Chinese Classical Music

On Wednesday the 5th of October at the Kennedy Center, Chen Yu in "flutes," Li Jia in "pipa", Liu Yang in "hulusi", Tian Chao in "yan qin", Wang Xie in "zherg" and Zhou Wei in "erhu", performed a piece that was an ensemble of melodies from China's Jiangsu, Fujian and Hebei provinces. The work, "The Pretty and Graceful Jasmine Flowers", was an ensemble to honor the jasmine, a Chinese classical flower.

The length of the work wasn't as long as I assumed it would be. However, it was enough to show the different stages of the blossom of the Jasmine. It was almost as if this classical flower was a holly symbol to this culture and this anthem allowed them to represent how much this means to the performers and the nations culture.

In this particular work, the melody was smooth and flowing. There were no drastic changes in the rhythm that made it pleasant to listen to. Even thought there were no lyrics, the piece allowed the audience to connect themselves emotionally with it. The work had an uplifting tone to it and even thought the physical reaction wasn't one of dancing or jumping, the bright and rich colors of the music let the expatiators connect with the history and story behind it.

This performance showed the alliance of the melodies that together formed a piece that is described as an ensemble and folk music. Throughout the performance the arrangement was almost a western style. The beat was set by one instrument, the "erhu", two-string violin that constantly played the same chords and set the base and bit of the piece. Different instruments that took their turn and played their solo set the melody. The most noticeable instruments and the ones that most of the time determined the melody were the flute and the "hulusi". The flute is an aero phone made out of bamboo and is played in the same way as in western music. On the other hand, the hulusi, is almost like a flute but the design differently and plays a higher pitch melody, the one that most traditional Chinese music is related to.

When considering the scale and pitches in the work, it is seen as in most northern Chinese music that there is a heptatonic scale. The music is set on improvisations set on this scale. Following this scale and the base beat set by the "erhu" the performers don't