string, and in strumming. The left hand fingers on the other segments of the strings are the ones executing the vibrato and portamento for the tones pluck. The string's are tuned in a series of pentatonic scales extending up to two octaves beginning with one-line D, E, G, A, B. etc. The instrument is good in the keys of G and D. The intervals of the 4th, and the common major triads can be produced.
5. SANHSIEN & YUAN
This string instrument was first known in the year 331 B. C. but has become popular since about 620 A. D.
Boa skin is used for the body-resonator. The long neck and the sides are made of hard wood. There an: three strings stretched on a wooden bridge. They are tuned to one-line D. A. and two-line D. The range can be extended up to three and a half octaves. Three tone chords are possible on Le instrument.
There are two kinds-the small and the big. The big "San-hsien" is used in the classic orchestra to form the low-tone group. The small one called the southern Hsien, is used in the Chinese opera. This has low tones also and takes the bass part. Many keys can be played, but the tones are best in C. D. A. and G.
Yuan is an off-shoot of the Pipa family. It has two strings tuned to small A and one-line E. They lire stretched on eighteen tangents. It can produce two-tone chord in the keys of C. D. A. and G. Low-tone music is assigned to the Yuan.
6. ERHU
This string instrument is played with a bow. The body is made of sandal wood. There are two strings tuned to one-line D and one-line A. The bow is made of bamboo and horse-hair.
It was invented in the year 1279 A. D. during the Yuen Dynasty. The late Prof. Liu Tien-hua of Peking University made remarkable improvement on this instrument. It is very popular in China and plays an important role in orchestra. The range is three octaves.
7. Eleven hole FLUTE
In 1936, Mr Teng, a physicist at Academia Sinica developed this instrument from a six-hole flute (ti-tzu). The chromatic scale has been made possible in this new invention. The instrument may be made of hard red wood and is constructed in two segments. It may also be of a rare bamboo of Fukien province.
It has three and a half octaves, especially suited for solo playing. The lowest pitch is one-line D.
Mr. Kao of the Goodwill Orchestra is a disciple of the inventor.
Below is some famous tunes:
1. MOONBEAMS AND FLOWERS IN SPRING RIVER
The original music which dates back to the T'ang Dynasty (618-907 A. D.) was composed by Kang Kun-lun. The piece as presented at this concert is an arrangement of a well-known Pipa solo into an orchestral suite. It brings out the dramatic sequences of the beauty of a boat-ride in a spring evening beneath a moonlit sky.
The listener is taken through ten moods expressed in the piece. Part I is ushered in by the bells of a nearby temple. Part II depicts the quiet moonrise on the eastern hills. Part III pictures tiny ripples in the water as a boat passes by. Part IV draws the silhouettes of flowers on both sides of a river. Part V reflects the clouds as they meet the water at the distant horizon. Part VI echoes the song of homeward-bound fishermen along the river. Part VII describes vividly the sound of waves as they vie with each other to reach the shore. Part VIII impresses the listener with Nature in harmony. Part IX tells of the return of the sojourner, and the piece reaches a fitting climax, Finale. Note the onomatopoeic effects of each part of the piece.
2. FISHERMEN'S SERENADE
This is an ancient piece, presented as a Tseng solo. It tells of fishing trip during sunset leisurely begun with fishermen taking time casting their nets into the river. The piece picks up tempo as a storm breaks out and overtakes the fishermen. They hurriedly retrieve their nets and quicken their journey home to seek shelter in the comfort of their hearths. The fast tempo of the homeward trip in contrast to the slow, almost indolent beginning of the work, offers a touching climax to a wonderful playing.
3. VARIATIONS ON AN OLD THEME IN
D.
This piece is rearranged from an old Chinese composition to be presented by a quintet consisting of the Sheng, the Pipa, the San-Hsien, the Er-Hu, and the Flute. It is a typical Chinese chamber music composition, and the music presents occasions where solo passages are given to show the skill of the players and unique tonal quality of each instrument.
4. THE GREAT AMBUSH
This historical lyric by Chin Han-tze of Sui Dynasty (581-68 A. D.) interprets, faithfully, in a rich display of varying moods, the tragic story of the mighty Prince Hsiang Yu of Ch'u. The Prince, considered the Achilles of his time, was so invincible that his enemies plotted strategy after strategy to trap him and bring- upon his downfall. At the battle of Hai-hsia, in 202 B. C., the crafty General Han Hsin of Han was able to entrap the prince in a well-planned ambush. Surrounded by his enemies, the Prince charged in one direction after another, only to find that his way completely blocked by iron cordons. Crafty General Han did not only use all available man-power and weapons at his command, but tried a very effective and. disarming guile by ordering his warriors to sing the beloved folksong in Prince Hsiang's domain, which reverberated in the battlefield. Upon hearing this familiar strains ear to their home, Prince Hsiang's soldiers became home ... sick and lost their zeal to fight. Finally, his back against the Black River that bordered the battlefield, Prince Hsiang found only a few soldiers remained of his once powerful army. Aware then that escape was impossible and capture would mean a stain to his pride and honor, he committed suicide.
The music rips through each and every mood accordingly. The listener sways with the sound of the Pipa depicting the laying of the traps by Gen. Han Hsin, the meeting at the battlefield, the ensuing clash of armor and swords to the charging tune of the horns, the bewilderment of and suicide by the Prince, and finally the triumphal march of Gen. Han's warriors.
5. PARADISE IN MOON
This is an ancient composition by Pei Shen-fu of T'ang Dynasty (618-907 A. D.). It tells of the dream of Emperor Ming Huang in a journey to the moon. The emperor found himself in a palace full of beautiful fairies, and hearing soft, heavenly music. The listener will be charmed by the expressive portrayal of a cheerful, yet divine mood.