Music #78 - Chinese Classical (9)

48.《霸王卸甲》The Overlord Unarms

pipa concerto 
- part 1   - part 2

2200 yeas ago in China, overlord Prince of Chu (楚王项羽) and rival Prince of Han (汉王刘邦) signed a truce treaty.  As the Chu army withdrew, the Han army launched a surprise and fatal raid.
   
This concerto is about the Prince of Chu losing his last battle.  In section 11 of 16, he sadly bid Concubine Yu farewell, who was both a beauty and a warrior, accompanying him from battles to battles.  She killed herself after her sword dance performance.

In the last section, peace was restored; the Han army was going home (with the head of the Prince of Chu who also killed himself, and with the Chu troops dead all over the battlefield).  



49.《十面埋伏》Ambush from All Sides

* pipa concerto
The concerto is from the perspective of the Prince of Han, finishing off his strong rival Prince of Chu once and for all.

Han's chief commander, Han Xin, divided 300,000 into ten armies to form ten coupled ambushes.



50.《夜深沈》In the Dark of Night- Beijing Opera Music 京剧曲牌

项羽 虞姬

Overlord Prince of Chu was being defeated by Prince Han.  His beloved Concubine Yu performed a sword dance for him 'in the dark of night', before she cut her own throat, so that she would not be a burden to his next escape attempt.

* jinghu / 京胡

* guzheng (ancient zither) /古箏

51.《夕陽簫鼓》Sunset Flute and Drum

--- renamed 《春江花月夜》Spring River serenade

* pipa  (with beautiful scenery video)

* pipa-guzheng duet 

* Chinese orchestra

         
                               
            

52.《將軍令》General’s Mandate 

* solo guzheng 

* 1 drum + 9 guzhengs  

* piano concerto  

* adapted in Once Upon a Time in China movie /「男兒當自強」主題曲

 

古箏

53.《阳春白雪》Bright Spring, White Snow     

Please note the finger skills playing this well-known piece on pipa, whilst visualizing early spring’s sunshine on white snow. 

54.《龙图公案》-


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Extra:

 erhu / 二胡

《二泉映月》Moon Shadow in the Second Spring

- Erhu is 2-stringed Chinese violin

  

According to the legend, the famous tea master LU Yu (陸羽) in the Tang dynasty tried out the spring waters of China, and ranked the top ten springs according to the quality of tea they made. The spring that was ranked second is now in a park to the west of Wuxi city (无锡市).

 * 天下十大名泉            * 天下第二泉                         

This piece of sad music was put together by a blind beggar (named 华彦钧), who practiced erhu next to this spring at night.

* by the original composer

* erhu concerto 

* solo singer
This music uses a 'fish-biting-tail melody': a school of fish, with the tail of one fish in the mouth of the following fish.  That is, the first tone of one phrase is made the same as the last tone of a previous phrase.   樂曲的樂句之間環環相接，連綿不絕，比較典型的[魚咬尾旋律]: 前一句旋律的結束和下一句旋律的第一個音相同的結構。