This paper expounds and analyzes the national characteristics of Autumn Moon in Pinghu from the aspects of musical structure, mode, harmony, texture, melody, etc., and discusses in detail the dramatic treatment of the work and the technical treatment of performance, in order to obtain the enlightenment of the artistic expression of national piano music.

Key words: piano music; Pinghu autumn moon; National style; performing arts

China Library Classification Number: J647.4438+0 Article Identification Number: A

Autumn Moon in Pinghu was originally a very famous instrumental music in Cantonese Opera. The melody is bright and smooth, and the tone is euphemistic. It depicts the moonlight and poetic night view of China Jiangnan Lake, and expresses the author's feelings and love for natural scenery.

Mr. Chen Peixun, a composer, adapted this piece for piano solo in 1970s. On the basis of maintaining the expressive force of the original tune, the adapted music gives full play to the advantages of multi-voice piano, and uses colorful rhythm texture to carve the music more exquisitely, which has become one of the masterpieces of national piano music.

First, the national characteristics of musical structure and mode

"Autumn Moon in Pinghu" is not long, and the melody stretches freely in one go. The musical form structure is characterized by the application of core tones throughout its development, and it is a link between the preceding and the following. Music moves from static to dynamic, and from dynamic to static. It is lyrical, emotional and scene-blending, and follows the traditional aesthetic principles of China, which is quite different from the distinctive "block" structure in western music.

Music is a typical national pentatonic work in China, and its mode has the characteristics of palace feather mode. Mode conversion is more frequent in the same palace system. Every short piece of music begins with emphasizing the gong tone or the sign tone and ends with the feather tone. Mode conversion is formed by moving the palace five times, with soft and natural effect and elegant implication.

For example, paragraph 1 of the music, the mode layout is: Gong Zhengyu Gong Yu. This alternation of modes makes the melody full of development power and deepens the expressive force of the melody.

Second, the national characteristics of melody development techniques

Melody is the soul of music and the key factor to form the image of music. The melody of autumn moon in Pinghu has typical Guangdong music characteristics: the rhythm changes freely and richly, and the melody lines jump forward, sometimes with a large amplitude. On the basis of traditional overlapping syntax, the melody creation of autumn moon in Pinghu uses variant method to make the melody stretch and change freely in the process of marching around the central tone. The development of phrases not only retains the highlights of the original melody, but also organically permeates new materials with the changes of feelings and vocabulary. This free variation technique with basically similar melody skeleton embodies our nation's philosophical view of "similarities and differences, differences and similarities".

Take 1 as an example. The first three phrases are connected end to end and closely linked. The last three phrases combined with the first sentence to develop melody is a common repetition technique and skill in Chinese folk music.

Example 1

The ending sentence of the third paragraph has the same nature and backbone sound as the ending sentence of the first paragraph, which constitutes the end of the paragraph and makes the melody of the music have cyclic structural characteristics.

Thirdly, the simulation of the texture of national musical instruments.

Gao Hu is the main musical instrument in Cantonese opera, supplemented by dulcimer, flute and Qin Qin. The playing skills, timbre characteristics and unique charm of these national musical instruments have been fully demonstrated in piano arrangement.

For example, in the first paragraph of the music, the composer used arpeggios and short-tilted decorative notes on the piano to simulate Gao Hu's sliding sound, which perfectly imitated Gao Hu's clear timbre.

In the climax paragraphs from 18 to 19, the composer imitates the rotation and rolling skills of the dulcimer through the vibrato accompaniment of his left hand, while his right hand imitates the finger sliding effect of Gao Hu, making decorative sounds in the high-pitched piano area.

As the original music originated from Cantonese music, the application of Gao Hu's texture form in music is the main line, and the performance of melody is mainly to imitate Gao Hu's performance. The performance skills of other national musical instruments also gave the composer rich inspiration. For example, composers imitate the scratching of guzheng with dense arpeggios and imitate Xiao's performance with vibrato. There are many such examples, and we all need to understand them carefully when playing.

Fourthly, emphasize the use of pentatonic harmony.

In the application of harmony in Autumn Moon in Pinghu, the composer deliberately played down the three-dimensional superposition of harmony, weakened the functionality of traditional tonal harmony, and made the work have a fresh harmony effect. To sum up, the author adopts the methods of replacing chords, adding chords and omitting chords to strengthen the pentatonic structural characteristics of harmony.

For example, in the music score 19 section, the chord in the second half of the first beat should be the configuration of be-bG-BB-BD according to its functional attribute, and the composer uses bA (symbol) instead of bG. The chords of the second beat and the second half beat were originally in the configuration of BA-C-BE-BG, and the composer intentionally omitted the C (variable palace) sound here.

In the 22nd section, the bb-BD-f-ba chord in the first beat is added with the sound of be (quotient) to weaken the three-degree overlapping relationship of chords.

There are many such examples in music, and the composer's chord configuration method enhances the national connotation of his works.

It can be seen that the composer used many traditional western European musical techniques in his music. However, his application is free, and he is not limited by traditional European composition techniques in form, rhythm, harmony and texture. In his creation, he is completely expressing the author's feelings for China's traditional music. He made a successful attempt to express China's traditional pentatonic music with the piano, a western musical instrument.

Five, about the performance of music

The autumn moon in Pinghu has a strong national charm and noble and elegant style, which fully shows the "emptiness" and "emptiness" in ancient China culture. Therefore, when we play this song, the most important thing is to let the breath run through the whole song, let the breath be full of rhyme, and let the breath and rhyme be combined into one, so that the music played is endless. In order to explain the development of music, this paper divides the whole song into four parts: beginning, inheritance, turning and combination, and * * * contains five paragraphs.

From 1. (Paragraph 1, 1~9)

At the beginning of the music, it is very important to leave five degrees in the left bass area. The player gently presses the keys of the piano through his fingertips, and at the same time presses the pedal, so that the sound can spread quickly. This empty fifth bass-played four times in a row, like a bell floating at dusk. The 32-tone sound stream appears soft, like a breeze blowing over the lake, and the lake rippled gently. When playing these 32 notes, stick your fingers on the keys to keep the music flowing. Also emphasize the singing of melody. When touching keys, we should pay attention to the cooperation between fingers and wrists, so that every small line can be seamlessly connected. At the same time, the center of gravity of the finger moves to the high pitch, highlighting the melody sound, so that the sound quality of each note is crystal clear. The arpeggios and chords in the last section of this paragraph should be different from those in the previous section, like the sweeping strings of pipa, which should be played decisively and forcefully, and at the same time, gradually strengthened like the picture on the piano score.

2. Letter of Commitment (paragraph 2, 10~ 13)

Here, there is a great contrast, and the music transitions to three sixteenth notes with a sigh in the second half of the ninth bar. The volume changes from f to p, and the timbre changes from clear to soft. The melody of these four bars is also played by the left hand. This melody has a long breath, so pay great attention to funny breathing. The action of starting with the left hand may be exaggerated, and the speed of pressing the keys should be slower, so as to play a melody with far-reaching charm and fuller connotation. The accompaniment of the right hand uses intensive arpeggios. When playing these arpeggios, you should be light but not empty, your hearing is hazy, your volume is rising and falling, and your fingers are smart but not dull. In order to pop up the ethereal artistic conception, these bars should be played on the left soft pedal, so as to better control the timbre and volume. In this passage, the composer specially reminds the performer that the left hand should use the strength of mp and the right hand should use the strength of PP, that is to say, don't drown out the melody with the change of piano texture, and the melody and accompaniment should be clear, so as not to usurp the role of the host.

3. Turn (paragraph 3, 14~ 17)

Here, the music slowly turns from soft to intense, the dynamic strengthening is more and more obvious, and the music image is more distinct. The music from 14 to 16 consists of three parts. The high-pitched part of the right hand is very important. Play Legato as much as possible and play a melody full of singing. The key to treble is to be sharp and confident, and the timbre will be bright and colorful. The left hand is an octave lower, repeating the melody of the right hand. The composer's intention here is not simply to emphasize the intensity of the melody, but to set off the melody through the changes of the left and right hand music (mainly the contrast between light and shade), so that the melody lines appear smoother and more distinct. Therefore, when playing, you may wish to touch the keys with your left hand, and the speed of the keys may wish to be slower to make the music softer.

(Paragraph 4, 18~22)

Here, the music quietly enters the climax, which is the most emotional part of the whole music. The author eulogized the beauty of the night with great interest, and presented the ethereal and dreamy world more cheerfully. When playing the climax of this piece of music, the expression of emotions should be gradual, forming a wave of emotional fluctuations. Between the melodies, the breath should be connected to maintain a state of continuous excitement. Playing with your left hand must reflect your inner strength, relax your arms and wrists according to the ff strength marked on the score, and accumulate all your strength at your fingertips. When playing, you should take your time, and the sequential changes of seven, nine and even twelve tones should be accurate and smooth. After the climax of four bars, the music calmed down, and then ended this paragraph with two short exclamations.

4. Merger (paras. 5, 23-25)

The ending artistic conception is ethereal and distant. The trill of the right hand sounds like the trill of a flute. When playing, you should show Xiao's unique breath tremor. At the end, the author used a sigh tone, demanding that the long-winded sentence must be played skillfully with a very light voice, and the left pedal must be added here to make the fingers leave at the touch, forming an illusory and erratic timbre.

The piano piece Autumn Moon in Pinghu not only inherits the essence of China traditional music, but also develops. Players must give full play to their imagination and expand the wonderful artistic conception of music in order to truly show their inner charm.