Concert Season 24/25 | Virtuoso Series 乐季24/25 | 八音荟萃
By Ming-yen LEE
Pang Kapang’s conducting style is free, bold, and contagious. With over 30 years of experience, Conductor Pang Kapang exudes energy, drive, and youthful innovation. In 2017, he led a group of young musicians to establish the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra. Founded less than a decade ago,this vibrant orchestra is dedicated to supporting young talent and fostering the development of its performers’ music careers across Greater China. Indeed, the works commissioned by the orchestra have greatly expanded the scope of composition for Chinese orchestral music.
Pang Kapang’s collaboration with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra features four Chinese orchestral compositions, all of which were composed after 2000. The composers of these works have made significant breakthroughs in innovative compositional methods, which have had a profound impact on the development of Chinese orchestral compositions. These pieces vividly illustrate Chinese orchestral music’s exploration into “symphonizing the Chinese orchestra”, drawing inspiration from Western symphony orchestras. The distinctive characteristics and developmental trajectory of Chinese orchestra music were gradually defined through adjustments to the orchestra’s structure, reforms in Chinese instruments, and composers’ exploration of the unique sounds, tonal colors, and orchestration of Chinese instruments.
The first piece of the concert, The Clouds, The Mountains, and The Distant Geese, composed in 2005, is a work by composer Wang Danhong. It was composed during her studies at the Central Conservatory of Music. It can be considered Wang Danhong’s debut Chinese orchestral composition. Drawing from Teochew music, the piece beautifully showcases the delicacy and charm of this musical tradition. This concert will also feature Macau Capriccio, composed by Wang Danhong in 2015. Inspired by Macau’s colonial history, the piece incorporates elements of Cantonese music and European folk music. As such, the region’s historical context and diverse musical heritage are marvelously reflected, highlighting its unique fusion of Chinese and Western cultural influences. Wang Danhong is one of the few female composers in the realm of Chinese orchestral music in China. Her musical style not only expresses the subtle emotions associated with femininity but also emphasizes the distinctive regional qualities and the refreshing, enchanting verve of folk music. Drawing on the essence of traditional Chinese orchestral music, her compositions seamlessly integrate folk music elements. Through innovative exploration of musical form, she employs a distinctive harmonic language while skillfully highlighting the unique timbre of Chinese instruments, infusing her work with a contemporary aesthetic.
Dream Interpretation, composed by Liu Changyuan in 2011, is a work that explores the realm of dreams. The composer employs a series of sound patterns to evoke various dreamscapes, blending octatonic scales with word painting, sequences, block chords, and shifts in tonality and mode. These techniques together create rich musical textures, reflecting the subtle shifts and transformations within dream states. Dream Interpretation transcends the musical forms and harmonic structures typical of Chinese orchestral music, forging a new musical vocabulary rooted in traditional elements.
Gan Jiang Mo Ye Fantasia, commissioned by the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra in 2018 and composed by Zhang Zhao, is a symphonic poem that unfolds in a narrative structure, with the music intricately interwoven into the storyline. The composer primarily uses major and minor second intervals across the four movements, developing various scales, melodies, and chords. Zhang Zhao also expertly employs the timbres of Chinese instruments, adding depth and diversity to the work. At times, the music evokes raw, stirringly intense emotions, while at others, it mesmerizes with tenderly poignant melodies. Through the continuous layering of sounds and modulations, the piece is both compelling and exuberantly expressive, resonant with powerful imagery.
The development of the Chinese orchestra spans over 100 years. Since the establishment of the Datong Music Society in 1919, the Chinese orchestra has drawn inspiration from Western orchestras, gradually evolving its own unique style and transforming into its current form. In this concert, conductor Pang Kapang will guide the audience through the past 20 years of the Chinese orchestra’s development, showcasing highly experimental works that illustrate how these compositions retain and deconstruct traditional sounds while conveying the diverse richness of Chinese music. With profound emotion and spirituality, these performances are sure to leave the audience pondering and deeply moved.
文 / 李明晏
彭家鹏的指挥风格洒脱豪放，深具感染力。指挥生涯逾30年的彭家鹏，具有活力、冲劲，以及年轻的思维。彭家鹏于2017年带领一群年轻人组成苏州民族管弦乐团，这个成立不到十年的乐团充满朝气，致力于提携年轻人，推动了大中华地区年轻演奏家的音乐生涯发展，而乐团委约创作的作品，扩展了民族管弦乐团的乐曲创作面向。
彭家鹏此次与新加坡华乐团合作，四首曲目均为2000年后所创作的民族管弦乐作品，这些作曲家们都是在民乐交响化的进程中，在创作手法上有所突破，并对民乐创作产生了深远的影响。本次音乐会曲目皆呈现民族管弦乐团借鉴西方交响乐团之“民乐交响化”的探索历程，透过调整乐团编制、乐器改革，以及作曲家深究民族乐器特有的音响色彩及配器，逐渐确立民乐发展的特点与方向。
音乐会的第一首作品《云山雁邈》，创作于2005年，是作曲家王丹红于中央音乐学院读书时期的作品，可说是王丹红的出道之作。本曲以潮州音乐为素材，精致地呈现潮州音乐的细腻与韵味。本场音乐会，也将演奏王丹红创作于2015年的《澳门随想曲》，此曲运用了广东音乐元素，从澳门的殖民历史出发，融入欧洲民间音乐素材，体现澳门中西文化交融的历史背景和多元音乐风貌。王丹红是中国民族管弦乐领域中为数不多的女性作曲家，她的音乐风格既展现女性的细腻情感，亦凸显民间音乐乡土气息与潇洒爽快的气质。王丹红的作品继承传统华乐的创作特性，经常将民间音乐素材巧妙融入其中，同时，她在乐曲结构、民族乐器特性的展现以及和声语言上进行创新，使其作品更具时代感。
刘长远2011年创作的《梦释》，是一部描绘梦境的作品，作曲家运用一组音型融入在不同梦境中，并结合八声音阶与音画、模进、音块和弦、变化调性与调式等作曲手法，形成丰富的音乐层次，表现出梦境的细腻变化。《梦释》突破传统华乐作品简练的曲式与和声结构，在传统音乐的基础上，创造出全新的音乐语汇。
《干將·莫邪幻想曲》是苏州民族乐团于2018年委约作曲家张朝所创作的作品。整曲以交响诗的叙事形式展开，音乐与故事情节紧密相扣。作曲家在四个乐章中以二度音程为主体，发展出不同的音阶、音型与和弦结构，作曲家亦善于运用民族管弦乐器的音色，让整首作品色彩丰富多变，时而营造激烈的场面，时而展露动人的旋律。透过调性变化不断堆叠的声响，整部作品紧紧扣人心弦，充满画面感。
民族管弦乐团的发展至今已有100多年，自1919年大同乐会成立，民族管弦乐团历经效仿西方管弦乐团，渐渐走出自己的风格，蜕变为现今的模样。在本次的音乐会中，借由这些具有高度实验精神的作品，指挥彭家鹏将为大家呈现民族管弦乐团近20年的发展历程，这些作品如何保留与解构传统音响，并传达出中国音乐不同层次的深厚情感与精神性，相信观众们在音乐会结束后，心中会留下无尽的回味与感动。