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Introduction to the “Music Along the Silk Road · Echoes of the Tang Dynasty” Concert

Overview

The history of ancient Chinese music is often described as a "silent history." Our general music histories and textbooks largely remain theoretical, and the true sound of ancient Chinese music remains elusive. This unique cultural situation is unseen in regions with continuous musical traditions like Europe, America, Japan, or India. Does this mean ancient China lacked music and dance? Clearly not – records of ritual music in historical texts, images of music and dance on unearthed artifacts, and musician-sculptures in Buddhist grottoes all vividly depict a rich and brilliant musical culture.

This "silence" stems primarily from three factors: the historical disruption in the form of ancient instruments, the large-scale loss of traditional music scores, and the breakdown of the audio transmission system. It was not until the 20th century that Tang Dynasty music score copies reappeared in the Dunhuang Scripture Cave, 8th-century Tang musical instruments preserved in Japan’s Shōsōin Repository were successively replicated, and music and dance motifs in grotto murals and unearthed relics along the Silk Road were continuously deciphered. After nearly a century of research and exploration, the mysterious veil of Tang Dynasty music is being gradually lifted by modern scholars.

Artistic Features

This concert is a Tang Dynasty music reconstruction project aimed at restoring the original historical appearance. Based on the achievements in ancient score transcription and interpretation by generations of scholars since the 20th century, it constructs a multifaceted stage presentation through the restoration of ancient musical instruments and historical document research. To recreate the elegance of the Tang Dynasty a thousand years ago, we abandon modern music creation techniques and adopt academic arrangements strictly in accordance with the melodic framework and rhythmic rules of existing ancient scores, striving to achieve the artistic effect of "mutual verification of music and history."

The live performance will construct a historical soundscape through three dimensions: melodic lines deciphered from Dunhuang ancient scores, instrumental ensembles reconstructed from Shōsōin instruments, and orchestra formations verified by grotto murals. Multimedia technology uses high-precision reproductions of statues and murals to build a 3D dynamic space of Tang Dynasty music and dance, immersing the audience in the aesthetic realm of the Tang people — "with qin and se zithers playing, all is peaceful and serene." This experimental historical music reconstruction may pioneer the construction of an audio database for ancient Chinese music, providing a reference acoustic sample system for the academia.

曲目单 Repertoire list

碣石调·幽兰 Jieshi Diao · You Lan

急胡相问. Ji Hu Xiang Wen

伊州 Yizhou

水鼓子 Shui Gu Zi

急曲子·IJi Qu Zi · I

长沙女引 Changsha Nv Yin

急曲子·IIJi Qu Zi · II

又慢曲子·西江月YouMan Qu Zi · Xi Jiang Yue

急曲子·IIIJi Qu Zi · III

倾杯乐 Qing Bei Yue

石上流泉 Shi Shang Liu Quan

*Final program is subject to change.