The excellent traditional Chinese culture is the cultural root of the Chinese nation. The ideas, humanistic spirit and moral norms it contains are not only the core of our Chinese thought and spirit, but also of great value in solving human problems. In the new era, how to refine and display the spiritual logo, era value and even world significance of excellent traditional culture is an era proposition that every contemporary artist needs to think about. In this regard, as one of the most symbolic varieties in contemporary Chinese music art, the creation of national orchestral music has given its own unique answer.

Highlight the theme of the times with grand narration

In October last year, the Central Nationalist Orchestra launched a national concert, The Great Wall, which brought together Guo Wenjing, Zhang Qianyi, Hao Weiya, Wang Danhong and other composers to create together. With diversified musical vocabularies and diversified forms of expression, it presented the profound historical and cultural heritage of this totem of the Chinese national spirit, and tried to explore the order communication Integrate the contemporary connotation of win-win. To commemorate the 600th anniversary of the completion of the Forbidden City, the Shanghai National Orchestra created the national music epic "The Forbidden City" by the end of 2020. From composition to director, stage design, lighting and multimedia design, it boldly launched a group of post-90s newcomers. The simple, fashionable and symbolic stage visual presentation, in contrast with the magnificent or flexible folk music symphony, shows the young generation of artists' cultural interpretation of this ancient building, which has gone through the ups and downs of years, from the imperial palace to the people's spiritual sustenance and the world's art treasures. In the same year, the Beijing National Orchestra created the national orchestral suite The Central Axis, which was led by Ye Xiaogang. Through the creative use of distinctive symbolic tones of Beijing, it interweaved the depth of history with the humor of the marketplace, vividly depicting the spiritual connotation and modern features of this unique historical and cultural value of the urban landscape.

This is today's Chinese musicians, who are more and more consciously involved in the torrent of life, recording what they see, feel and think about the reality with notes. Especially in recent years, around the theme of celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of new China, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, a large number of excellent national orchestral works have emerged, and together they have become a grand movement of the times. The Macao Capriccio (2015, composed by Wang Danhong), which was written to celebrate the 16th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, uses church, festival, fishing song, fireworks and other images to mobilize the timbre and strength contrast of various vocal instruments in a way of relaxation, light and dark, and shows the harmonious integration of Chinese and Western cultures after Macao's return to the motherland. Xiong'an (2022, composed by Wang Yunfei) focuses on the hot practice of the construction of Xiong'an New Area, vividly narrates the moving scene of the construction of "the city of the future" in the form of folk music, and eulogizes the struggling spirit of the builders of Xiong'an New Area to strive for progress and pursue their dreams. "Difficulty and Brilliance" (2021, composed by Jiang Ying) gives the music a strong heroic temperament with the materials of "Internationale" throughout, and unfolds the magnificent revolutionary process with a narrative structure, remembers the revolutionary martyrs, and composes a new era movement of the Chinese nation. Cast a Dream (2019, composed by Wang Yunfei) interprets the understanding of the "Chinese Dream" from the perspective of music, and uses three chapters of "rejuvenation", "prosperity" and "blue" to express the emotional expression of realizing the "Chinese Dream".

As the biggest driving force for the creation of thematic literary and artistic works, the National Arts Foundation has done a lot of work in innovating the production guidance mode of artistic creation and stimulating the cultural creativity of the whole society. Taking the theme of "the Belt and Road" as an example, the national orchestral projects funded by the national art foundation in recent years include Chang'an on the Silk Road (Shaanxi radio and television Ethnic Orchestra), the Silk Road (Xinjiang Art Theatre Ethnic Orchestra), the Silk Road grassland (Inner Mongolia ethnic art theatre), the image of the Silk Road · kuezheng song (China Conservatory of Music), the Silk Road caprice (Liaoyuan Zhongxian Cultural Industry Co., Ltd.) and many others. Through these thematic creations, it is not difficult to find that portraying the spiritual map of the times by means of multiple arts has become the cultural theme that most works want to express, and it also highlights the background of the times when Chinese literature and art in the new era are developing in pursuit of dreams.

Demonstrate national feelings with regional style

As an art form deeply rooted in the excellent Chinese cultural tradition, and fully absorbing and drawing lessons from western modern music thinking and means of expression at the beginning of its creation, national orchestral music, since its birth, has been "more conducive to inheriting and developing China's rich and colorful folk instrumental art, more conducive to using national instruments to express broader themes, more conducive to profoundly reflecting real life" (Park Dongsheng), And show strong artistic vitality. Through the exploration and creation of several generations of artists, a large number of popular works have not only survived, but also become irreplaceable cultural symbols in the collective memory of Chinese people.

National art, rooted in folk and derived from life, is the most important source of inspiration for artists to create. The combination and collision of the personalized expression of contemporary composers and the rich and colorful, profound and broad regional cultural elements of the motherland fully demonstrate the cultural charm and era character of the national orchestral works. Wang Danhong's "Eternal Mountain Dandan" (2017) takes the 13 years of work and life of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao in northern Shaanxi as the historical background, and uses the waist drum, suona, Xintianyou, storytelling and other artistic forms in northern Shaanxi to show the majesty of Hukou Waterfall on the loess ground and the roaring sound of thousands of drums, and the sadness and feelings of the people in northern Shaanxi who have lived on this land for generations. The whole work is like a long scroll of the customs of the northern Shaanxi plateau, It makes people feel the vicissitudes of history and the great changes of the times from the bottom of their hearts. Zhang Qianyi's "North of the Great River" (2018) does not interpret many aspects of "Hebei culture" from the regional concept, but excavates its multiple connotations from a cultural perspective rich in historical depth and openness and inclusiveness. In his works, the composer not only processes and reconstructs the interpretation of folk paragraphs and regional cultural symbols full of artistry and interest, but also introduces the "Nangma", which represents Tibetan court music, and the musical elements of Inner Mongolia and Northeast China, thereby highlighting the cultural characteristics of communication and integration of Hebei, which is located at the intersection of multi regional cultures in the north.

In recent years, art troupes and musicians all over the country are actively creating national orchestral works with distinctive regional cultural characteristics. Represented by projects funded by the National Arts Fund, "Southern Liaoning Imagination" (Dalian University Conservatory of Music), "Silk Road Chang'an" (Shaanxi Provincial Radio and Television National Orchestra), "Shanxi Impression" (Shanxi Provincial Song and Dance Theater), "Intoxicated Guandong" (Heilongjiang Provincial Song and Dance Theater), "Dream of Beijing" (Beijing National Orchestra), "Silk Road Grassland" (Inner Mongolia National Art Theater), "Qianyun Huazhang" (Guizhou Provincial Qianju Theater) The appearance of a large number of works, such as "Sorghum Becomes Red" (Jilin Symphony Orchestra), "Qiantang River Music and Painting" (Zhejiang Conservatory of Music), "Xiaoxiang Water Clouds" (Hunan Song and Dance Theater), "Bagui Music and Painting" (Guangxi Song and Dance Theater), "Love Everlasting White" (Jilin Academy of Arts), "The Yellow River Goes through the Grassland" (Baotou Manhan Art Theater), is increasingly clearly outlining a magnificent national music map of the new era.

With thousands of years of profound traditional culture, it is an excellent theme for contemporary national music. Musicians also devote themselves to creation with sincere feelings and deep thinking. The folk music ensemble "Spring Light" (2012) is an ode of sincere maternal love written by Liu Xijin with the classic poems of Meng Jiao, a poet of the Tang Dynasty as the title; The curved flute created by flute player Jiang Guoji and the folk band's work "The Fantasy of Leifeng Pagoda", taking the cultural symbol "Leifeng Pagoda", which represents Jiangnan culture, as the starting point, show the love legend between snake immortals and mortals that has been eulogized for thousands of years; Confucius (2016), written and composed by Mo Fan, takes a form similar to an oratorio. On the basis of giving full play to the rich colors of the national orchestra, it celebrates Confucius' lifelong pursuit of humanity, justice and morality through various forms of vocal music singing, and pursues the great dream of a harmonious world in his heart; The ancient Water Drum (2018) is a national orchestral ensemble compiled by Zhu Xiaogu according to the Dunhuang ancient music score interpreted by music theorist Chen Yingshi; Zhao Jiping's Symphony of Elegant Songs (2019), based on the Book of Songs and the passages handed down from generation to generation in Tang poetry, expresses the composer's reverie on the Chinese culture that has lasted for thousands of years and his good wishes for the new era by means of traditional literary classics or simple and elegant or magnificent artistic conception.

Demonstrate the character of the times with diversified methods

According to the author's observation, the contemporary Chinese national orchestral music gradually presents a landscape of multi center coexistence and personalized sound intersection. Over the past century, national orchestral music has undergone profound changes in its presentation mode, musical vocabulary, and its position and role in social and cultural life. What runs through it is the Chinese people's constant pursuit of the rich and diverse internal demands of spirit and the "modernity" character of constantly participating in the development of world culture. This also constitutes the historical background and realistic focus for us to examine and understand the creation of national orchestral music in the new era.

The innovative expression of contemporary national orchestral music is embodied in many aspects such as aesthetic implication, presentation form and technical vocabulary. In terms of diversified cross-border forms, the series of "National Instrumental Dramas" created by the Central National Orchestra are quite representative and topical. Following the first appearance of Impression National Music in 2013, which was widely praised and discussed, the group successively launched See National Music Again (2015) and Look for Du Fu (2017, in cooperation with Chengdu National Orchestra). In 2017, Xuan Zang's Journey to the West, premiered at the Beijing Flyover Art Center, further advanced the exploration of "national instrumental music drama". With the help of modern multiple expression techniques, this way of superposition with other sister art expression spaces has opened up new fields for folk music creation. Similar works include Gu Guanren's cross boundary symphony "Peony Pavilion" between Chinese music and Kunqu opera, which organically integrates the traditional Kunqu opera tunes with the symphony of a large national orchestra; The national orchestral music Peach Blossom Fan, composed by Guo Wenjing and directed by Su Shijin, borrows the popular music theater presentation mode, takes the performance of national orchestral music as the main body, adds traditional operas, supplemented by multimedia lighting performance, and shows the superposition and interaction between various art forms; The national instrumental music drama "The Sound of the Flute" (2018) jointly created by Xu Shuya, Dai Xiaorong, Tang Junqiao and other musicians, and the multimedia folk music drama "Nine Songs" (2018) composed by Liu Qing, are also innovative works deeply integrating high-tech multimedia technology.

In the four act opera Mogao Grottoes (2018) produced by the China Radio Art Troupe, Liu Changyuan tried to accompany the opera with a national orchestra (only a few brass instruments are added), further expanding the artistic function of the national orchestra; Jia Daqun's concerto divertimento "Pear Garden" (2019) tested the expressiveness and carrying capacity of the existing national orchestral music with its philosophical huge structure and complex and diverse modern technology. In his works, the composer integrates the creation principles of concerto and sonata divertimento in traditional forms, and creatively uses the form of "concerto divertimento" to accommodate his broad and profound respect for Chinese opera and personalized humanistic care.

With the increasingly extensive and in-depth dialogue with the world, the national orchestral music in the new era has experienced another sublimation and transformation. At the conceptual level, under the guidance of post-modern theory and its cultural relativism value orientation, people gradually get rid of the constraints of single line evolution and start to re-examine the unique cultural and aesthetic values of Chinese music tradition. With the increasingly mature creation concept of Chinese musicians, the function of national orchestral music as a national identity has been partially eliminated, and the value orientation of trying to communicate and dialogue with the world's diverse cultures has become increasingly prominent. At the technical level, with the help of diversified creative means of contemporary music, composers deconstruct the tradition from different levels and dimensions, and then build a "new folk music tradition" that includes modernity, nationality and originality.

Since its birth, the national orchestra has been entrusted with an unprecedented cultural mission, representing the humanistic pursuit of science and new knowledge after the establishment of a modern country in Chinese society. Today, the ideal of striving to stand in the forest of world culture with the voice of China seems to be coming true through generations of artists' inclusive, sublating and innovation, inheriting the excellent and orthodox Chinese national music context, and creating "great and magnificent atmosphere" of Chinese folk music.