In Slubice, Poland, as the crisp clinking of lutes resonated in the background, pulsating drumbeats and spirited folk singing joined the ensemble, creating a feast for the ears.
The band of seven lutenists, two vocalists and two percussionists hailed from countries as far flung as Algeria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Palestine, Sweden and Taiwan.
Hundreds of world music lovers were packed into the auditorium on a chilly November night at the 2010 transVOCALE European Singer-Songwriter Music Festival, held in the twin border cities of Slubice and Frankfurt am Oder, Germany.
For Taiwanese lutenist Chung Yu-feng, the performance marked the highlight of her fourth European tour, which included two recitals in Germany. Since 2005, Chung has taken part in numerous border-crossing musical projects, working with musicians from all over the world.
Chung plays the pipa, a four-stringed Chinese version of a lute, believed to have originated in the Middle East, sharing the same origin as the guitar, mandolin and oud, which is still widely popular in Central Asia.
“The best music exists in dangerous moments, when it’s pushed beyond its usual limits,” Chung quoted one of her fellow musicians as saying.
“I feel completely free when working with these artists; they never stop exploring the borders between different musical styles and traditions,” she said.
However, the musician only came to free expression after years of immersion in the classical tradition. Chung has been a professional musician for over 20 years, starting at age 9. After years of academic training, she followed the pattern of most practitioners of traditional music in Taiwan and joined a classical music ensemble. She spent eight years touring “to introduce the beauty of traditional Chinese music and culture to the rest of the world.”
Gradually, however, after repeated performances of nothing but “the classics,” she found her passion and creativity waning. “It was always the same routine, the same costumes, even the jokes were worn out,” she recalled.
“Making music in that way is like hiding in a small room, feeling safe and content, without wanting to know how big and diverse the world outside your room is,” she said.
Chung ventured out of this safe routine in 2004, teaming up with Taiwanese singer-songwriter Lin Sheng-xiang and the band Water 3 to make the folk-rock album “Getting Dark.” “By playing pipa alongside western musical instruments such as guitar and bass, I came to understand my music and creative ability better.”
But it was in Europe that a new world of traditional music awaited her. At the 2005 Dance and Folk Festival (Tanz- und Folkfest, TFF) in Rudolstadt, Germany, Chung marveled at the innovation of fellow musicians from all over the world who were creating border-crossing compositions on traditional instruments.
“The Irish band The Chieftains, for example, breathed so much originality into traditional Celtic instruments, such as accordions and tin flutes, that it was hard to believe their musical tradition dates back centuries.”
In 2009, TFF chair Bernhard Hanneken brought Chung together with nine other musicians for the Magic Lute project. Featuring eight lutes of different shape from various parts of the world, a tambourine and a vocalist, the ensemble’s hour-long gig at that year’s TFF was so well received that the same artists reassembled in 2010 to make a studio album of the same title.
In her next exploration of the boundaries of music, Chung will spend eight months at El Mastaba Center for Egyptian Folk Music in Cairo, sponsored by Taiwan’s Hao Ran Foundation, where she will give pipa workshops to local musicians, help the center digitalize its archives, and collaborate with the renowned Egyptian band El Tanbura.
She will also introduce the yue qin, or “moon guitar,” another traditional Chinese lute with a round body and a long thin neck, to Egyptians.
“Egypt is known for preserving its traditional music and blending it with popular culture,” she said. “Traditional music in Taiwan could use a little revival, too, and I’m looking for ways to do that.”
As exciting as intercultural collaboration is for a musician, doing it right requires a great deal of hard work and subtlety.
“It’s not simply about mixing up musical styles or adapting one song to sound like another,” said Wu Rung-shun, a professor of traditional music at Taipei National University of the Arts. “Yet Chung has done a beautiful job so far, merging diverse music traditions in her performances.”
Wu praised Chung for her courage in stepping out of her comfort zone. “She is young and has endless potential, and her importance as an artist lies not only in her creativity, but also in her strong grounding in traditional music.”
“The music has to grow from the inside out, not be forced upon from the outside,” he said.
A musician must first embed herself in the culture that nurtured a particular musical style, before she will be qualified to compose in that style, he added.
It is often said that music is a universal language, but crossing musical borders requires just as much effort as mastering another language. Every culture has its own musical vocabulary, tones and accents.
Quite a few Taiwanese groups have worked to breathe new life into traditional Chinese music, Wu said. Chai Found Music Workshop, for example, gave birth to a new style called “Eastern instrumental theater,” in which musicians compose songs around a story plot.
Their music is both modern and traditional: modern in its rock arrangements, but employing traditional instruments such as pipa and erhu, Wu said.
“In fact, more and more young Taiwanese traditional music groups are breaking away from the hackneyed routines of the past in search of new styles. They are also beginning to realize that solid training is a prerequisite to composing fresh music.”
Speaking of the competition Taiwan faces from traditional musicians from mainland China, Wu suggested Taiwan take a different direction. “The resources the Chinese government has been investing in training young traditional music talent are beyond comparison,” he said.
“But what Taiwan lacks in resources, we can make up in creativity, and forge a new regional tradition for Taiwanese music distinct from the Chinese tradition,” Wu added.
Chung is an example of that distinct style and she certainly hopes to continue her musical adventures.
Before heading to Egypt, Chung reflected on her musical pursuits: “Many musical instruments and styles have fallen by the wayside of history. I’m grateful for the opportunities I have to write contemporary history through new encounters in music.” (THN)