Rekik Meditation Chinese Flute and Pipa

Chinese Instrumental - girl trip

Tea Song of Xiang River

Scores from: Choingarsi Guzheng Institute
Date of This Recording: 2014-04-15

樂譜來源:  蔡雅絲古箏學院中二課程
樂曲類型:  古曲
錄音日期:  2014-04-15

Gracious Landing Of The Wild Geese  平沙落雁

Scores from:  The Central Conservatory of Music Examination Pieces for Guzheng, Grades 1-6
Genre:  Hakka Chinese
Date of This Recording: 2014-05-25

Hakkas, or guest families literally, are people who migrated from the yellow river region to southern China  due to the infusion of other ethnic groups into the area., and now mainly live in Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Taiwan and Hainan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.  The Hakkas brought over guzheng music from their home regions, and absorbed the essence of the local music in Guangdong over several hundred years.  Because the settlement in eastern Guangdong is quite remote to other places, the Hakkas has retained much of the pristine guzheng music.

樂譜來源：《中央音樂學院古箏考級曲目 1-6 級》
樂曲類型：漢調箏曲
錄音日期：2014-05-25

客家古筝乐并不是土生土长的广东音乐，而是源于中原地区的传统音乐。 
古时中原地区人口南迁至粤闽一带，外来的中原音乐吸取当地民间音乐精华，经过数百年的发展形成了一个新的器乐品种客家音乐。粤东地区十分闭塞，使得客家筝乐保留了许多中原古乐的特征，至今仍具有古朴典雅的汉乐遗韵。 
客家音乐中有一种以古筝、琵琶、椰胡演奏的“三件头”的表演形式，因风格清新雅致，故名清乐。客家古筝曲就是从汉乐的清乐中分离出来的，因此，常被称为汉乐筝曲。 
客家古筝曲有大调、串调（包括：小调）之分： 
大调类古筝曲结构严谨，作品为规范的六十八板。按现代乐理表述：六十八小节或六十八个重拍。代表曲目：《崖山哀》、《出水莲》、《昭君怨》。 
串调类古筝曲包括广东汉剧的戏曲音乐和民间音乐曲牌。这类乐曲长短不一，结构富于变化。代表曲目：《西厢词》、《平湖》、《蕉窗夜雨》、《翡翠登潭》。   (百度知道節錄)



West Chamber Poem 西廂詞

Chiu Chau, or Chaozhou in Mandarin, is a major genre of Chinese guzheng music.  There are several music scales within Chiu Chau music.  This piece is one of "Heavy Six" type.  In a nutshell, the Heavy Six means that the 4th note is a little higher than normal, and the 7th note is a little lower than normal.  Since this piece is played in the G key, it means that the 4th note would be a little higher than C, and the 7th note would be a little lower than F#.

The piece consists of 4 sections.  The 2nd to last sections are variations of the 1st section's melody.  This style of variation is quite common in Chiu Chau music.

This is a difficult piece for me, even though I learned it many years ago.   There are some glitches in the last section, which will serve as a reminder for me to improve.

Scores from: Choi Nga Si Guzheng Institute
Date of This Recording: 2014-07-15

樂譜來源：蔡雅絲古箏學院中二課程
樂曲類型：潮洲民間樂曲
編曲：郭鷹
錄音日期：2014-07-15


Thoughts In Autumn 秋思曲

The placement of the microphone was changed in this recording. Since my instrument was facing the wall, the microphone had been placed about 2 meters behind me.  This time, however, I moved it forward to 1 meter at compass bearing of 250 degrees relative to my body.  I have also changed the recording volume from "default" to "medium" since one to two recordings ago.  The recorded sound now seems to be less fuzzy, and I can hear the replay clearly even with the computer monitor's built-in loud speaker.

Translation of music title is part of the fun.  In order to understand the original title better, I google around to find explanations in plain Chinese language as well as other musicians' interpretation.  Then, if I cannot think of a good translation by myself, the web knowledge is borrowed again.  In this case, "Gild The Lily" seems to best fit the title metaphorically.

The photo is of a Class 1 military officer's Rank Badge in early 15th Century.  The woven or embroidered badges were usually of the finest workmanship, and metal (gold and silver) threads were often used.   More information on Rank Badge is explained in this link from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1988.154.1

Scores from: Choingarsi Guzheng Institute
Date of This Recording: 2014-07-21

樂譜來源：蔡雅絲古箏學院中三課程
樂曲類型：潮州箏曲
錄音日期：2014-07-21


Gild The Lily 錦上花

The title of this music may be a bit odd, but it is a literal translation.  In the old days when there was no postal service, one way to deliver letters was to use birds.  If you feel the title doesn't relate to the music, just treat it as an untitled piece.

Scores from:  Choi Ngar Si Guzheng Institute
Date of This Recording: 2014-08-05

“鸿雁传书”的典故，出自《汉书•苏武传》中“苏武牧羊”的故事。据载，汉武帝天汉元年（公元前100年），汉朝使臣中郎将苏武出使匈奴被鞮侯单于扣留，他英勇不屈，单于便将他流放到北海（今贝加尔湖）无人区牧羊。19年后，汉昭帝继位，汉凶和好，结为姻亲。汉朝使节来凶，要求放苏武回去，但单于不肯，却又说不出口，便谎称苏武已经死去。后来，汉昭帝又派使节到匈奴，和苏武一起出使匈奴并被扣留的副使常惠，通过禁卒的帮助，在一天晚上秘密会见了汉使，把苏武的情况告诉了汉使，并想出一计，让汉使对单于讲：“汉朝天子在上林苑打猎时，射到一只大雁，足上系着一封写在帛上的信，上面写着苏武没死，而是在一个大泽中。”汉使听后非常高兴，就按照常惠的话来责备单于。单于听后大为惊奇，却又无法抵赖，只好把苏武放回。

有关“鸿雁传书”，民间还流传着另一个故事。唐朝薛平贵远征在外，妻子王宝钏苦守寒窑数十年矢志不移。有一天，王宝钏正在野外挖野菜，忽然听到空中有鸿雁的叫声，勾起她对丈夫的思念。动情之中，她请求鸿雁代为传书给远征在外的薛平贵，但是荒郊野地哪里去寻笔墨？情急之下，她便撕下罗裙，咬破指尖，用血和泪写下了一封思念夫君、盼望夫妻早日团圆的书信，让鸿雁捎去。

以上两则“鸿雁传书”的故事已经流传了千百年，而“鸿雁传书”也就渐渐成了邮政通信的象征了。
(節錄自“飛象百科”)

樂譜來源：蔡雅絲古箏學院中二課程
樂曲類型：山東箏曲，項斯華演奏譜
錄音日期：2014-08-05


Swan Goose Delivers The Letter 鴻雁捎書

高山流水(古筝曲)

The cloud water of zen guzheng 云水禅心 古筝  The cloud water of zen guzheng handwork of zen guzheng this is a buddhist music music very volley warmth rising and falling pure and fresh and elegant, be worth collect carefully appreciate! Sedative yangxin

The cloud water of zen guzheng 云水禅心 古筝

Spirit Dance

A perpetual learner of music in search of the world's fine voices and to share his passion.

Unless specifically stated, all tracks are covers played by myself.  Most cover photos are borrowed from Google images.

Gild The Lily 錦上花

guzhengman