“愿与欧美人竞技”——“中国故事:大地之歌——叶小纲与底特律交响乐团音乐会”听后

My Impression of the Concert ″China Story″ of Ye Xiaogang's The Songs of the Earth with Detroit Symphony Orchestra

记得几年前,曾有专家提出：＂要在音乐创作上提倡本土化的创作,防止贵族化和低俗化的倾向.＂①对于这个建议,笔者举双手赞成.目前国内的专业音乐界、流行音乐界的确有一部分作品似乎占据了这两个极端——要么曲高和寡、不知所云、演完一次后便被束之高阁,要么一味迎合市场和受众、在艺术上一览无余、极力通过音乐以外的文章来赚取关注,在某种程度上让原本对音乐艺术颇为敬仰的受众无所适从.

I remember that a few years ago, an expert suggested that ″ indigenized music composition should be encouraged and aristocratic and vulgar trends should be prevented.″ I fully agree to his proposal. Among those works of today's professional musicians and pop music stars, there do exist a few ones which reach the two extremes: either so highbrowed and meaningless that it disappears into oblivion soon after their premieres, or artistically shallow, intentionally catering to the demands of the markets and the audience, and trying to attract attention by deliberately publishing articles on subjects other than music, to the extent that the audience who have shown high respect to the art of music find themselves helpless in facing such music. Luckily, the three pieces of Ye Xiaogang presented in the Concert entitled ″ China Story″ of Ye Xiaogang's The Songs of the Earth with Detroit Symphony Orchestra at New York's Lincoln Center on September 22, 2013, namely, ″ Twilight of the Himalayas″(20122013), ″The Last Paradise″(1993) and ″The Song of the Earth″(completed edition, 2005), did respond to that expert's suggestion, and in addition to the effect that it provides the American audience ″ access to more understanding of Chinese culture and education″, they seemingly intended to make the Chinese music compete with the European and the American. I noticed that the concert ended with the majority of the audience rising to their feet for a standing ovation. In my view, rising for applause at the end of a concert show represents a high tribute that the audience pay to the concert and its music. Ye Xiaogang as a composer is well-known in China but he has had no such popularity in the United States so far. Why did the concert enjoy so much acclaim from both the American and Chinese audience then? The reason is, in my opinion, that apart from the beautiful title of concert ″ China Story″, it engaged the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as well as such celebrated artists and new stars as Lin Zhaoliang, Measha Brueggergosman, Shi Yijie, Yuan Chenye and Liu Kun, with effective promotions and preparations, and more significantly, the music is mostly lyrical taking the universally accepted form of symphony. In other words, to the majority of the audience, it is not important as to what music elements, techniques, textures and aesthetic views the composer has applied eventually in the three works. What really matters is that the music itself touches every audience at the concert.