Treasures Of Chinese Instrumental Music: Dizi (Various Artists)

     

Release Date : September 4, 2012
Catalog : 73194-2
Format : Digital Download (AAC, Mp3)

Dizi was called the Horizontal Winds in ancient times.  Later on, it was also called the Horizontal Flute.  It was told that ZHANG Qian of the Han Emperor Wu (140 to 87 B.C.) firstly brought back the method of performing the Dizi from the Western Regions out of China to the capital Chang'an.  It was clearly showed that from the rubbings of the ancient tombs and murals of Dunhuang of Han dynasty, Dizi was used as musical instrument at least 2,000 years in China.  Since that on, Chinese people had made long-term practices on performing which developed most of the performing techniques of Dizi.  These were reflected in full details on the Book Of Music by CHEN Yang of the Song dynasty, the Meaning Of Lulu (pitch) by ZHU Zai-yu of the Ming dynasty and the book Trend Of Music of the North Korea.

At present, there are different kinds of Dizi be used in the Chinese music.  The most popular ones are the qudi used in the operatic music of the southern areas, such as Kunqu and the bangdi used in the operatic music of the northern areas, such as Bangzi.  There are still other kinds of Dizi be used in local music.  After the establishment of New China, musicians have made improvements on the traditional Dizi and invent some kinds of new ones.  Although there are many types, the most popular ones are the Qudi and Bangdi.

Dizi is made with bamboo and has a range of more than two octaves.  Along the bamboo, there are one hole for blowing, one hole for the membrane and six holes for the scale.  Bangdi is much smaller and the pitch is higher than that of the qudi.  These two kinds of Dizi are the main instruments of the ensemble.  Besides of opera accompaniment, they are also used as solo instruments and accompaniment for folk songs and dances.

Nowadays, there are new reformations on Dizi.  In preservation of the traditional six scale holes, there is a mechanic-operated system to be applied for the newly added semitone holes.  A complete set of twelve different pitch Dizi is manufactured for the use in modern compositions, etc.

| T R A C K S |
VOLUME 1
01.  Bangzi Tune
02.  Blossoming Orchid In Spring
03.  I Am A Soldier
04.  The Cowherd And Village Girl
05.  Joy On The Grassland Of The Nen River
06.  Morning On Grassland
07.  Good News
08.  New Song Of The Herdsmen
09.  At The Foot Of Mount Daqing
10.  Spring Comes To Xiang River
11.  At The Broken Bridge
12.  Melody Of Mount Lang Ya
13.  Crooning In Clear Night
14.  Flying Swallow

VOLUME 2
01.  Birds In The Forest
02.  Look In Relatives By Marriage
03.  Autumn Thoughts By The Dressing Table
04.  Yesterday And Today
05.  Story Along The Yellow River
06.  Picking Tea On The Hill In Spring
07.  Travel In Suchow
08.  Yang Ge In Village
09.  Pasture Patrol Soldier
10.  The Flying Partridge
11.  Floating Melodies Of A Water Village
12.  Harvest Song On A Paddle-wheel
13.  Three, Five, Seven
14.  Make Up Immortal

| C R E D I T S |
Executive Producer : Eiichi Naito
Artists + Repertoire, Remastering : Dino Malito