The following is a guest post from Richard L. Jones, Music Librarian, Barbican Music Library:
To celebrate East and South East Asian Heritage Month, which takes place every September, Barbican Music Library hosted a workshop entitled Silk and Bamboo Music. It featured Cheng Yu (pipa – 4 stringed lute) and Li Ming (bamboo flutes). Silk and bamboo music is a popular genre of traditional Chinese music typically of southeast China near Shanghai and south of the Yangzi River. In former times, strings were made of silk and flutes were made of bamboo, hence ‘silk and bamboo’ refers to string and wind music.
The musicians introduced the history, characters and techniques of several kinds of instruments which, as well as the pipa and bamboo flute, included the erhu fiddle, hulusi gourd flute and the guqin or qin, an unfretted 7-stringed zither. In addition, they provided copies of an easy Chinese folk song which gave the attendees an opportunity to sing along to the music with a text in the Chinese language. The event was very successful, and the young children couldn’t resist the temptation to dance along to the vibrant music!
The performers are members of the UK Chinese Ensemble (UKCE), a dedicated professional Chinese music organisation comprising renowned Chinese virtuosi resident mainly in Britain. The ensemble has performed at major venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Royal Opera House, and it has provided the music for soundtracks including Shanghai Noon and the BBC’s documentary series, Wild China.
Richard L. Jones
(Music Librarian, Barbican Music Library)