From the practice of foreign exchange, why do you want to play foreign songs with Zheng?

Author: Zhao Bonan Guzheng has been developing continuously since it came into being. It can even be said that the history of guzheng is the history of development and change. Our Oriental Women's Guzheng New Zheng Orchestra has been working hard in this respect. The appearance of new guzheng is of great significance to the development of guzheng. It completely inherits the advantages of guzheng, but also makes up for many defects of guzheng. The new guzheng is very powerful. It can not only play all the guzheng works, but also deal with many works that could not be completed by the original guzheng, such as playing many foreign works. At the same time, Wang Tianyi also introduced various forms of performance, which greatly enriched the art of guzheng. Some people are more conservative, thinking that it is of little significance for Zheng to play foreign works. Here I will use my own performance experience to illustrate this problem. No matter from Wang Tianyi's artistic theory or the performance practice of our new oriental women's guzheng orchestra, playing foreign music with guzheng is not entirely the focus of guzheng development. As far as the creation of our orchestra is concerned, this adaptation of foreign famous songs accounts for a small proportion, and more are original works that conform to our China characteristics. However, this does not mean that "playing foreign songs with Zheng" is not important. Teacher Wang Tianyi put forward the grand goal of "making the world play the guzheng", so there must be some steps and means to achieve this goal. Personally, I think playing foreign songs with Zheng is more of a display of foreign exchange. In addition, being able to play some famous foreign works is also a functional display. Judging from our many overseas performances and our performances in different countries, this exhibition is the most effective means to promote mutual understanding between artists of different nationalities, show friendship to foreign audiences, and enable foreign audiences to quickly accept Zheng musical instruments psychologically and then China culture. For example, we are in Dominica, Cuba, Ireland and South Korea ... Every time we play our own or national music, it will cause a great sensation. Although foreign audiences will also feel the beauty of China's music, the great differences in culture, race, psychology, religion and way of thinking make it impossible for them to deeply understand China's excellent works at once, and at the same time, there will inevitably be some obstacles in the process of accepting China's culture. However, when we played their music, they immediately got excited, which further strengthened their understanding of China culture and made them accept the culture and art of China. We visited Cuba with national leaders and performed at the National Grand Theatre of Cuba. When we played "The Girl at Guantanamo Bay", thousands of audiences stood up and sang in unison. The atmosphere reached a climax, and the applause of the audience almost lifted the roof. This effect can't be achieved even if you play hundreds of "Mountains and Rivers". In Cuba, we were warmly welcomed by everyone, highly praised by the leaders of China and Cuba, and fully affirmed and praised by the embassy. This is inseparable from the reaction of the masses, and the reaction of the masses is also related to whether we can play our own music. In Ireland, the Irish President has heard us play many times, but only after listening to the famous Irish song "The Last Rose in Summer" did she really become interested in this ancient instrument and learned to play it. Later, when she appreciated the soul of Hongshan, she was able to further try to understand the cultural connotation of her works. I think, without the introduction of The Last Rose in Summer, she might not have such a profound understanding of the soul of Hongshan. In Yemen, because of different religions, different cultural backgrounds and even different eating habits, Yemenis are not very friendly to us who are new here. Teacher Wang Tianyi was keenly aware of this, and once he improvised a local music. Immediately, the expression of the local officials who received us was different. A waiter who served us next to us danced to the music first, and then the Yemenis present also jumped to the music. The atmosphere immediately became friendly and warm. We were all very surprised at that time. As a believer, I don't know when Mr. Wang Tianyi created works in Arabic style. Later, he told us that he heard some local music melodies on his way to Yemen, so he improvised a song. Without enough artistic standards, this kind of improvisation, especially the creation of exotic works, is out of the question. Everyone admires Mr. Wang Tianyi's artistic skills. After this impromptu performance, the Yemeni side is more enthusiastic about us, and the daily hospitality is meticulous. Exaggerated, it is far from the old days. Because of this performance, they regard us as friends from the heart. When we left Yemen, we received various precious gifts from them. It is said that we are the only group of China people who are treated like this by Yemenis. Even the well-informed embassy staff expressed surprise at this. I told him that this is the power of art. At the Budapest International Art Festival, we met countless similar things. Our orchestra often performs abroad, and has more contact with foreign artists and foreign audiences, and it is deeply felt. Examples like the above are simply too numerous to mention. In my opinion, when facing foreigners, playing your own works is a kind of respect for them, which is much more meaningful than inviting him to dinner. Last year, Horatio Franco, a famous Mexican flute player, and Picara Flores, a double bass player, performed in China and held a concert "Ode to China-Mexico Friendship". We performed together. Aurelio Franco played China's tune "Partridge Flying", and I improvised guzheng accompaniment, which achieved very good results. If you often go abroad to communicate, you will find it very meaningful to perform in a country or communicate with foreign musicians and be able to play the music works of the other nation or race. Therefore, the practical significance of playing foreign songs with Zheng is very significant, and it is not as simple as imagined. We should discuss art issues from a higher angle and a broader thinking space, so as to better carry forward our national art.