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Post by davidbadagnani on Apr 7, 2006 5:08:05 GMT
Whoah -- speaking of Chinese and Carnatic music, here are two of the best bowed string players together: Jiebing Chen and L. Subramaniam. I think you have to click to listen to the whole program's MP3 then scroll until you find the Chen/Subramaniam track. www.bowed.org/ |
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Post by davidmdahl on Apr 7, 2006 5:38:40 GMT
That is great! Thanks, David. I managed to right-click on the "download" link and grab the whole 44 MB file. The Subramaniam and Jiebing Chen segment starts a few seconds after 14 minutes.
That is definitely a link worth saving.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by davidbadagnani on Apr 7, 2006 5:42:05 GMT
What Indian musicians have told me about L. Subramaniam's participation in these kind of performances, what Indians call "jugalbandhi" (usually North Indian-South Indian duo fusion performances) is that his ultra-notey style of playing is almost meant to leave little doubt that Carnatic music is superior in virtuosity to all other musics in the world! :-)
By the way, Chen is reputed to be the first erhu player to make a recording with an Indian musician--I think her duo CD with V. M. Bhatt.
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Post by davidmdahl on Apr 7, 2006 5:53:45 GMT
Yes, the Carnatic style is rather busy. I prefer North Indian, although I do enjoy both styles.
I am familiar with the CD Tabula Rasa, but I would consider it a trio since it includes the wonderful Bela Fleck. Is that the recording you mean, or is there another I must buy?
Best wishes,
David
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Post by davidbadagnani on Apr 7, 2006 5:58:29 GMT
I think "Tabula Rasa" is the one.
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Post by SCWGuqin on Aug 18, 2006 19:53:25 GMT
I'm encountering difficulty with that website, but I think I know the track you're talking about. "Blue Lotus", from LSub's Global Fusion CD. You may find his style "notey", but the thing to notice is just how completely he blows the Chen out of the water in musicality, taste, and imagination. Listen to the beginning section, when he's playing more slowly. Unbelievable senstivity, and atmosphere. There are points where his faster improvisations become so structural, so driving, so intelligent that they render the erhu almost meaningless. Maybe it was unfair of LSub to arrange the piece this way, but he does give Chen a chance for fast improvisation. She can't do anything near what he can do, and again not just in terms of notes. It's tracks like this that, to my ear, demonstrate the technical and artistic limitations of the erhu.
[cough], OK, that was definitely biased. What does everyone think? How does the erhu reply to the overwhelming superiority of Carnatic violin? ;D Please take this as a constructive invitation. I've had to grapple with similar questions about the guqin for years.
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Post by davidmdahl on Aug 18, 2006 21:11:15 GMT
[cough] indeed. <g> I am not in a position to listen to the selection in question, so I don't know if I agree or not, but there are a few factors working against Ms. Chen. Regarding the instruments, the erhu is simply a more limited instrument than the four-string violin. I think that the erhu is particularly wonderful for Chinese and other SE Asian music, and even some non-Asian music. But some music takes a lot of virtuosity to sell on the erhu. Another factor is that improvisation is much more of a tradition in Indian music. Chinese music seems to be more of a collection of set-pieces that are all performed in about the same way. The kind of virtuosity that is typical of Carnatic music is really a different aesthetic and tradition than I think of as the best in expressive Chinese music.
Frankly, I think that Ms. Chen should be commended for stepping out of the typical erhu-comfort zone and explore. Surely we do not really need more recordings of ErQuan Ying Yue and Sai Ma.
Maybe I will have more or different things to write after I have had a chance to listen to Blue Lotus.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by piglittle on Jun 14, 2010 1:22:54 GMT
Blue Lotus is beautiful - enough said
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Post by song on Jun 14, 2010 3:25:30 GMT
I agree with David. Traditional Chinese musicians are significantly weaker in improvisation than jazz/blues/carnatic musicians. You give her the score of what L.Sub is playing I'm sure she can play as well. But if left to her own devices she fades in the background with her repeating riffs.
SW
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