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Press Release
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Xiao - the Instrument that Tells of Journeys in Life
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The lilting notes of the Chinese flute can pluck your heart's string
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The Chinese flute exists in two forms, the dizi (or di for short) and the dongxiao (or xiao for short). The dizi has an open, lilting tone colour that captures the emotional nuances of Man vividly, and is commonly used in folk or regional music. The dongxiao, on the other hand, has a pure tone colour and richer harmonics, thus suggesting a subtlety and restraint. Tam Po-shek, a Chinese flute virtuoso, has a career that spans more than thirty years. He makes his own xiaos and because of this, he has a philosophy on the art of playing the instrument and on life. "An ordinary piece of bamboo can be made into a musical instrument that is capable of depicting the world around us, as well as our thoughts and emotions. The expressions are endless, and the benefits that one gains from this are there for life," he said.
By tradition, the dongxiao is a literati instrument because it is congenial with the guqin, both in tone colour and volume. Many guqin players therefore find it most acceptable, next only to their own instrument. Duets of these two instruments are among the music lovers' favourites. According to Tam, "the sound of the dongxiao can be linked to the innermost feelings in us, and calls up memories of long, long ago."
In this concert series featuring Tam and his chosen instrument as the star of the show, Tam will be joined by his two colleagues in the wind section of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and virtuosi in their own right, Sun Yongzhi, Section Leader (Wind) and Dizi Principal, and Choo Boon-chong, Assistant Principal, as well as veterans Luo Jing and Tse Chun-yan, to perform in an ensemble under the baton of Yan Huichang a programme of dizi and xiao music. Tam will also play the navigator role to guide the audience in appreciation of the different pieces. He will talk about the background to each piece, as well as the tonal nuances of the dongxiao as a vehicle of communication. The programme includes The Toll of the Temple Bells by Cui Yulin, Going Up-river at the Qingming Festival by Liu Weiguang and performed on the konghou by Luo Jing, The Flute of Humanity by Chen Bai-zhong, and three compositions by Tam Po-shek himself, How Often Do We Have Such a Bright Moon (with Tse Chun-yan on the guqin), Dreams of My Old Home (in 1998) and The World of Man in Turmoil, which serves as the grand finale of the concert.
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Highlights of the Programme
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Two dongxiao pieces with Hong Kong relevance
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| Two works played at this dongxiao concert share one similarity, although they were written sixty years apart. One is the perennial favourite for karaoke aficionados, The Toll of the Temple Bells, and the other is a recent composition, The World of Man in Turmoil. What brings them together and makes them relevant to us is that both are about Hong Kong in times of distress. |
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| The Toll of Temple Bells was written by Cui Weilin, a dongxiao player, in 1939, when Hong Kong and China were suffering from political turbulence. Cui heard the chanting of sutra from a temple in Yau Ma Tei one day, and he was so overwhelmed with the ways of the world that he put the emotion to music. The melody has a strong Cantonese music flavour. Lyrics were added later, and the song soon became so popular that its original dongxiao version was almost unheard till now. |
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| As for The World of Man in Turmoil, it was written by Tam Po-shek in 2003, when Hong Kong was struck by SARS and the community was inundated by fear, distress and a strong sense of loss. Tam felt the devastation and improvised this piece for the dongxiao. For this concert, it has been arranged by Chew Hee-chiat and orchestrated for three dongxiaos and orchestra. Like Toll, the music is charged with the deep emotions of Hong Kong people during one of the hardest of times. |
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Know your Chinese
music
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The xiao and the dongxiao
The modern version of xiao and the dongxiao are actually one and the same instrument. The earliest proof of its existence in ancient China was the guyue, or 'bone pipe', an artifact unearthed in Jiahu of Wuyang in Henan Province in1986. With a history that dated back eight to nine thousand years to the Neolithic Age, it was made of the femur of birds like cranes. It had more or less the same form as the modern dongxiao.
But in ancient Chinese literature, the xiao and the dongxiao were two different instruments. The former was the paixiao, which was made of a row of bamboo pipes of different lengths bound together and with one end closed, and each pipe could only make one note. The latter was a single pipe that had both ends open (except for the Fujian version that had one end closed), and was blown horizontally. It was called the changdi during the Han Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty, the name 'dongxiao' grew to be popular, and it was only recently that it was shortened to 'xiao'.
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| Programme |
Ensemble Moonlight Over Spring River Ancient Melody Compiled by Tam Po-shek
Dongxiao Solo The Toll of the Temple Bells Cui Yulin
Arr. by Tam Po-shek
Dongxiao: Tam Po-shek
Dongxiao and Guqin
How Often Do We Have Such a Bright Moon Tam Po-shek Arr. by Tam Po-shek and Tse Chun-yan
Dongxiao: Tam Po-shek Guqin: Tse Chun-yan
Dongxiao and Honghou
Going Up-river at the Qingming Festival Liu Weiguang
Dongxiao: Sun Yongzhi Konghou: Luo Jing
Dongxiao and Orchestra Dreams of My Old Home
Tam Po-shek Arr. by Chan Kwok-ping
Dongxiao: Tam Po-shek
Dongxiao and Orchestra The Flute of Humanity
Chen Bai-zhong
Dongxiao: Choo Boon-chong
Dongxiao Trio and Orchestra The World of Man in Turmoil Tam Po-shek Arr. by Chew Hee-chiat
(Arrangement commissioned by HKCO/Premiere)
Dongxiao: Tam Po-shek, Sun Yongzhi, Choo Boon-chong
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Co-presented by
in Conjunction with
Supported by
Exhibition and Demonstration Performance Supported by :
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| Date:
24-25.6.2005
Time: 8:00 pm |
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Venue:
Hong Kong City Hall
Theatre |
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24-25.6.2005
$120, 90
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Yan Huichang
Conductor |
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National Class One Conductor. As a conductor who has worked with all professional Chinese orchestras in Beijing, Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, Yan has won the acclaim of the music circles in China and abroad for his artistic and conducting talents.
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Under his baton, and in collaboration with the famous composer Zhao Jiping, the Symphony Orchestra section of the China National Symphony Orchestra made the soundtrack recordings for such award-winning films as Raise the Red Lantern, Ballad of the Yellow River, and Five Girls and a Rope.
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Yan was awarded the "Cultural Medallion (Music)" by the National Arts Council of Singapore in September 2001. Since 2004, he has been a Visiting Professor in many music conservatories. Yan was awarded a Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) by the Chief Executive of HKSAR in 2004 in recognition of his remarkable achievements in Chinese music as well as his efforts in promoting Chinese music.
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Sun Yongzhi
Dongxiao |
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Sun Yongzhi graduated from the Xian Conservatory of Music with distinction in 1982 where he was trained by Yuan Xiuhe and dizi maestro Zhao Songting. He was appointed Dizi Principal of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 1997, and is currently the Section Leader (Wind). Sun also teaches dizi at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
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Choo Boon-chong
Dongxiao |
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Choo Boon-chong joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 1979 and is currently Assistant Dizi Principal, and also the Chairman of Hong Kong Bamboo Flute Society. His forte is in the bangdi, demonstrating excellent fingering and breathing techniques and ease in the upper register.
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Tam Po-shek
Host/ Dongxiao |
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A well-known dongxiao and dizi artiste and a dongxiao maker, Tam Po-shek is currently a veteran dizi musician of HKCO. His technique on the dongxiao is an assimilation of the traditional and the modern, thus forming a style that is uniquely his own. Tam is also a writer. His publications include Techniques of the Dizi and 2 anthologies of prose, As Leaves Fall between Heaven and Earth and Hong Kong Story.
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