Suona Art (trumpet)

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

Applicant: Nanzhang County, Hubei Province

Item No.: 68

Project No.: Ⅱ - 37

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Hubei Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Nanzhang County, Hubei Province

Protection unit: Nanzhang County Cultural Center

Introduction to suona Art (trumpet)

Applicant: Nanzhang County, Hubei 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.

The origin of the trumpet can be traced back to the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. It was originally the court music of the Chu state, and then it came into the folk. There are more than 100 kinds of traditional tunes. It is a living relic of the music culture of ancient Chu. It is known as the "living fossil" of Chu Music by the circle of music history.

There are trombone, trumpet, side drum, Gong, cymbal, cymbal, gongs and so on. In the application of playing Qupai, Wuyin trumpet strictly abides by the ancestral precepts. It plays different Qupai on different occasions. The so-called "don't blow the leaves when you enter, don't blow the hillside when you go out". There are two kinds of tunes in common use: Happy tunes and sad tunes. The happy tunes such as marriage tunes, Hu Baotou tunes and he Xiangu tunes are used for happy events, while the sad tunes such as shangshanpo tunes, yeyeluo tunes and putianluo tunes are used for funerals. The melody of the trumpet is mostly symbolic mode, and the music structure is very close to Jiuge and Lisao.

The performance of the trumpet is closely related to funeral, wedding, festival, sacrifice and other folk activities. The music is an important part of Chu culture and has high aesthetic value and academic research value.

There is no record of the music score of the trumpet, which is handed down by the musicians of the past dynasties. In the 1980s, experts and scholars in Hubei had excavated and sorted out the trumpets. At present, there are only five Wuyin trumpet classes active in Xiakou, with less than 60 participants. Among them, Liu family class has been inherited for six generations, and has a great influence in Jingmen, Yuan'an and Baokang counties bordering Nanzhang. But on the whole, the number of old artists who master this traditional folk performance skill is decreasing, and the young people who are not willing to learn to inherit it. In this situation, the trumpet is on the verge of being lost, and it needs to be rescued.