Suona may be a kind of national characteristic musical instrument with "small song and big tune" in people's impression. It is often seen to show off its talents and "voice" in the occasions of folk rituals and customs. And it is precisely this point that suona is the strength of men in general cognition, and the suona artists shown in the movie "Hundred Birds Chaofeng" are also men. In the local folk suona class clubs, there are also mostly men's whistleblowers. But when you come to the scene of "Yellow River Ballad - Liu Wenwen Suona Special Concert" on November 7, 2021 at the Jiukeshu Future Art Center Grand Theater in Fengxian, Shanghai, all your inherent impressions and perceptions will be overturned - extremely The ever-changing sound of modern suona and a large western symphony orchestra performed a unique performance of small to large, four large-scale modern suona concertos "Open the Door", "Yellow River Ballad", "One Hundred Years of Nirvana" and "Hundred Birds Chaofeng", In addition to the returning jazz-style "Day and Night", the new symphonic and modern music image of suona is displayed in various styles. The shaper of this new image of suona is the young teacher of Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the first doctor of suona in China. Born Liu Wenwen.

One foot in tradition, one foot in modern

Liu Wenwen is a native of Jining, Shandong. This is the hinterland of Shandong suona spread and one of the more prosperous places for the development of Chinese folk suona. She was born in a suona family. Her father, Liu Baobin, is the seventh-generation descendant of Xiaotong Suona. Her mother, Liu Hongmei, has a long history of suona. It may also be one of the few family heirlooms in China. Liu Hongmei is the 12th generation inheritor of Suona Ka Opera, and Liu Wenwen joked that she should be regarded as the 13th generation inheritor. Liu Wenwen grew up happily following her parents' performances in her childhood, and she was immersed in the sound of suona since she was a child. But the mother wanted her daughter not to learn their craft, but to let her learn more refined arts such as dance. However, "blood is thicker than water", 8 years of study of folk dance did not change the direction of art sneaking in her blood.

Culture is the spiritual lifeline of a nation, and literature and art are the horns of the times. Liu Wenwen gained spiritual happiness in the national art suona. Her studies progressed rapidly, and her parents gradually felt that she was the material. What is valuable is that parents are open-minded and feel that literature and art must have new ideas of the times, so that they can jump out of the fetters of local genres and be able to show their strengths. Only by learning from famous teachers can they become a big climate and reflect the horn of the times. As a result, Liu Wenwen was sent to the school of Professor Liu Ying of Shanghai Conservatory of Music when she was 15 years old. A piece of "Nostalgic Song" touched Mr. Liu Ying. He said emotionally that if his family was in financial difficulties, he would be willing to pay for training! Professor Liu Ying has a deep relationship with Shandong Suona. His mentor is Mr. Ren Tongxiang, a Shandong Suona Master. He also inherited the mantle of Master and played Master's famous song "Hundred Birds Chaofeng" and toured to various top international stages. The blue is better than the blue. Liu Ying's playing skills attracted the famous composer Zhu Jian'er. Mr. Zhu tailored the modern concerto "Tian Le" for him, which opened a new modern chapter in Liu Ying's suona art. The performance of the first repertoire has never been surpassed. At the same time, Liu Ying, who also came from a suona family, also deeply felt the treasures of folk suona art, so he always insisted on visiting the tradition of folk suona art. The success of the new modern suona song "Tian Le" also made Professor Liu feel deeply about the new realm required by suona performers in the new era. The great artistic and social value in it has played an educational role in cultivating Liu Wenwen and other students. He believes that "learning from the past does not obscure the ancients, and breaking the law does not violate the law", and the development of suona requires both tradition and modernity.

Inheriting the likes of hundreds of generations and meeting the changes of today, Liu Wenwen lives in a beautiful era of suona. The emphasis on folk suona skills and the appreciation of modern suona are in a period of harmonious development, and she has encountered "inheritance is not conservative, innovation is inseparable." Roots" Professor Liu Ying. Based on her successful experience in suona art, Liu Ying's cultivation of Liu Wenwen is very methodical and planned. He first let Wenwen lay a solid basic skill, and be familiar with the chi, fingers, lips, tongue, etc. in suona performance techniques and their various combination techniques, such as the tone of voice, breath control, and circulation in the technique of chi, and in the technique of finger. Press hole, fingering, finger pressing, mouth shape and lip pressure of lip technology, tongue top and tongue of tongue technology, and how to control pitch and timbre, and even in the production and use of reeds, in comprehensive technology In the application of music, in the presentation of the style, in the layout of the music paragraph level, Wenwen has been deeply guided. With the passing of winter and summer, and the passage of time, Liu Wenwen's skills have quietly transformed, and the artist's temperament has gradually emerged. She not only followed Mr. Liu from middle school to university to postgraduate, but also went to work in the orchestra after being recommended by Mr. Liu, and now works at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Today, she has a "dual job", not only an in-service young teacher, but also a doctoral student of Professor Liu Ying.

"Building virtues, building people, and creating Bacon." During the Ph.D. study, Professor Liu Ying asked Liu Wenwen to have ideological tempering, and guided her to participate in red-themed music performances such as "Long March Group Songs", so that she could be in the revolution. Ideas are cast in the baptism of literature and art. In teaching, the form of "letting go" is adopted. The "letting" means giving her a lot of stage practice, introducing a large number of famous musicians to her, and letting Wenwen practice her skills freely; The artist creates different roles, allowing her to understand and speculate in the shaping of the artistic image; give her a large number of new works, especially large-scale works created by modern techniques, so that Liu Wenwen will continue to accept the baptism of new suona music. The doctoral training program required three solo concerts of different forms, and Liu Wenwen had already overdone it with ease. But Professor Liu Ying is not satisfied. He wants Liu Wenwen to move freely between the folk and the modern, and to "play" different identities at any time. Because he himself grew up like this, and Suona people in the new era should have such ability and character.

Crossing the two worlds of skills, art to the world, standing in the two worlds of tradition and modernity, Liu Wenwen's artistic career is more open, she has embarked on the international stage, at the Sydney Opera House, at the Melbourne Arts Center, she let the world hear China. In the period before and after the "Yellow River Ballad" concert that I saw, I saw her solo concert of "Fantastic Four" at the National Grand Theater. She participated in the concert of works by Li Bochan, Zhu Xiaogu and others. A concert conducted by Tang Muhai at Nine Trees. According to Professor Liu Ying, Liu Wenwen now basically has a large-scale performance every week, and it is impossible to count small performances. When searching for information on the Internet, the author saw a full-page report written by reporter Kong Xiaoping in the "Yangtze Evening News": "Liu Wenwen: A Small Suona Big World" (B1 version on April 15, 2021), Chen Nan in the "Youth" on China Daily has a full-page report on "Liu Wenwen: The Second Wind of Suona" (18th edition, October 10, 2021). In addition, there are reports on People's Music, Xinmin Evening News and People's Daily Online, "Learning to strengthen the country", in which praise words such as "Pushing China's Suona to the World" and "Suona Talented Women" appeared in prominent positions.

The pursuit of excellence and innovation is Liu Wenwen's obsession in the pursuit of modern suona music. In her cooperation with conductors such as Tan Dun and Tang Muhai, and with composers such as Zhu Xiaogu, Xu Jianqiang, Zhou Chenglong, Jiang Ciliang, Li Bochan, Luo Maishuo, and Kong Zhixuan, the modern suona music gave Liu Wenwen the wings to expand her territory. The suona song also unfolded a new artistic conception through her hands. Conductor Xu Hong praised after cooperating with Liu Wenwen to complete Zhu Xiaogu's "Soul of Dunhuang": It is unimaginably delicate and delicate!

One is lamenting, the other is expressing

The technical feature of suona music is first of all its apparent tension, which allows the audience to hear it between priorities, which is endowed by the tension of its timbre. But there are always pros and cons. If you don't control it well, any mistakes will make the audience notice your "car accident". In traditional folk etiquette activities, the gratifying and sad vocal performance advantage of suona has been greatly developed. ”, “Carrying the Sedan chair” and “Celebrating the Harvest” and other traditional styles of music, show their strengths in the emotional catharsis of lamentation or celebration, showing the charm of their customs.

Stimulating creative inspiration and enriching cultural connotations are Liu Wenwen's expressive power under her solid technical support. She has achieved the coordination and synchronization of inheritance and development in the traditional style of suona music, giving it a new era style with her creative inspiration. The method is to excavate the new techniques in the song and make its creativity explicit. For example, bird calls are introduced in "Hundred Birds Chaofeng". This low-frequency sound makes the life taste in the song more prominent. "Mud Boss" shows the rural interest with the difference in timbre in the contrast of density and density. Excavate the rich connotation of "feeling" in "Huangtu Qing" to make the tone of lamentation clear, and excavate the exquisite beauty in "Xiang Yin" to make it hidden in the vulgar, friendly and pleasant. The new development of these suona skills is an academic demonstration made by Liu Wenwen after in-depth academic analysis and research with her tutor, showing the various musical flavors in the performance of traditional styles of music.

The modern technique of suona music should give more possibilities in expressing connotation. The multiple semantic expressions of the newly constructed musical situation expand the artistic space, and the expression of these connotations is exactly what Liu Wenwen is good at and likes. In order to tap the modern expressive power of suona art in her hometown, Liu Wenwen invited Kong Zhixuan to create "Song of the Qilin" with the musical elements of Southwestern Shandong and Shandong Bangzi Opera, and its premiere at the 36th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival in 2019 attracted attention. The techniques and flavors of the Shandong suona in the song are still there, but there are more youthful breaths, more modern culture and its expression techniques.

With her art to promote her career and her art to cultivate its originality, Liu Wenwen used her art to promote the modern development of suona art, and at the same time cultivated a new era of modern and refined construction of suona. She played "Dunhuang Soul" (Zhu Xiaogu), "Calling the Phoenix" (Qin Wenchen), "The Wind Enters the Pine" (Xu Jianqiang), "Dance of Fire" (Luo Maishuo) and other modern suona songs, all have their own style and character due to the new changes in skills. It contains new cultural connotations. While performing well the Chinese charm in each song, it can also tell the Chinese story in each song well. Her performance is full of the beauty of live visual art, and is good at revealing the situation of the work in the vivid performance, and is good at showing the modern symphony of suona in the color change, showing the various spaces and situations of modern music. For example: in "The Big Door" in the "Yellow River Ballad" concert (Xu Jianqiang), she carried out a large-scale performance of the suona song "Big Door" in the music of Zhejiang Wu Opera. The story of opening and closing; in "The Ballad of the Yellow River" (Zhou Chenglong), the ups and downs of lamentation on the banks of the Yellow River and on the plateau are shown in the form of a dialogue between a small suona and a large suona. The layers of these two pieces of music are rich in changes, especially in the concerto with the symphony orchestra, the modern sound advantage of the suona is displayed.

With the text to build the heart and the text to cast the soul, Liu Wenwen is good at using the suona as a carrier of Chinese cultural symbols to tell Chinese stories. For example, she used the suona as a cultural symbol to express the loyalty and tragicness of Longhua's heroic soul in "One Hundred Years of Nirvana" (Li Bochan), lamenting the generosity and tragicness of the heroic image who gave his life for the new China, casting the heroic soul, showing The new appearance of suona; the Henan style suona "Hundred Birds Chaofeng" adapted by the composer Guan Xia incorporates the voice of local opera, especially the folk instrumental techniques such as "Kaxi", which makes its style prominent and at the same time, It also shows the modern symphony of suona that expresses the taste of life.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the conference of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles that in the process of inheriting and carrying forward the tradition of national folk literature and art, more efforts should be made to expand styles and styles, especially in the field of world literature and art to clearly establish Chinese style and Chinese style. "Climbing high makes people happy, and being close to the stream makes people feel far away." ("Vegetable Root Tan") Under the guidance of Professor Liu Ying, Liu Wenwen came from Shandong Suona, rooted in the fertile soil of traditional music and climbed all the way. She is pursuing the suona symphony In the process of transformation, the pursuit of delicacy in craftsmanship has resulted in a constantly high artistic conception. "Dapeng rises with the same wind in one day, and it soars up to 90,000 miles." (Li Bai's "Shang Li Yong") We wish Liu Wenwen of "Wenmao Weiwen" (the name of the concert of the National Grand Theater) to "carry the road with Wen", Fly higher and go further in the symphony and modern development of suona.