Suona Art

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: suona Art

Applicant: Zhaozhou County, Heilongjiang Province

Item No.: 68

Project No.: Ⅱ - 37

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Heilongjiang Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Zhaozhou County, Heilongjiang Province

Protection unit: Zhaozhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center

Introduction to suona Art

Applicant: Zhaozhou County, Heilongjiang Province

Suona is a transliteration of "surna" in Arabic. It was widely spread in many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, and was introduced to China not later than the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. In Chinese folk, it also has copper flute, tin flute, pear flower, sea flute and other names. In addition, the small suona used in Fujian Nanqu performance is called "Aizai" or "Nanai"; the suona used in Puxian opera accompaniment is called "Meihua" or "chubian", and the larger one is called "Dalong" or "Dahai Flute"; the all wood suona of Uygur nationality is called "surnai"; the suona of Tibetan, Miao, Mongolian, Korean and other nationalities also have different shapes.

Suona is composed of whistle, core, air disc, rod, copper bowl and other parts. It is arranged in order according to the seven sound levels according to the sound holes. The distance between each hole is basically equal. It can flip the seven tones, and the range is generally two octaves plus two degrees. Suona has many kinds of playing skills, such as glide, vomit, air arch, air top, purr, circulation (continuous blowing for a long time) and so on. It is a kind of solo instrument with strong expressive force.

Suona is one of the indispensable musical instruments in the percussion band. In ancient times, besides playing military music, it was also used for the accompaniment of Yamen drum blowing, opera, song and dance, etc. in folk daily life, it was mostly used for festivals, weddings and funerals, and drama scenes.

Yangxiaoban drum music shed is the only original folk custom band in Zhaozhou County of Heilongjiang Province, and it is also a rare folk custom band inherited by family in China. Its founder, Yang Dianjia, whose ancestral home is Laizhou, Shandong Province, fled to the northeast from childhood and studied in a drum music class. In 1904, he founded a music class in Fuyu County, Jilin Province. Since then, he has been active in Sanzhao area of Heilongjiang Province, mainly serving for folk weddings and funerals, festivals, sacrificial rites and other folk activities. Yang Xiaoban's percussion music studio has been passed on for five dynasties, and has a history of 100 years.

Yang Xiaoban collected and used his ancestral gongchi to compose and transcribe the repertoire. The way of notation and interpretation is very unique. The music they played includes Divertimento, suite, brand music, improved music, variation and so on. Some of them reflect the characteristics of Jiangnan music, while most of them integrate the northern style of music. The common tunes of Yang Xiaoban's Drum Music Studio include "small cattle", "playing dates", "love seeing man", "backer tune" and so on. The representative tracks include "red wild goose falling on the beach", "big flower basket" and so on.

There are two kinds of musical instrument combinations in Yang Xiaoban's percussion music studio, one is the configuration of Suona, the other is the configuration of Sheng tube. Its percussion instruments include timpani, Daban, Zhuban, Yungong, gongs, cymbals, Bangzi, etc. Yang Xiaoban's performance inherits the music style of Suona in Manchu and Han Dynasties, enriches the skills of Sheng Guan and other musical instruments in the process of development, and reaches a higher artistic level. Yang Xiaoban's advocacy music shows distinctive characteristics of northern music and traditional culture, which has important research value in musicology, folklore, history and so on. At present, with the influx of western culture, the living space of Yang Xiaoban's music studio is getting smaller and smaller. Young people are unwilling to inherit traditional skills. In addition, the music class has no fixed place for activities, the musical instruments are dilapidated, and the income is extremely low. The performance skills of Yang Xiaoban's music studio are in danger of being lost and need to be rescued.