CHINESE MUSIC

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 149, 21 December 1936, Page 19

CHINESE MUSIC

MANY CENTURIES OLD

ROMANTIC BEGINNINGS

About B.C. 2600, in the time of Noah, the Emperor Hwangti ordered his Minister, Ling Lun, in the Hunlun Mountains in Bactria, to cut bamboo tubes, says a Avriler in the Melbourne "Age." The blowing of these produced an imitation of the twelve notes of the fabulous bird Fung Huang, or Phoenix, the male giving six notes and the female the other six.

Another explanation of these twelve lii, or pitch pipes, is that the male and female birds sang alternately the following notes, those of the female bird being a sort of response to the male bird's notes: —

These notes Avere the keynptes in the music used in the worship of the different spirits, such as the sky, earth, compass, mountains, female and male ancestors.

When the instruments played, voices c gave other notes alternately with the - instrumental notes. The instruments j gave a progression of fourths and the . voices sang perfect fifths, instruments : ascending, and voices descending, just ■ as the fabled birds were said to have ; done. If we take this history as it professes to be, it is the most ancient ' in the world, coming from B.C. 2600. j Other points of the music which ' certainly existed long before the third ■ century 8.C., are the twelve semi--1 tones composing an octave; the five • notes of the ancient Pentatonic scale, ■ the eight different kinds of sounds produced by eight kinds of instru- . ments, and the six kinds of dances ■ with Avhich music is accompanied. FOREIGN MUSIC. ' During the sixth and seventh centuries native and foreign ! music was ' introduced. In the eighth century Emperor Ming Hwang built a conserva- • toire, or dramatic academy, which h.e called Kiao Fang, Pear Garden, at : Hsianfu, Shensi. To this day the actors call themselves "Students of the Pear Garden." Modern music really begins from the '. Tang dynasty, A.D. 600. Previous to the time of the conquest of England by the Normans (eleventh century) Chinese scholars declared that ancient music was a lost art. For it Avas then that the music of the Northern Liao dynasty was introduced—that is, the Kung-Cheh system, equivalent to the sol-fa of the West. .-.-•. . But in spite of this adoption the Chinese throughout the ages have kept their ancient instruments, and try on all festive occasions,- besides giving modern music, to 'give Avhat they Avould believe to be ancient. Here is an idea of one of the many strange views that have • gathered about the original'five notes, equivalent to our do, re, me, so, la: —The five notes are in heaven the essence of the five elements, in man the sound of his five organs, viz., do, the spleen; re, the lungs; me, the liver; so, the heart; and la, the stomach. They correspond also to the five virtues. NOTATION SYSTEMS. Most of the world's music is transcribed in three systems of notation, staff, and sol-fa of the West, and the Kung Cheh. This Kung-Cheh is sadly defective in time marks. Its chief marks in common use are two—a cross (X, : called Pan) and a circle (O, called , Yen), the first put at the side of the 1 accented and the second at the side of , the unaccented note, equivalent , really to the beats in our bars. This ■ indistinctness regarding to time marks accounts for • the fact that a Chinese '. musician must hear a tune before he can play. They have only simple com- ; mon time, so triple and compound ' times are extraordinary to them. ■ The time baton is said to have been ■ used in the Chow dynasty, which ; ended 265 B.C. It was filled with chaff. Turning to modulation. That the : minor mode is more prevalent among ', the Chinese airs is accounted for by I the fact that the pentatonic scale has ■ two minor thirds in it, Without the alternative of a note between, as with i us. Just as though avc had only the • sounds of the black keys of , the ; piano. Part singing in China has never been accomplished. Various instruments in the various keys are tuned [ in fifths, and made to respond to one another in fifths. The Lama priests in Wutai Shan intone their prayers in very deep notes of a fifth apart, or an octave apart. There are" eight kinds of Instruments —metal, earthen, leather, silk, or stringed, melon or wirfd, bamboo wood. The Kin, a stringed instrument is the most ancient. Its name comes from "prohibit" because its sounds check evil passions. Another stringed [ one is the Pipa or guitar. Among the wind instruments is the sweet-toned Sung, with its perfect 1 reeds. Few know that this small instrument is the ancestor of our harmonium organ. TWO-PART ORCHESTRAS. On great occasions the orchestras we find divided into two parts. As many as 108 musicians and 132 dancers take part. In the Kin and Liao dynasties, v-.'hen they wanted special music twice a year, they called in or hired many and had them practice for 20 days. Their choir or orchestra, numbered over 300, consisting of .100 players, 2 bird imitators, 71 boys, 137 girls—total 310. The same list gives football players 23, doorkeepers 32, banners and drums 40, wrestlers 21. These games were accompanied by music, and were played in connection with acts of worship.

The dance in China is so unlike the dance in the west that many call it posturing instead.

It is divided into tAvo kinds, sacred and secular, or civil and military. By military is meant common stage of the Chinese theatre, when a troupe comes with sword and spears, and goes through a sham fight. In the sacred or civil dance, performed in connection with religious ceremonies, they have about sixteen or more arranged symmetrically in i-oavs of two sets, dressed in • uniform (as also are the singers). According to the note sung they take certain postures. Various kinds of music suit the five kinds of etiquette, joyful occasions, calamities, hosts welcoming guests, martial and congratulations: To the present day with the exception of the theatres at the ports, Peking, and perhaps provincial capitals, theatricals, are generally given as ail expression of thanks, e.g., for rain or good harvests.

The music played by the blind is secular. There are no schools for the blind except musical ones/

Some of the effects of music according to them are the taming of wild animals and moving heaven.

By performing all kinds of music they believe that they thereby affect all Nature, heaven, earth, and man.

Lieutenant-Colonel E. Turton, a retired Army officer, arrived in Wellington on Saturday afternoon by the Makura from Sydney on a fishing holiday. He has just finished a fishing trip to Tasmania, and is making his fourth trip to the Dominion. He lett for Christchurch to meet his wife, who is a New Zealander,