Luo Jiuxiang (June 19, 1902 - June 9, 1978), a native of Dapu County, Guangdong Province, was a Chinese Hakka zither player and educator. "Famous Master", known as "Southern School Zheng Wang" and "Hakka Zheng Representative".

Art style

In the 1930s, Luo Jiuxiang communicated extensively with famous teachers from all over the country in the field of literature, art and music. In the process of communication, he absorbed the characteristics of other zheng schools and music genres to enrich his performance. Quickly split the finger joints to enrich one's own octave ring fingering, absorb the two strings of the Northern School Guzheng with the support of two strings and then supplemented with glissando, which enhances the strength and atmosphere. His performance is decisive, his luck is free, his rhythm is euphemistic, and his momentum is strong. Its artistic style can be summed up as follows: simple and elegant, focusing on freehand brushwork. Specifically, there are four points: 1. The timbre is beautiful and round; 2. The pressing and sliding changes are rich; 3. The piano is superb; 4. The artistic conception is profound and plateau.

Luo Jiuxiang loves the ancient rhythm of Hangao, and prides himself on the "orthodox Confucian music school", and his guzheng art is unique. His performance is simple and generous, unconventional, vigorous and vigorous, focusing on rhythm and line invocation, especially the method of double-fingered string, rapid reduction of words and left-hand pressing, which can be called amazing. He opposed the "similarity in shape" and advocated "similarity in spirit", and believed that music should be made according to the emotion, and the emotion should be accompanied by the sound in order to realize the charm. He emphasizes that the art of guzheng is mainly left-handed, not right-handed. The "tortoiseshell" armor he uses is long and thick, and uses small joints to play the strings, and the sound is pure and round. His trembling kung fu is imminent, his portamento skills are unpredictable, his playing arrogance follows his emotions, his pronunciation is sonorous and powerful, his musical performance is delicate and subtle, and his emotional expression is superb.

Luo Jiuxiang's appreciation and admiration for the art of guqin makes his playing style incorporate a quaint and simple charm. Luo Jiuxiang owns two books on Guqin published in 1936 by Lin Qian and prefaced by Guo Moruo. He has close contacts with many famous masters in the guqin world, such as Zhaoxue'an and Yang Xinlun, and has learned from each other's qin skills. He draws lessons from the left hand's point, kneading, rubbing, wiping and other techniques when playing guqin, and integrates them into guzheng performance. The two complement each other and complement each other. , to improve the playing skills of the guzheng. In 1952, Luo Jiuxiang processed and condensed the classic work "Xishan Qinguang" on the aesthetic theory of the qin by Xu Qingshan, a guqin master in the late Ming Dynasty, into "Twenty-Four Aphorisms of Qinguang", which is commonly used in qinzheng. 

Luo Jiuxiang not only has outstanding skills in playing the Hakka guzheng, but also has extensive knowledge of other instruments in Guangdong Han music, especially the sanxian and Yehu. Extensive research has made Luo Jiuxiang's guzheng playing unique, thus retaining a large number of precious audio materials, such as Guzheng solo "Water Lotus", Guzheng, pipa and dulcimer ensemble "Single Nod · Random Flower Arrangement", "Jade Link", "Zhaojun Resentment" "Wait. Luo Jiuxiang's guzheng playing scores and scores were compiled and published by his students, and Hakka zheng music was also played by his students, recorded into tapes, dense patterns, CDs, etc., which were circulated at home and abroad, and had a wide influence. The guzheng recordings he played are not only published as audio-visual products, but also collected in national music research institutions and major art institutions of higher learning. His calligraphy is also quite accomplished. middle.

artistic proposition

Luo Jiuxiang likes to play the 68-board soft line music very much, such as "Water Lotus", "Yishan Sorrow", "Du Yujia", "The Resentment of Zhaojun" and so on, which are called "Four Soft" by folks. In hard-line notation, he is good at playing "Night Rain at Banana Window", "Jade Climbing Pool", "Da Ba Ban", "Pipa Ci" and so on. Usually, Luo Jiuxiang decides what music to play based on his state of mind. If a rare visitor comes to visit, he often plays "A Thousand Miles of Fate" and "Nostalgia", which means "confidant meeting" or "missing"; when encountering sadness, he often plays "Du Yuhun" and "The Resentment of Zhaojun" for masturbation; When feeling down, play "Water Lotus" to express the spirit of "gentleman", or use the mighty and majestic tone of "General's Order" to motivate yourself. His performance is decisive, his luck is free, his rhythm is euphemistic, and his momentum is powerful. The so-called is: light but not frivolous, anxious but not chaotic, angry but not dry, sad but not hurt. He is not good at words, and often concentrates his emotions in zheng music and calligraphy.

Luo Jiuxiang advocates that only by giving new artistic life to traditional music can it flourish. For example, for the piece "Water Lotus", folk performers may just use it as the starting sub-tone of the soft-line notation, and it has no independent meaning; When seeing something hurt" and so on. And Luo Jiuxiang, benefiting from Zhou Dunyi's "Love Lotus", believes that the lotus is a gentleman in flowers, "can be seen from a distance but not to be played with", and its noble sentiment of "out of the mud but not stained, clean and not demonic" It is the central idea of the music, giving people a philosophical revelation of self-improvement and self-improvement. For the handling of the sentence, Luo Jiuxiang went against the traditional euphemism and lingering, soft and pleasant playing method, and replaced it with a continuous syncopated rhythm with strong dynamic, supplemented by the dense trembling playing that trembled at the touch of a button, showing the emotion of indignation The contempt of the lotus for the muddy water shows a strong temperament and shows the theme. Another example is "Mourning at Yashan", which is a traditional song to mourn the martyrdom of the late emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty in Xinhui, Guangdong. Folk performances are often combined with the middle board of "The Eighth Edition". However, Luo Jiuxiang chose the "General's Order" in the middle board, and the two pieces were played in two tones; when playing "Ya", "1'" was used instead of "4"; when playing "General", it returned to the original key, so that the two The tune has a four-degree modulation effect, which is unique in traditional folk performance. Luo Jiuxiang explained why he took the middle board of "General's Order" and said: "General" has a strong and powerful tune, and it can enhance the "Cliff" when it is completed. The heroic atmosphere. "Cliff" should not be just the word "sorrow", it should reflect the heroic soul of the Chinese nation.

music teaching

Luo Jiuxiang makes good use of heuristic teaching in education, and often uses sanxian and Yehu to lead students in teaching, so as to inspire students to master the style of music and experience the charm of music. Luo Jiuxiang summed up the essentials of Hakka zheng playing as “slow but not slack, tight and orderly, simple and elegant, and emphasis on freehand brushwork”, which is the teaching concept of replacing form by spiritual resemblance advocated by Luo Jiuxiang. Only by working hard on the word can it reflect the emotion and connotation of the music. He asked students to learn how to use their breath, in order to deal with the relationship between succession and transformation, cadence and frustration, so that the emotion of the music can be deepened.

Luo Jiuxiang believes that the art of playing the guzheng comes from the hand, and the emotion is stored in the heart. Playing the zheng is an expression of people's feelings, and the music should also be made according to the emotion. The appeal of music and the harmony of human and qin. Music is emotional, and players in different periods and different moods express different musical thoughts. Therefore, Luo Jiuxiang emphasizes the importance of reading notation but does not advocate rote memorization of notation. Familiarity with musical scores is like reading poems aloud, with regularity and punctuality, sentences and stanzas, light and heavy, slow and urgent, it comes immediately when you open your mouth, you can sing it out of your mouth, and you can sing it out of your mouth. He also advocates that students read more classical literature and history to enrich themselves, so as to better understand the era background and creative willingness of zheng music, and improve their musical accomplishment.

Luo Jiuxiang not only practiced and integrated the characteristics and performance skills of various schools, but also encouraged students to absorb the advantages of other zheng schools and music genres, including Western music, and supported students to learn newly created modern music and techniques, and to adapt traditional music. He also integrates skills in different fields into Guzheng learning, such as applying the laws of luck of Taijiquan and Qigong to Guzheng performance. Luo Jiuxiang "inherits the orthodoxy of Qinzheng and inherits the ancient relics", not only inheriting the traditional rhythm of national music, but also innovating the old, emphasizing that the art of guzheng is mainly the left hand rather than the right hand, and believes that the development of music is inevitable, inheritance is a means, and talent is developed. is the purpose.

With his open mind, extraordinary spirit and open mind, Luo Jiuxiang has cultivated batches of outstanding and extraordinary performers who are active on the guzheng music stage and in major music colleges and universities all over the country. For example, Li Wanfen (deceased), the former president of the Guzheng Society of the Chinese Music Association; Shi Zhaoyuan from Beijing, He Baoquan and Pan Miaoxing from Shanghai, Chen Anhua and Rao Ningxin from Guangzhou, etc.; the vice-chairmen of the Guzheng Society include Tianjin Li Hongan from Guangxi, Lin Jian (female) from Guangxi, Chen Maojin from Fujian, Yang Litong from Shantou, etc., as well as former president of Guangdong Han Music Research Association Luo Zai, Yang Shide from Meizhou, Luo Zhenwu from Huizhou, Lan Xinde and Luo from Dapu Zeng You, Luo Zengliang, etc. There are also a group of students who are engaged in professional performance and research work, so that Luo Jiuxiang's guzheng art can be inherited and spread widely. His students Chen Anhua, Shi Zhaoyuan and others compiled and published the books "Guzheng Songs of Guangdong Han Music", "Forty Hakka Zheng Songs", "Chinese Lingnan Zheng Songs", "Chinese Famous Zheng Zheng", which recorded the Hakka zheng music passed down and played by Luo Jiuxiang. A Collection of Famous Songs, etc., have improved Luo Jiuxiang's status and influence in the guzheng world. His students' evaluation of Luo Jiuxiang is: "Once you meet a good teacher, you will be taught for three lifetimes."

main works

Luo Jiuxiang's guzheng performance scores and biographies were compiled and published by his students; the Hakka zheng tapes, dense patterns and CDs published by different companies and played by his different students have been circulated at home and abroad, and have a wide range of influences. Luo Jiuxiang also has a large number of audio materials. In addition, many music academies, radio stations, and research institutions across the country have retained Luo Jiuxiang's guzheng solo recordings in different periods.

Guzheng Song:

"General's Order", "Night Rain at Banana Window", "Xunfeng Song", "The Resentment of Zhaojun", "Single Nod and Random Flower Arrangement", "Pipa Ci", "Yashan Sorrow", "Emerald Climbing Pool", "Water Lotus", "A Thousand Miles of Destiny"

Disc/Album:

Recorded by China Record Company:

Zheng Solo "Water Lotus" (M-2300A),

Zheng, pipa and dulcimer ensemble "Single Nod, Random Flower Arrangement" (3-1328B), "Jade Links" (03-1679A), "The Resentment of Zhaojun" (03-1679B), etc. [19]

Related works

Sheet Music / Biography:

"Guzheng Songs of Guangdong Hanle" (28 pieces in two volumes), compiled and compiled by Chen Anhua in 1964, was compiled and printed by Guangzhou Music College (mimicograph), which was donated to all fraternal colleges and universities and fellow teachers and friends across the country. For the first time in the history of Hakka zheng music, the printed scores are collected.

"Forty Songs of Chinese Music for Zheng", organized by Shi Zhaoyuan and handed down by Luo Jiuxiang, published by People's Music Publishing House in 1985;

"Chinese Lingnan Zheng Song" compiled by Chen Anhua, published in Hong Kong New Town Culture Company in 1990, included 16 Zheng songs by Luo Jiuxiang;

"A Collection of Famous Guzheng Songs in China", organized by Shi, Chen and He, was published by Shanghai Music Publishing House in 1993, and included 16 Hakka zheng songs passed down by Luo Jiuxiang;

Many of Luo Jiuxiang's disciples have published albums of Hakka zheng music that Luo Jiuxiang has passed down, which have been circulated at home and abroad.

Memorial Collection:

"Lotus in Water, Fragrance in Jiuzhou", published by Xinghai Conservatory of Music.