Old Town School - On The Road
Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.
The Singapore Chinese Orchestra…
On Friday evening we sat through a long-winded, ambitious, but ultimately disappointing performance at The Sage entitled THE LONG WALK HOME, which was written in response to the death of five Chinese immigrants in the Morecabe Bay Tragedy. I sat next to Boogie and Joe. Joe fell asleep. While the performance left something to be desired, it was remarkable that The Sage could put together a project that engaged professionals and amateurs alike. As I said: ambitious. There were more people on stage than were in the audience.
We had the opportunity to hear members of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at The Sage, and for me it ended up being one of the highlights of our time in Newcastle. These are folks who play on traditional Chinese instruments dating back to the fourth century. As I listened to them, I started thinking about what constituted virtuosity when these instruments were first designed and played. There’s the Pipa, which resembles an Oud with large wooden frets that extend some distance away from the neck. As the player zipped along on a traditional tune dating back from the early days of the instrument, I couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that this instrument was played nearly a thousand years before the church in Europe had even discovered polyphony. There’s the Xin (pronounced “shin”) which is an egg shaped reed instrument that makes a sound akin to the modern alto flute, but with more sonance in the tone. There’s the variety of two string bowed instruments: the Gaohu, Erhu and Zhonghu. The Gaolyn Sheng, played at this concert by the remarkable Guo Chang Suo, is a set of pipes that are blown from underneath. The sound is reminiscent of the concertina.
Listening to the ensemble was a remarkable experience. Would I ever had heard these instruments had I not been in England? Ros Riley rushed me backstage to meet the artists and their manager, Terence Ho Wee San, who informed me that the music director of the complete orchestra in a man named Tsung Yeh, and that he lives in South Bend, Indiana! Terence will put me in touch with him.
He showed me a video of the full orchestra, but I wasn’t as impressed. It seemed to me that the complete band (of around 70 players) was trying to emulate the sound of a classical symphony orchestra. But the smaller group I’d just heard! They presented a concert of traditional Chinese music as it might have been heard 1,700 years ago, peppered with shorter solo pieces. It was far more exciting then the video. They’ll be in New York in July 2009, but other than that they have no plans to return to the states. We must find a way to present this group in Chicago.
Where does a person in the states go when they wish to pursue a serious course of study in traditional music? I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Do we ever want to become a conservatory for instruments and musical forms that are unrepresented in classical conservatories? Would we ever be able to do this while remaining true to our core values? I wonder.
We decided to blow off an Irish Caeli that was scheduled, and ended up in a pub called The Cumberland Arms. I am so glad that we did. We got to watch a group of sword dancers and fiddlers do one of their performances, which they present in various found spaces around Newcastle. One of the fiddlers was our new friend Ruth, and her boyfriend Tom was one of the dancers. I’ll be posting a short video of the performance.
It’s incredible the way music and dance can sometimes just emerge from a place. This point was driven home in one remarkable moment. The seven of us were sitting in the back room of The Cumberland Arms, and Joe took out his harmonica and started playing. A single note turned into two, and then three. The music began gently, but then gained in richness as he continued, drifting out over the din of noise. Soon, he held the chatty drinkers in rapt attention. It was a beautiful moment. The music simply emerged. It was perfect.
Filed under: NOTES FROM ROBERT by Robert | April 8, 2008 |
In the Classroom
On Stage
Support Our School
Music Store
Resources
About Us
- tel 773.728.6000
- fax 773.728.6999
- webmaster