Favorite living players

[SCWGuqin]

Why don't we all exchange a few thoughts on our favorite living qin players, and what we like about them.

While I appreciate (and hope to learn) a range of styles, two masters I consistently cite are LXT and Wu Wenguang.

LXT is very well-known these days, and might well be remembered as one of the most important qin players of the 20th/21st centuries. His contributions are twofold: (1) for traditional pieces, an extremely energetic and rigorous (even 'athletic', perhaps) style, and (2) improvisation. The latter is easy to dispose of: amazing, and critical. As for the former, while I don't think he's the most flexible qin player out there, I do appreciate the new perspectives that hardness, angularity, and speed give to the music. LXT's style is very dignified, and to my mind very intellectual. That said, I do sometimes find myself impatient with his unrelenting speed and hardness.

Wu Wenguang is not so well-known, which I think is a shame. I think he may be more technically perfect than any other player today, and is extremely broad in his conception, encompassing a complete range of speeds, dynamics, and moods. I especially appreciate the experimental qualities of his music, which repeatedly violate (my? the 'audience's'?) expectations. There's some truly visionary stuff in his corpus, shocking in its beauty, starkness, and softness by turns. I suspect that his approach is to focus purely on the musical line and its possibilities, stripping away references to mundane time (with unpredictable rhythms) and ordinary perspectives on the pieces.

CCC: Didn't you say at some point that Gong Yi was learning from WWG?

I think WWG demonstrates, like LXT, that a given 'tradition' doesn't have to speak with only one voice: while the 'traditional received wisdom' posits a single acceptable mood or meaning for each piece, these players take those pieces into very unusual places. While some of their inspiration may well be Western (more on that another time) there's nothing fundamentally 'un-Chinese' about the result. In my view (which I can argue if we wish), experimentation, 'pushing the envelope', and extreme energy have deep roots in Daoism and are essential to a complete conception of traditional Chinese thought.

[davidbadagnani]

utmostvacuity2 said:

Wu Wenguang is not so well-known, which I think is a shame. I think he may be more technically perfect than any other player today, and is extremely broad in his conception, encompassing a complete range of speeds, dynamics, and moods. I especially appreciate the experimental qualities of his music, which repeatedly violate (my? the 'audience's'?) expectations. There's some truly visionary stuff in his corpus, shocking in its beauty, starkness, and softness by turns. I suspect that his approach is to focus purely on the musical line and its possibilities, stripping away references to mundane time (with unpredictable rhythms) and ordinary perspectives on the pieces.

Do you know the video clip of him at the end of the British documentary on Chinese music, "No. 17 Cotton Mill Shanghai Blues"? I don't know what song he's playing but it's very forceful, and delivered with great, strong emotion. I never knew that the qin could be played in such a strong way; on big speakers the sound is truly overwhelming.

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008VFC7/102-4042702-9901704?v=glance&n=130

There's also some good footage of pipa, Suzhou tanci, Xinjiang Uighur music, Beijing opera, etc.

[blueharp]

For beauty of tone Gong Yi. His methods are not to everyone's taste, but he manages to yield a ravishing result. I can appreciate his efforts to bring the guqin forward in time and have it join the ranks of other more "popular" instruments, even though one of my primary attractions to the instrument is its antiquity.

For improvisation Li Xiangting. I had the privilege of hearing him improvise in concert upon themes/poetry suggested by the audience and the results were truly remarkable.

Wu Wenguang is apparently the "best of the best" according to a Chinese friend of mine. I like what she said: he and the qin are one and when he plays the instrument isn't separate - it is a part of him.

I have a vcd that features him playing Yiguren. The first time I heard it I was completely enraptured. He manages to convincingly convey reminiscing about friends long gone.

[Charlie Huang]

Well, of course WWG is good; his father was Wu Jinglue who taught him to play qin. I honestly haven't heard any of WWG recordings, though by the looks of it, I'll have to find a CD of his, quick!

I like GY's rendition of XXSY, it really makes my heart skip a beat whenever I hear/see him play it.

And like everyone said; LXT's improvisations are second to none.

[Charlie Huang]

Also like to add Zeng Chengwei. His playing is very light and not show-offy. His best piece is probably Pei Lan [admiring the orchid]; his will is towards the instrument and nothing else.

[sanmenxia]

davidbadagnani said:

utmostvacuity2 said:

Wu Wenguang is not so well-known, which I think is a shame. I think he may be more technically perfect than any other player today, and is extremely broad in his conception, encompassing a complete range of speeds, dynamics, and moods. I especially appreciate the experimental qualities of his music, which repeatedly violate (my? the 'audience's'?) expectations. There's some truly visionary stuff in his corpus, shocking in its beauty, starkness, and softness by turns. I suspect that his approach is to focus purely on the musical line and its possibilities, stripping away references to mundane time (with unpredictable rhythms) and ordinary perspectives on the pieces.

Do you know the video clip of him at the end of the British documentary on Chinese music, "No. 17 Cotton Mill Shanghai Blues"? I don't know what song he's playing but it's very forceful, and delivered with great, strong emotion. I never knew that the qin could be played in such a strong way; on big speakers the sound is truly overwhelming.

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008VFC7/102-4042702-9901704?v=glance&n=130

There's also some good footage of pipa, Suzhou tanci, Xinjiang Uighur music, Beijing opera, etc.

I think the piece is Guangling San, although the programme only shows the last part after the harmonics section. I've still got the programme on video somewhere, taped from Channel 4, there was also a book that accompanied the series. I agree the performance has great emotional impact, it's playing from the heart. I've got a CD by him in the JVC World Sounds series.

[Si]

I think the piece is Guangling San, although the programme only shows the last part after the harmonics section. I've still got the programme on video somewhere, taped from Channel 4, there was also a book that accompanied the series. I agree the performance has great emotional impact, it's playing from the heart. I've got a CD by him in the JVC World Sounds series.

How to get hold of the book I wonder?

My fav qin CD is Autumn Aria by Cheng Gong liang - not sure how famous etc he is but I just love this CD more than the others for some reason.

Strange but I hate the sound from the ROI album called "Liu gu qin yun" by Chen Yue cong. Is it because of the type of Qin? Seems too sharp and twangy...

[sanmenxia]

syburn said:

I've still got the programme on video somewhere, taped from Channel 4, there was also a book that accompanied the series.

How to get hold of the book I wonder?

You prob have to get it secondhand, you could try ebay...I don't have it with me at the moment, it'll prob take me ages to find it in all the stuff (junk) I've got. Anyway the programme was just one part of the series about music from various different countries called "Beats of the Heart", and it's only one chapter in the book. And there's really nothing in the book that isn't in the programme.

[carol]

My favorite qin player is Zhao Jiazhen, especially her GuangLing san. She might be too young compare to the other masters mentioned.

I also admire LXT and have been followed his teaching when I learned guqin. However, his music makes me unease. I could always feel the heart of an ambitious king.

[SCWGuqin]

Carol: can you recommend some Zhao Jiazhen recordings? They seem to be somewhat few/hard to find. I think I've heard her play in "ambient/new age" settings, and her sound/sensitivity was indeed outstanding. I got a similar feeling when listening to Liu Li's performance in Hero: "why aren't there any CDs of her??" Those two are definitely among the torchbearers of the generation born after 1950. Hopefully when I'm in NYC next year I'll be able to learn from Liu Li.

Regarding WWG recordings, I think the best ones are "Sunny Spring" (Yang Chun) and "Master of Ku-Chin WU Wen-Kuang" (Guqin Dashi Wu Wenguang). His Chen Xi CD, which I tentatively transliterate as "Qin Tong Sai Ying", has his complete 19-minute Guangling San: an incredible achievement. WWG can sometimes be a little hard to listen to, or difficult to understand, which is why I can't recommend all his CDs for a first listen.

[carol]

In deed, Zhao Jiazhen's CD is very hard to find. The only one I have is her album "Mei Hua San Nong". The Guanling San in this recording is not up to the level from her concert I saw.

I'm also looking for more of her CDs.

[Si]

I wonder how so many of you have so many views on the various performers? I have only had the chance to see one qin performance ever (I have seen loads of trad chinese concertos though).

Do these players perform more in the USA or UK than in China do you think.

Or are are most of your perceptions based on CD's. I have loads of CD's of different players but I cant imagine forming so many views just on a few CDs.

[SCWGuqin]

I would have assumed the situation was the opposite. Recordings allow you to scrutinize the music in depth and to listen to it over and over, comparing with other recordings.