Sing the good voice of China (Creative Transformation and Innovative Development)
Core reading
We must not only continuously improve discipline construction and teaching methods, but also provide young people with opportunities to fully penetrate history and life.
This will cultivate students' sense of inheritance and innovation in a subtle way
The creation must go to life, to the people, and really make friends with the people, so that the works created will have vitality.
Modern Chinese vocal music incorporates the singing experience of other cultures such as Bel Canto, but this integration has always been based on the national vocal tradition.
National vocal music cannot lose its "foundation" and "source". It should continue to learn from, absorb, integrate, and innovate on this basis, learn from other singing methods, and develop together.
"Adjust measures to local conditions" and actively transform Bel Canto
Reporter: You perform both classic Western operas and create national operas, often touring around the world.
How do you use singing to interpret different styles and types of works in different cultural backgrounds?
Liao Changyong: Vocal music is a type of music that has a direct and close relationship with social and cultural life.
Due to the different ways of language, production, life and emotional expression in different regions, their vocal art also has its own characteristics.
The word "bel canto" comes from Italian, and its original meaning is beautiful singing, which is also the essential feature of vocal art.
What is "good singing"?
I think three points are very important: the sound is beautiful, the expression of the music style is accurate, and the level of expression is rich and varied.
Especially the accurate expression of music style is easy to be overlooked when singing.
Before I sing music works from different countries, I will conduct "big data" analysis.
For example, when performing an opera, you will first read the original opera to understand the creative background and plot of the characters; when singing folk songs, a large number of local folk songs will be collected in advance to clarify the musical style.
Only by truly understanding the work and identifying the color of the sound can there be no deviation in the cross-cultural communication of vocal music.
When I compete or perform abroad, foreigners are surprised: How can a Chinese singer master so many different languages?
In fact, when I was a student, the teacher Mr. Zhou Xiaoyan paid much attention to our lyrics recitation training and language learning.
When singing, I will try my best to recite the lyrics in accurate and standard intonation, and at the same time understand the inner relationship of the pronunciation intonation, and the thoughts and feelings expressed by the lyrics.
Regardless of which country’s music works are sung, they must be “adapted to local conditions”, and the inherent bel canto method cannot be simply applied, but must be actively transformed.
When singing Chinese songs or national operas with Bel Canto, one should also pay attention to the subtle changes in the Chinese intonation itself, as well as the relationship between this change and the tune, and deeply appreciate the beauty of rhythm, making singing a natural chant.
Reporter: In recent years, relatively niche operas, classical music, etc. have frequently "broken the circle" through variety shows, and have received widespread attention. You have also participated deeply in music variety shows.
What kind of transformational and innovative experiences do you think these explorations have brought?
Liao Changyong: The ingenious transformation of different types of art, the deep integration of technology and art, and the use of popular forms of dissemination are the common innovative experiences of these programs.
"Classic Chant Chuan" transforms the classic Chinese poetry culture into beautiful and beautiful pop songs, and the stage performance style is also brilliant because of the use of scientific and technological means, releasing the unique charm and vigorous vitality of traditional Chinese culture.
On the basis of ensuring the quality of the work and the artistic taste, "Sound into the Heart" uses technology to make the stage look new. After the show was broadcast, many young singers became stars, even the number of applicants for the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Both have increased substantially.
Successful music variety shows must first professionally stand the scrutiny of the industry; secondly, the programs are constantly being new in the formulation of the competition system and stage presentation to stimulate the audience’s interest in watching; the youthful vitality of young singers further breaks people’s interest in opera and classical music. The impression of music and Bel Canto’s “cold” approach narrows the distance between the music and the audience.
Facts have proved that high-quality variety shows with both professionalism and innovation can promote the popularization of elegant music.
Not long ago, the opera "Don Juan" was almost full when it was performed in Shanghai, and most of the audience was young people, which was hard to see before.
Cultivate young people's sense of inheritance and innovation through in-depth life
Reporter: As the dean of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, how do you think we should cultivate talents and guide students to achieve inheritance and innovation in the field of music?
Liao Changyong: A school is a place for teaching and educating people.
We must not only continuously improve discipline construction and teaching methods, but also provide young people with opportunities to fully penetrate history and life.
This will cultivate students' sense of inheritance and innovation in a subtle way.
For example, last year, our school organized a new version of "Long March Songs", which has gained a lot.
Many of the Red Army soldiers who participated in the Long March were about the same age as current college students.
The students learn about the history of the Red Army's Long March through performances, which is first and foremost a vivid education of party history.
The creation process of "Long March Group Song" itself is also full of enlightenment.
Composers connected the marching routes of the Long March with different musical styles from different regions. Wherever the Red Army went, the folk songs and local opera elements were integrated into the singing, and the music was expressive.
General Xiao Hua, the author of "Long March Group Songs", was a personal witness of the Long March. The lyrics he wrote flowed from his heart, and his feelings were naturally sincere and moving.
The creation must go to life, to the people, and really make friends with the people, so that the works created will have vitality.
The creation of the new version of "Long March Group Songs" is also learning from the creative spirit and creative methods of the predecessors.
At present, the majors of colleges and universities are very finely divided, and the lack of adequate communication between majors is not conducive to the growth of young people.
Through such a rehearsal, we gathered multiple disciplines from the Orchestral Department, the Folk Music Department, the Vocal Music Department, the Musical Theatre Department, and the School of Digital Media. Teachers and students rehearsed together. In this process, we learned from each other and inspired each other's creativity.
Learn from each other's strengths, not lose their roots, and sing Chinese stories to the world
Reporter: After more than a century of development, Chinese national vocal music has gradually matured, and many artists who are beloved by the audience have emerged.
Facing the future, how can Chinese national vocal music develop better?
Liao Changyong: There are various art forms. When we appreciate a certain work, we are actually looking for its uniqueness.
Modern Chinese vocal music incorporates the singing experience of other cultures such as Bel Canto, but this integration has always been based on the national vocal tradition.
National vocal music cannot lose its "foundation" and "source". It should continue to learn from, absorb, integrate, and innovate on this basis, learn from other singing methods, and develop together.
To better develop national vocal music, professional music education must also be good at learning from the valuable experience.
Today's conservatory students are often divided into majors in Bel Canto and Folk Voice as soon as they enter the school.
At the beginning of the establishment of professional music academies, vocal music students often choose further fields based on their voice conditions and personal interests after a period of study.
In this way, the students not only used the bel canto method to practice sound, but also went to the fields to gather the wind, and they also received the guidance of the folk artists specially invited by the school.
My teacher, Mr. Zhou Xiaoyan, is famous for teaching beauties, but she also teaches students of national vocal music.
Her "foreign singing" did not teach students of ethnic singing into "foreign voices", but retained a strong national charm.
These educational experiences need to be passed on from us.
Reporter: Art knows no borders, especially music has the power to communicate with the soul.
Today, the breadth and depth of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries are constantly expanding.
How to let more audiences have the opportunity to appreciate the richness of Chinese music, and how to use music as a carrier to promote Chinese culture to go global?
Liao Changyong: Once, when I went to a foreign country to participate in an international vocal competition, there were no Chinese songs in the compulsory repertoire, which touched me a lot.
Over the years, I have been doing the work of excavating, organizing and promoting Chinese art songs.
2020 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chinese art songs. We have published "A Collection of Chinese Art Songs in One Hundred Years" (three volumes and nine volumes), which can be used as university textbooks as well as primary and secondary school music education.
In addition, in order to be in line with international standards, each curl set has three tones of midrange, treble, and bass.
Chinese music culture has a long history and has accumulated a large number of classic music works, but these works are often "raised in the ignorance of deep boudoirs."
On the one hand, many works are scattered everywhere, waiting for us to collect and organize systematically; on the other hand, we are actively exploring ways to connect with the world.
Two years ago, I held a special concert in Geneva, Switzerland: each song corresponds to a painting and a calligraphy work. We held a painting exhibition at the concert site at the same time.
There are also two light areas on the stage: one light area is me and a piano, and the other light area focuses on a table, two chairs, Chinese porcelain, calligraphy and painting works.
Before the performance, people can go to the art exhibition, listen to the painter's explanation of the difference between Chinese painting and Western painting, experience the light and dryness of traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy, and the five colors of ink, and feel the rhythm and rhythm of traditional Chinese aesthetics.
This form of performance is very popular with foreign audiences.
The performance was in the cold winter, but the audience did not want to leave for a long time. This is the power of art.
The president of an ancient music publishing house in the world listened to our concert and was deeply shocked and decided to publish the repertoire of this concert.
This is a Chinese-German bilingual art song score with Chinese pronunciation marked with the International Phonetic Alphabet to help foreigners sing Chinese songs in Chinese pronunciation.
The book is also equipped with a QR code, and readers can listen to the standard reading version by scanning the code.
Nowadays, with the improvement of China's international status, more and more foreign friends have a keen interest in Chinese culture.
Both the China International Vocal Competition and the China Art Song International Vocal Competition require contestants to sing at least one Chinese art song.
Art songs have extremely high requirements for the literary nature of the lyrics, and the contestants need to do a lot of homework to sing the charm and artistry in the song.
Through the setting of this link, we have opened a window for foreign friends to have a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.
As the art exchanges between China and foreign countries are getting closer and closer, when we cooperate with foreign countries, we also hope to jointly develop Chinese songs so that foreign friends can sing Chinese songs and Chinese operas in Chinese.
It is the duty of literary and art workers to express the current China with music, show the spiritual outlook of the Chinese people, and tell Chinese stories well.
Interviewer: Liao Changyong (singer, Dean of Shanghai Conservatory of Music) Ren Feifan (Reporter of our newspaper)