Take nostalgic trip on Cantonese traditional music
Eradicate the autumn gloom and ease the passing summer sadness by indulging in a nostalgic concert which helps keep alive the sentimentality of the past and make sense of the present thanks to traditional music.
The Monday concert, held at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, takes the audience on a journey to a bygone era of Cantonese instrumental music and Naamyam, curated by ethnomusicologist Gwendoline Cho-ning Kam.
Naamyam, or southern music, is a narrative style of singing which originated in Canton and Hong Kong.
The slow, simple and elegant melodies are performed on distinctive instruments such as a Chinese bamboo flute, the pipa (Chinese lute), as well as other wind, string and percussion instruments.
It gained popularity in the early 20th century in Hong Kong. Common venues for performance included public places such as restaurants, teahouses and semi-public clubs.
Cantonese Naamyam was inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in May 2011.
The program’s list includes Naamyam narrative songs “Sorrows on an Autumn Trip” and “A Sad Man Burning Paper Clothes;” Cantonese instrumental ensembles’ “Playing the Qin by Banana Rock,” “Tolling of Buddhist Temple” and “Autumn Moon over Placid Lake,” as well as Cantonese folk tunes “Pacing Horse,” “Butterfly among the Flowers,” “The Peacock Fanning Its Feathers” and “The Monk Missing His Wife.”
During the concert, renowned Cantonese Opera performer Yuen Siu-fai and Ko Yun-hung, one of the most sought-after percussion and ensemble musicians from Hong Kong, will share with the audience their personal experiences in the development of the Naamyam and Cantonese music over the past years.
Yu Siu-wah, a former professor of Music from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and Chan Chi-chun, executive director of Centre for Chinese Music Studies, CUHK, will talk about the history and culture of Cantonese music in the early part of the 20th century, which is nonetheless essential for understanding how the music actually works.
The concert is open to all, free admission.
Concert Info
Date: October 29, 7pm
Venue: Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Lecture Hall
Address: 20 Fenyang Rd
