Chapter 596: Suona Sounds, Hundreds of Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix (Part 2)
"That's called a suona! It's a wind instrument with a very long history. It's one of the oldest instruments in China. Do you understand?"
“But it’s so ugly.”
Edmund said meaningfully, "That's because you haven't heard the sound it makes."
"What's wrong with the sound?"
“…Listen for yourself.”
"Well, what is that thing that Hamasaki Naohara is holding in his arms?"
Edmund glanced towards the stage.
"Shamisen?" Jiang Fuyue raised an eyebrow. "As expected of the king of musical instruments from Country R. It looks pretty good."
Hamasaki Naohara raised his eyes, his gaze fell directly on her hands, and said in a calm tone: "Your suona is also very special."
Their eyes met, and then separated.
The judges announced the start of the "Exchange".
The two men first lowered their heads to check the instruments in their hands.
Naohara Hamasaki plucked the strings to test the sound, while Jiang Fuyue checked the suona's core.
The traditional suona consists of five parts: whistle, air plate, ingot, pole and bowl, among which the "core" is the most important.
The core of the traditional suona is a single-tube type. In the last century, Mr. Guo Yazhi, a famous wind instrument player, invented the suona's "live core" device, which enabled the traditional suona to play chromatic and twelve-tone systems.
The expressiveness of the suona is thus enriched.
Twenty years ago, a reclusive performer named "Qitan Yingyue" invented a way of playing "Thousand-Handed Bodhi" based on the "living core" device.
Judging from the existing audio materials, this playing method can not only temporarily change semitones or semitone scales, but also use the suona as a high semitone transposing instrument without changing the fingering.
What’s even more amazing is that he effectively adjusted and corrected the tiny deviations in the interval relationship caused by the advancement of the “live core” by controlling the strength of his mouth.
The performance was perfect!
Unfortunately, Qi Tan Yingyue has disappeared for twenty years since he left behind that legendary audio clip, and no further performances of his have been released since then.
Judge White felt melancholy for a moment as he looked at the suona in Jiang Fuyue's hand.
He was fortunate enough to listen to the audio clip and was deeply shocked at the time. During his stay in China, he always wanted to visit this Qi Tan Yingyue.
pity……
"Mr. White?" the person next to him reminded in a low voice.
He finally collected his thoughts and picked up the microphone: "Now, please ask the two performers to announce the repertoire."
Naohara Hamasaki: “The piece I will perform is - ‘Kanda Festival’.”
Jiang Fuyue put it succinctly: "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix."
White: "I declare the performance officially begins."
Naohara Hamasaki's eyes flashed, and he raised his hand to pluck the strings.
Almost at the same time, Jiang Fuyue sank his Qi into his Dantian and blew out the first note...
As the suona sounds, the sound waves suddenly arise, without any preparation at all, it is the loudest auditory baptism.
It immediately drowned out the sound of Hamasaki Naohara's piano.
"Fuck! What do you mean by making a first move? This is it!"
"As the saying goes, among all musical instruments, the suona is the king. It either ascends to heaven or is worshipped in the hall - today I finally witnessed it."
"Is it the suona that says, 'When the music starts, the cloth is spread, and the whole village, young and old, waits for the food to be served, some walking, some carrying, and a cloud of white follows behind them?'"
"Don't worry, there's more to come—the coffin will be lifted and buried, relatives and friends will cry, firecrackers will be set off, suona will be played, the coffin will be carried in front, and people will chase after it."
"Oh my god, Sister Yue is amazing!"
“No wonder some people say, ‘The pipa lasts a thousand years, the zheng lasts ten thousand years, but the suona changes life once it sounds!’”
"Not only that! The first time I hear the suona, I don't understand its meaning, but the second time I hear it, I feel like I'm in a coffin."
Although suona is often used to play sad music, "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" is not sad. On the contrary, its melody is passionate and cheerful, showing the vibrant scene of nature.
After starting with a melodious tune, the suona begins to imitate the calls of various birds, such as cuckoo, turtledove, quail, swallow, owl, quail, etc.
The fingering changes are incredibly fast and the variations are gorgeous, and every note seems to be leaping with the breath of spring.
Even foreigners who don’t know what “A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” means feel as if they are there, immersed in the singing of thousands of birds.
Then there was another show of tremolo skills, the spring scenery became more and more beautiful, and then the melody began to become gentle and beautiful, the tone was flat and slow, and a pastoral scene slowly unfolded before everyone's eyes.
The stage seemed to have become Jiang Fuyue's own stage, and everyone else had become her audience.
In front of the king of sounds, the suona, the brilliance of the shamisen, which is mainly characterized by graceful and clear sounds, is completely overshadowed. Occasionally, when a high note is encountered, it will only make people feel harsh and abrupt.
Below the stage, Hu Yongwei smiled and nodded slowly.
The music teacher who was watching from the side was stunned.
The Huaxia representative's initially nervous expression gradually subsided. He turned to Hu Yongwei and said, "No. 1 High School is indeed one of the top three key high schools in Linhuai. Not only do they have top students with outstanding academic performance, they also have such talented art students."
Although he had never learned to play the suona, he had attended many concerts and could naturally tell the student's level.
To be honest, it was no different from the famous performers he had heard at the Imperial Capital Theatre.
Hu Yongwei smiled so hard that his wrinkles formed on his face when he heard this: "She's not an art student..."
"What? Not an art student? That... is a shame."
"Not a pity, not at all," Hu Yongwei smiled and shook his head, "because her academic performance is even better than her performance."
The representative was shocked.
Second update, 2,000 words.
The third update is being written and will be updated when it is finished. You can read it tomorrow morning.
(End of this chapter)
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