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FOCUS: CHINESE FOLK SONG AND FOLK SINGERS TODAYa lecture by Frank Kouwenhoven Only one century ago, rural popular songs could be heard widely (and almost daily) in the fields and mountains of China. Today, singing in the countryside continues on a much more modest level, albeit still as a part of outdoor work and in all sorts of ritual contexts. With the exception of a handful of items which were taken up by pop and disco singers, most rural songs have had little or no exposure outside their own regional borders. The country's rapid modernization has obviously affected the songs, but many traditions survive. Music scholar Frank Kouwenhoven (from Leiden, The Netherlands) has already spent more than twenty-five years travelling the Chinese countryside to collect folk songs and to examine singing habits in a number of key regions. He produced CDs and films, and wrote extensively on Chinese music. His presentation, illustrated with film clips and sound examples, will offer an introduction to some of China's most fascinating rural songs, from eight-part choral polyphonic chants to high-pierced falsetto solo singing, from secret temple hymns to ritual courtship songs. A special focus weill be the mountain songs of Gansu and Qinghai, in which male and female singers try to seduce each other via dialogue songs. |
