Zhao Liangshan

Zhao Liangshan

Zhao Liangshan (1939 - September 29, 2011), from Heishan County, Liaoning Province, graduated from the Department of folk music of Central Conservatory of music in 1963. In 1986, he was transferred to the Music Department of Xiamen University, a member of China Musicians Association and China National Orchestra Association. He is now the vice president of Fujian National Orchestra Society. He died in Xiamen on September 29, 2011 at the age of 72.

Character experience

He graduated from the Department of folk music of the Central Conservatory of music in 1963. In 1986, he was transferred to the Music Department of Xiamen University, a member of China Musicians Association and China National Orchestra Association. He is now the vice president of Fujian National Orchestra Society. He died in Xiamen on September 29, 2011 at the age of 72.

Cuan the first person to play Chinese ancient Cuan

origin

Zhao Liangshan has been specializing in the performance and research of Chinese national wind instruments for many years. He is good at playing gulong, bamboo flute, Dongxiao, Bawu, Hulusi, tuliang and other musical instruments. Most of the musical instruments he plays are made by himself, and has reformed gulong, Bawu and Hulusi. More than 20 years ago, he began to discuss "Cuan", one of the oldest musical instruments of human beings. As a result, the volume of Cuan increased, the sound range widened and the intonation became more accurate. Therefore, the performance of Cuan was greatly improved. In 1983, he was the first to perform Cuan on the stage of Beijing. Since then, he has never stopped his research on Cuan and made important contributions to its re singing and further promotion. He is known as "the first person of ancient Cuan in China".

business card

When you walk into Mr. Zhao Liangshan's home, the most conspicuous one is the hundreds of ancient cuans with different sizes and colors in the two display cabinets in the hall. On one wall of the hall, there are dozens of national wind instruments hanging at random, forming a piece of art with the most musical flavor. Among them are the flute, Zhao Liangshan's first musical instrument in his life when he was 6 years old, the first Yu made by him in modern times, the Hulusi made by him through his reform, and every Cuan made by himself Musical instruments faithfully record Zhao Liangshan's artistic life, and the distant music he played on the spot makes my thoughts follow him back to the starting point of his affinity with music.

Accompanied by a flute in a miserable childhood

Zhao Liangshan was born in a poor family in a remote mountain village in Northeast China. His mother died when he was one and a half years old. When he was 5 years old, he had a stepmother, who was very strict with him, while his father was away for many years to make a living. He dug wild vegetables, carried water, collected coal and firewood every day One day, at the age of six, when he heard the sound of Xiao coming from the next room, he was immediately moved by the sad melody of "suwu shepherd" and "Meng Jiangnu", and began to cry with his own life experience in mind. After hearing the cry, the old man gave a flute to him to accompany Zhao Liangshan. Since then, as soon as Zhao Liangshan listened to the music of his neighbor, he secretly imitated it. "I can go on the road of music, thanks to two people. Besides this neighbor, a blind fortune teller who lives on the other side of my house Every day, the fortune teller, under the guidance of a child, plays his flute and walks through the alleys. Zhao Liangshan was attracted by his pure northeast minor and ran behind him every day. After the fortune teller's family found out, they asked Zhao Liangshan to be their guide. Zhao Liangshan agreed. From then on, he reduced the time he spent digging wild vegetables to two hours. The rest of the time, while pulling the fortune teller, he listened to his flute music carefully. When he got home, he imitated the music with his memory like hunger. It is these beautiful music that dilute the hardship of Zhao Liangshan's childhood life. After liberation in 1949, Zhao Liangshan finally had the opportunity to go to school. After entering middle school, he began to make a name on the county stage with his flute. Perhaps because of his dedication to music, he stood out among 73 candidates in Shenyang examination center in 1960 and became the only one who was admitted by the Central Conservatory of music. He embarked on the road of professional study of wind instruments.

Let Gu Long return to the stage

In Zhao Liangshan's opinion, his hard years of studying flute and Xiao performance in the Central Conservatory of music laid a solid foundation for his later performance. After graduation and assigned to Hubei song and dance troupe, in order to strengthen the artistic expression of national wind instruments, he began to improve Bawu, Hulusi and other musical instruments. At that time, the regiment had no funds to turn the imagination of the ideal state of wind instruments into reality. "The long-term development at that time made the hands-on ability improve very quickly. It really laid a solid foundation for the later production." Zhao Liangshan couldn't help sighing. If Zhao Liangshan and Xun only needed an opportunity to get married at that time, Chen Zhong, Zhao Liangshan's flute teacher at the Central Conservatory of music, became the "matchmaker". In 1980, he mailed a Cuan made in Yixing to Zhao Liangshan. The teacher's "matchmaking" is prudent. "It's a treasure left by our ancestors, but it's lost and no one plays it. If you think about it well, you must blow it out. " Zhao Liangshan, holding this pear like musical instrument, wrote down the teacher's instructions in his heart. However, the road is not smooth. The sound of the Cuan on the hand is very small. There is no relationship between the sounds. Therefore, Zhao Liangshan set a goal for himself - to make a good Cuan, so that the "Millennium masterpiece" can be seen again. Five months later, Zhao Liangshan, who keeps making hundreds of wooden Cuan, finally has two Cuan with high volume and accurate sound to sound relationship. At the same time, he developed the fingering arrangement of Cuan performance, and even made Cuan play halftone for the first time.

Research direction

He is summing up the information about Cuan, playing skills of Cuan, summarizing the systematic teaching of Cuan, and continuing the production and performance of ancient Cuan.

Main contributions

Zhao Liangshan, when reading Qu Yuan's famous poem "Ai Cuan", felt that Cuan was very suitable to express Qu Yuan's heartbreaking mood after the fall of Cuan in the state of Chu, so he cooperated with composer Gong Guofu to create the Cuan song "Ai Cuan". This three minute and ten second long song shows Qu Yuan's cry by the Miluo River very clearly and deeply. Zhao Liangshan wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of Hubei song and dance troupe to perform "Bianzhong music and dance" with an ancient band in 1983, and let Cuan regain his life with a song "Ai Cuan". Zhao Liangshan sighed: "it's a hard process to let Xun return to the stage. The interference of human factors and other people's disapproval of Xun's musical instrument have repeatedly hindered Xun's re singing on the stage. " In the end, Zhao Liangshan had only one minute to perform, and it was in October 1983 that Beijing Tianqiao theater's "mourning Ying" shocked the Chinese music world! The unique timbre of Cuan makes its repeated sound engraved in the hearts of the audience forever.

The collision between Nanyin and Xun

Zhao Liangshan, who has lived in Xiamen for 19 years, drinks Kung Fu tea from southern Fujian every day and walks by the sea in his spare time. He has long regarded Xiamen as his second hometown. Zhao Liangshan, who likes innovation, has been worrying about Xun's future for several years. "I always feel that the promotion of Cuan is not enough. I believe Cuan has a good development space. I want to make Cuan based in Fujian. In my opinion, Nanyin is a living fossil of Fujian, a living fossil of human beings, and so is long, which has a history of more than 7000 years. In that case, I will use my lifetime to reunite them. " Out of this idea, Zhao Liangshan joined a Nanyin group and innovated the orchestration of Nanyin music, adding Cuan to Nanyin's performance. "This may still be an experiment, but the addition of Xun has brought new ideas to the original" four pieces "instrument accompaniment. I always believe that Xun can win honor for Nanyin! "

Chinese PinYin : Zhao Liang Shan