Title: Birds Returning to the Woods
Composer: Jianquan Yi
Adaptation: Paul Tsao
Soft-bow Jinghu Performance: Paul Tsao
Orchestra: CBA Chinese Orchestra
Music Recording: Joseph Ma
Mixing: Joseph Ma
"Birds Returning to the Woods" is a masterpiece from the flourishing period of Guangdong music, composed by Jianquan Yi in 1931. With a fresh and beautiful melody and chirping birdsong, the music depicts the moving scene of the sunset and birds returning to their nests, showing the poetic and picturesque scenery of Southern China. The whole piece is vibrant amid calmness, and the music is vivid. It makes listeners feel as if they are in the forest, completely fascinated.
The composer uses objects to describe people, and with rich artistic imagination, expresses the free-flying demeanor and the comfortable and pleasant feeling of the birds when they return to their sweet home.
During early performances, bird calls were blown with water-filled ceramic bird toys. In order to enhance the musicality, gaohu performer Tianyi Liu explored using gaohu to play bird calls, making this song more vivid and brilliant.
"Birds Returning to the Woods" is generally performed with the "wujiatou" (a traditional five-piece ensemble formation), unique to Cantonese music (including instruments such as the gaohu, qinqin/zhongruan, yangqin, dongxiao/dizi, yehu), or "liujiatou" (a traditional six-piece ensemble formation). Paul Tsao, the famous Chinese music performer, re-arranged and adapted "Birds Returning to the Woods" for the soft bow jinghu, accompanied by a small folk band.
The soft bow jinghu can vividly imitate the chirping of birds and the sound of insects, but this technique was lost for many years. In the early 1980s, Tsao brought it back according to historical records, and studied and innovated new playing techinques, called "the unique skill of bowing" or "magic bowing." With his profound artistic achievements and ability to play various musical instruments, Tsao improved the playing methods and skills of the soft bow Jinghu, a folk musical instrument, to an academic level, elevating it to elegance.
Tsao's performance of "Birds Returning to the Woods" played on the soft bow jinghu breaks through the limitations of gaohu in imitating birdsong. The birdsong that Tsao simulates with the soft bow Jinghu can be described as lifelike, and the birds he simulates are of various types, impossible for a performer to achieve using other instruments. The unique timbre of jinghu adds a Peking Opera charm to the music. It can be described as a landmark fusion of North and South music, and a bold attempt to innovate. Tsao’s performance makes this famous piece more lively, witty, picturesque, and immersive.
Mr. Tsao was born in an opera family. He studied art with his father since childhood and grew up in an opera troupe. He was deeply influenced by the art of opera and Chinese music. He is proficient in 15 musical instruments including erhu, gaohu, banhu, jinghu, flute, suona, and percussion instruments.
Ellen Stewart, founder of the Broadway La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, once praised him as the most outstanding Chinese "Prince of Instrumental Music" in the world, and he is known as China's "Unparalleled Bow and String Musician".
Mr. Tsao moved to the United States in 1994. He has demonstrated his musical talent and artistry in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Broadway, National Theater, and Kennedy Concert Hall, and won high praise from people from all walks of life. In 1999, he founded the CBA Culture & Arts Center in New York, which is the only comprehensive "Chinese folk art performance group" in the United States. CBA Culture & Art Center is popular wherever it goes throughout the United States for its wonderful performances and unique artistic charm. It has made important contributions to inheriting and promoting Chinese music in the United States.
© 2022 Atlantic Studios Inc. All rights reserved.
Instrument Sounds Like Lifelike Birdsong Using Exclusive Technique｜Musical Moments
#PaulTsao #music #musicalmoments