Gung hay fat choy!!
Yesterday was the usual until noon, when I went to City Hall and listened to
the U.S. China Music Ensemble.
Wonderful stuff.
They played Drums, DiZi, YangQin, Gu-zheng, and Er-hu.
Solos and ensemble.
If I remember right, DiZi is a bamboo flute, YangQin is a hammered dulcimer,
Gu-Zheng is like the Japanese Koto, Er-hu is a two string violin, and Drums are a lot like ummm...Drums.
Hitting things with sticks is a universal language.
Speaks to me.
The spokesman for the group was Warren Chang, who wished us all Happy new year.
In English.
I was reminded of the East meets West scene in a lot of movies where Western businessman extends his hand in greeting while East bows, then West bows as East extends hand then they both laugh.
Any way;
Nuovo anno cinese felice
Ano Nuevo chino feliz
Nouvelle annee chinoise heureuse
Glückliches chinesisches neues Jahr
It's the year of the Rat.
We've all been waiting for this election.
Haven't we?
the U.S. China Music Ensemble.
Wonderful stuff.
They played Drums, DiZi, YangQin, Gu-zheng, and Er-hu.
Solos and ensemble.
If I remember right, DiZi is a bamboo flute, YangQin is a hammered dulcimer,
Gu-Zheng is like the Japanese Koto, Er-hu is a two string violin, and Drums are a lot like ummm...Drums.
Hitting things with sticks is a universal language.
Speaks to me.
The spokesman for the group was Warren Chang, who wished us all Happy new year.
In English.
I was reminded of the East meets West scene in a lot of movies where Western businessman extends his hand in greeting while East bows, then West bows as East extends hand then they both laugh.
Any way;
Nuovo anno cinese felice
Ano Nuevo chino feliz
Nouvelle annee chinoise heureuse
Glückliches chinesisches neues Jahr
It's the year of the Rat.
We've all been waiting for this election.
Haven't we?
Labels: Year of the rat
posted by Lane Savant at 8:43 AM
4 Comments:
February 7th 2008
Chinese New Year celebration concert presented by the US China Music Ensemble at Seattle City Hall from noon to 1pm.
Here's some historical facts on Chinese music and our goals from the president of CAMA Warren Chang that might help you getting started:
Music has always been an important part of Chinese History. Seven thousand years ago, in the infancy of civilization, our ancestors had already established the art form of music.
Traditional Chinese music is rich and multifaceted. Having endured countless changes of dynasties through history, it has absorbed and accumulated many expressive styles into its expanding repertoire. Within such a complex program, the most remarkable branch is the instrumental music. Chinese instrumental performance has its unique and distinguished character, and its own independent mode of music expression. Whether performing an energetic, exuberant folk dance piece or a sentimental, melodious composition, instrumental music can express most human emotion with ease. No wonder Chinese instrumental music has become a never fading blossom in the garden of world music, and continues to receive special attention and acclamation from music lovers all over the world.
The birth and steady development of the Chinese Arts and Music Association in the United States signifies the potential merging of cultural and artistic perceptions of Chinese and American. The ultimate goal is to promote understanding, appreciation and friendship between the two cultures, by getting more and more Western audience into contact with the soul and spirit of Chinese music and arts. We sincerely hope that more and more people will come to participate and support Chinese music and artistic activities. Let the seeds of Chinese arts and music spread over every corner of the world, take root and grow!
The US China Music Ensemble (formerly known as the Warren Chang Music Ensemble) comprises of some of the most accomplished Chinese musicians, composers and conductors in the Pacific Northwest. The mission of the Ensemble is to introduce professional Chinese ethnic music through performance and teaching. The members take pride in promoting international understanding and friendship through music. Their repertoire includes classical Chinese and Western music pieces as well as original compositions by Ensemble composers and others.
The musicians present a wide variety of intriguing and fascinating musical pieces, taking the audience to the far eastern land of China to enjoy its ancient beauty and its traditional customs through some of the most memorable music, played on authentic Chinese instruments. The highly experienced musicians also employ advanced methods of teaching the various instruments to interested persons, whether musically inclined or not.
The musicians of the US China Music Ensemble sincerely hope that the authentic Chinese music it provides can lead you through wonderful new experiences of artistic enjoyment.
The dizi (Chinese: 笛子; pinyin: dízi), is a Chinese transverse flute. It is also sometimes known as the di (笛) or hengdi (橫笛), and has varieties including the qudi (曲笛) and bangdi (梆笛).
These names are likely to have multiple spellings, too, depending on the transliteration used to convert from Chinese names. Nonetheless, dizi seems to be the most common name (and written form) used in the West.
The dizi is a major Chinese musical instrument, and is widely used in many genres of Chinese folk music, as well as Chinese opera, and the modern Chinese orchestra. Traditionally, the dizi has also been popular among the Chinese common people, and it is simple to make and easy to carry.[1]
Most dizi are made of bamboo, which explains why dizi are sometimes known by simple names such as "Chinese bamboo flute." However, "bamboo" is perhaps more of a Chinese instrument classification like "woodwind" in the West.
Although bamboo is the common material for the dizi, it is also possible to find dizi made from other kinds of kinds of wood, or even from stone. Jade dizi (or yudi, 玉笛) are popular among both collectors interested in the almost magical beauty of jade dizi, and among professional players who seek an instrument with look that matches the quality of their renditions. But jade may not be the best material for dizi since, as with metal, jade may not be so tonally responsive, unlike bamboo which is more resonant.
The dizi is not the only bamboo flute of China, although it is certainly distinctive. Other Chinese bamboo wind instruments include the vertical end-blown xiao, the guanzi (double reed), the koudi, and the bawu (free reed).
The trapezoidal yangqin (simplified Chinese: 扬琴; traditional Chinese: 揚琴; pinyin: yángqín) is a Chinese hammered dulcimer originally from the Middle East (Persia (modern-day Iran)). It used to be written with the characters 洋琴 (lit. "foreign zither"), but over time the first character changed to 揚 (also pronounced "yáng"), which means "acclaimed". It is also spelled yang quin or yang ch'in. Hammered dulcimers of various types are now very popular not only in China, but also Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India and Pakistan. The instruments are also sometimes known by the names "santur" and "cymbalom".
The yangqin was traditionally fitted with bronze strings, which gave the instrument a soft timbre. This form of instrument is still occasionally heard today in the hudie qin (蝴蝶琴, lit. "butterfly zither") played in the traditional silk and bamboo genre from the Shanghai region known as Jiangnan sizhu (江南絲竹), as well as in some Cantonese music groups. The Thai and Cambodian khim are nearly identical in their construction, having been introduced to those nations by southern Chinese musicians. Since the 1950s, however, steel alloy strings (in conjunction with copper-wound steel strings for the bass notes) have been used, in order to give the instrument a brighter, and louder tone. The modern yangqin can have as many as five courses of bridges and may be arranged chromatically. Traditional instruments, with three or more courses of bridges, are also still widely in use. The instrument's strings are struck with two lightweight bamboo beaters (also known as hammers) with rubber tips. A professional musician often carries several sets of beaters, each of which draws a slightly different tone from the instrument, much like the drum sticks of Western percussionists.
The yangqin is used both as a solo instrument and in ensembles. Composer/vocalist Lisa Gerrard has used this instrument in the 8 albums recorded by the band Dead Can Dance and also in some of her performances solo since the break up of Dead Can Dance.
The guzheng, or gu zheng (Chinese: 古箏; pinyin: gǔzhēng) or zheng (箏) (gu-, 古 means "ancient") is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It belongs to the zither family of string instruments.
The guzheng is the parent instrument of the Japanese koto, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum, and the Vietnamese đàn tranh.
A modern guzhengThe guzheng should not to be confused with the guqin, another ancient Chinese zither but without bridges.
The erhu (Chinese: 二胡; pinyin: èrhú), also called nanhu (南胡, literally "southern fiddle"), and sometimes known in the West as the "Chinese violin" or "Chinese two-string fiddle," is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It is the most popular instrument in the huqin (胡琴) family of Chinese bowed string instruments, together with the zhonghu (中胡), gaohu (高胡), banhu (板胡), jinghu (京胡), sihu (四胡), and numerous others.
Herr Hitler and Herr Bushler take time to hit people with sticks, and that certainly is not the universal language; possibly universal pain.
Warren Chang
Music Director
Warren Chang, President and founder of the Chinese Arts and Music Association resides in the greater Seattle area and is one of the foremost Er-Hu experts in the United States. He has performed extensively and has made numerous television and radio appearances both nationally and in China.
Mr. Chang is one of the most renown Erhu experts in the United States. He has traveled throughout country lecturing and performing to introduce and promote Chinese music to the American public. His incomparable determination and continuing efforts to introduce Chinese music to the Western world has gained a great deal of respect and admiration from both professional musicians and music lovers in general. In January 1995, Mr. Chang was invited by the Japanese producer to record the soundtrack for the epic movie "The Soong Sisters", with the original score by the famous contemporary composer, Kitaro. During the recordings, Mr. Chang was invited to play all the Erhu segments for the entire soundtrack. During the 1997 - 2008 music season, he has also performed with Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, Cascade Symphony, Port Angeles Symphony and Seattle Symphony for his master Er-Hu concert pieces.
Your LatinoSpanishPortugeseRussianJapaneseChineseGerman speak was a hoot. It actually looked like it might be legitimate. Was it? We never know with you.
Perhaps it is the year of Several Rats. Man, today Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, and McCain were all here in Seattle for the "Caucaus"? or is it Cowkus? Don't understand it since the primary is not until Feb 19th, after the holiday.
But yes, we are all awaiting our chance to vote, and make that vote count.
Glenn
Gung hay fat choy is my spelling.
as are all western spellings of asian languages. The correct "spelling" is, of course the ideogram which is essentially all the letters (brushstrokes) together in a single work of art.
The computer renders it as "??;"
Dr. Johnson can go hang.
All the other seasons greetings were translated by "babelfish"
which you can find on "greatest links" near the bottom of my links column.
It is interesting to see the similarity between the latin languages.
I think I'll go look up some more.
Be right back.
Here's some more.
Ευτυχές κινεζικό νέο έτος
Счастливый китайский новый год
Gelukkig Chinees nieuw jaar
Ano novo Chines feliz
Besides the similarity of the Latin languages, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, notice also the similarities of the Germanic ones, English, German and Dutch (Afrikaans is also similarly based)
AND the similarity of the Cryllic
alphabet used in the Greek and the Russian.
The language we speak is basically mispronounced German mixed about half and half with Latin.
Appyhay ewnay earyay
Hallo, Lane:
If Chinese music "speaks to you", why not compose something for Chinese instruments, get off the 7 bus in Chinatown and ask around if there is a Chinese ensemble and give them the music???
Toi, toi, toi!
-- Anonomann
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