Entertainment: Is this how you play music?!

Chapter 349: Practical Works, Completely Breaking Free from Established Forms!
As a Russian, even though I studied in China and know a lot about its history and culture, there were times when I was completely confused.

Naturally, it's easier to understand.

Winnie suddenly understood why she had to translate the work into such strange German words.

This is neither a wasted effort nor a misinterpretation.

All understanding progresses from the superficial to the profound; to give an imperfect example...
Wu Zetian? I don't understand.

Ekaterina? Now I understand.

As for the differences between the two, and the differences in their respective societies and ethnic cultures, those are things that can only be known after further understanding.

If you start from scratch, the cost of understanding will be infinitely increased.

"Yes, do you think I don't know that there are fundamental differences between Western and Eastern mythology?"

Li Can smiled and gently shook his head.

"The name 'Cloud Palace Melody' is very ethereal, and domestic listeners can easily understand the artistic conception and imagery it contains. If combined with the current mainstream interpretation of Journey to the West, it can also incorporate a lot of the spirit of resistance."

"When outputting such music, there will always be dogmatists who are self-righteous and foolishly arrogant, believing that the output must not have the slightest difference."

Speaking of it.

Li Can's tone began to be full of complaints.

"They start by emphasizing the differences between Eastern and Western mythology and the underlying ideas behind those myths, and then use imagery and vocabulary that only Eastern mythology understands to describe them. If this could be exported, I would eat the command post!"

"As an exporter, you only need to use an image that the other party can better understand to carry the beauty of the artwork. If the work has enough aesthetic value, the other party will naturally be interested in learning more. Differences and cultural depth are the second step, and can never be the first step!"

Upon hearing this, Winnie nodded thoughtfully.

"So, your statement on the show that 'artists are meddlesome and like to preach' comes from this?"

"That's right!"

Li Can was very certain.

"Therefore, it will be translated as 'The Heavenly Palace of the Gods'."

"Given the complex beliefs and diverse versions of myths among foreign audiences, there is no need to increase the learning curve by deliberately emphasizing how ethereal the Eastern fairy realm is or how different its aesthetics are."

"All they need to know is that this is the palace where the gods of the East reside. They will naturally use their own imagination of the abode of the gods. It could be a heaven filled with hymns, a magnificent Mount Olympus, or a grand Valhalla."

"At this point, the different feelings created by different artistic expressions will spontaneously generate differences, and they will become curious to understand what the South Heavenly Gate is."

"I understand now. Starting from the same point, different influencing factors create similarities that are different, which allows people to understand quickly and generate curiosity at the same time, saving the cost of cognitive substitution."

Winnie took out her notebook and wrote it down.

“A simple and straightforward analogy allows them to fill in the gaps in their own understanding. During this process, there will be cognitive biases due to cultural differences. These biases will only be corrected later by using different musical styles to express them.”

At this point, Winnie understood everything.

The foundation of both European and Chinese style decoration is that you first need to have a house, and to be discussed by others, you first need to look good.

Only when the house is aesthetically pleasing can we discuss the details and differences.

However, due to the bias of their profession, creators responsible for outputting works are more likely to focus on describing details and differences, often neglecting the house itself and its appearance quality.

Heavenly Palace

If you hear complex harmonies and a pipe organ, it must be depicting heaven. If the brass output is prominent, heavy, and epic, it is likely Mount Olympus. If the organ and lyre play the Grieg scale, it undoubtedly has the feel of Valhalla.

The title tells the audience that the piece depicts a "temple" or "heavenly palace," which is the essence of building a house.

As for what's inside...

It must be explained through the characteristics of the music.

Once Winnie understood this, she felt as if she had been given a X-ray vision buff, and the design within the music was completely clear to her.

When we look back at "The Sound of Cloud Palace" again, although the arrangement is purely Western orchestral, it also uses a lot of "imagery".

"The singing with female voices is actually very similar to the role of Gregorian chant in modern music, giving people a sense of holiness and sacredness. However, the polyphony and harmony are removed, and it is expressed in a major scale. In this way, the sense of holiness will turn into etherealness."

“There is a harp in the music. Generally speaking, the scenes depicted by the harp are very common in ancient Greek or British mythology. But the pentatonic scale you are using here will make the style of Fairy Lake of Fairies turn into the Jade Pool on the Clouds.”

“Unlike typical music that often progresses from gentle to intense, your music was designed from the beginning to feature a brass main section, creating a grand feeling. It is only after transcending the grandeur that the music is used to depict the beauty of the fairyland.”

Winnie really couldn't hold back anymore.

There are more than 800 hidden tricks in one work.

Even if he doesn't say it, others won't realize it.

"This is normal. It's about returning to the essence of musical expression; we shouldn't overemphasize design."

"Go to hell, this design isn't even that good."

Seeing Li Can's innocent look, Winnie was speechless and laughed.

But Li Can nodded very seriously.

"That's right. When producing output works, the design shouldn't be too heavy, but it should have a certain sense of subtlety."

"What the hell is this?!"

Winnie rolled her eyes and continued organizing her thesis materials.

A thesis cannot be completed in a day or two, unless it is an undergraduate thesis.

However, even though they are both undergraduate programs, the requirements are quite different. As the lead guitarist of the band DP, Winnie certainly didn't want her thesis to be just a simple copy and translation.

If something lacks substance, it will be criticized. The more famous it is, the higher the standards will naturally be; at the very least, it cannot be criticized as being worthless.

The thesis was written and revised repeatedly, and then overturned and rebuilt again and again.

The days passed slowly.

Time slowly passed until mid-August.

The rehearsal progress is about to make a major breakthrough.

Winnie's paper was also completed and published.

No surprise.

The paper had barely been published when it was discovered that it was written by Winnie, and a quick glance revealed that Li Can's paper was cited in the literature, naturally attracting a great deal of attention.

Among them were, of course, the musicians who had witnessed the dispute within the music association.

At the Central Conservatory of Music, Chu Wenjing, a professor specializing in composition and conducting, is reading papers in her office.

Looking at his students' papers.

While I was lamenting how terribly the paper was written, I actually found some of the ideas quite interesting.

A brief search was conducted.

"Oh, Li Can's paper. I excerpted a section, translated it from Chinese to Chinese, and did some reading comprehension."

The initial impression was actually not bad.

It's simply the feeling of a professor eating shit when reading a student's paper.

I've been eating this for so many years that I'm numb to it; it's no big deal.

But everything is afraid of comparison.

After reading Li Can's thesis and then the students' theses, I suddenly felt like I couldn't hold back anymore.

"Forget it, I'm not watching it for now!"

Chu Wenjing shook her head and closed a paper page.

It's one of my students. If his blood pressure keeps rising, let's look at something else first.

Looking at the staggering number of citations in Li Can's paper, Chu Wenjing couldn't help but click her tongue, feeling quite envious.

Opening recent A&HCI journals, the most-viewed paper is authored by Winnie Regina.

"Oh? His girlfriend?"

Chu Wenjing clicked in, and after taking a closer look, her expression turned serious.

"Teacher Chu, what are you looking at?"

A middle-aged man carrying a thermos walked into the office and greeted us with a smile.

It was Professor Zhang Song, Professor Chu Wenjing's colleague.

"Li Can's girlfriend's thesis."

Chu Wenjing let out a long breath, her eyes showing a hint of surprise.

"Unexpectedly, the issues that the Music Association discussed last time have already been answered this time."

Zhang Song was somewhat surprised to hear this.

During this period, the topics discussed by the Music Association have generated considerable discussion within the music industry.

With everyone expressing their own opinions, a solution was found surprisingly quickly.

The solution was provided in Winnie's paper, which made Zhang Song think of Li Can.

"Hmm? Did Li Can give his girlfriend some pointers?"

“There was definitely some guidance, but I don’t think much of it. There were ideas that originated from Li Can’s artistic views, but they were clearly different. Winnie focused more on balance, while Li Can has always been more radical in comparison. The overall writing style is also very smooth and coherent, which is different from Li Can.”

Hearing Chu Wenjing's words, Zhang Song became curious.

Sitting next to Chu Wenjing, he began to look at the paper on the computer screen.

With just one glance, Zhang Song saw into Li Can's heart through Winnie's thesis.

In addition to explaining the music itself.

In terms of ideology, the entire piece is filled with the phrase, "Don't be so ambitious but incompetent."

The principle is easy to understand.

In musical works, cultural attributes, ideological content, and musical design ingenuity that conform to these are all extremely important and indispensable.

But the prerequisite for these ingenious designs is...

You should focus on improving the "sound quality" first.

Whether something sounds good or bad is subjective, but at least it should evoke a feeling.

Whether it's moving, touching, beautiful, or even mesmerizing, it must at least elicit an emotional response.

However, many musical works that are innovative for the sake of innovation are not bad, but they are mediocre and even boring. They can only try their best to fill the void with so-called cultural ideas, which is putting the cart before the horse.

If it's just background music, that's fine; it's purely for emotional support. But if it's serious music, especially works involving cultural exchange, what good is it if it doesn't evoke any feeling?

"As expected of Li Can's girlfriend, just like her boyfriend, she directly makes sweeping generalizations. How many people will take this personally?"

Zhang Song was both amused and exasperated.

It didn't name anyone, but it was still a bit sharp.

"But what you said makes a lot of sense. In the music industry today, works in the field of serious music really need to get rid of that 'fatherly' feeling."

"The concept of synesthetic imagination in this musical element is very important. This paper will conduct an in-depth analysis of the different elements that affect the listener's listening experience, and make certain differentiated changes from the basic categories to affect the listener's auditory associations under different cognitions."

"Preachy, overly formalistic, and task-oriented communication works are essentially lacking in synesthetic imagination of musical elements. The key is not whether cultural and ideological education can be carried out, but how to carry out education. To put it more broadly, the most important first threshold is the music itself, which is the most important element of edutainment."

"Yes, it seems we can only wait for the Vienna New Year's Concert. Surely there will be perfect scores to refer to then."

Chu Wenjing and Zhang Song nodded repeatedly.

I'm increasingly looking forward to the New Year's concert.

This idea has appeared in the minds of many big shots.

The construction of theory requires the practice of works. In Winnie's paper, we can see the prototype of the theoretical construction. So how to delve into this kind of musical synesthesia and imagery mapping? We have to look at real works.

However, ever since the Vienna New Year's Concert revealed the conductor, Li Can and his group have seemed to have disappeared.

At this moment, Li Can was receiving assistance from people in China.

As the rehearsals progressed to this stage, it was natural that the piece "The Butterfly Lovers" would be performed.

Four guests arrived at the Imperial Hotel in Vienna, Austria.

Two Yue Opera professors and one violinist.

And Zhao Ze, who appears to be a bassist in the band Devil Power but is actually a string master.

The violinist is none other than Zong Yan, Zhao Ze's violin teacher at the National Conservatory of Music and a top-three violinist in China.

Li Can originally wanted to get Zhao Ze to perform "The Butterfly Lovers", but a problem arose.

Zhao Ze is a bit too young, and his skill level is still quite far from that of Vienna.

If we're talking about who has the most skills and the broadest knowledge in the field of string instruments, Zhao Ze has a lot to say.

However, if we look at the level of performance on a single instrument...

That's alright then, it's better to ask the teacher to come.

As for Zhao Ze, he has another mission this time.

Zhao Ze played a significant role in rehearsing by utilizing synesthetic experiences through musical elements.

"Li Can, your piece is a little different."

Zongyan received the sheet music very early on.

Anyone who dares to come to Vienna must have practiced to the point of being completely out of their depth.

I had been holding this question in my heart for a long time, and after seeing Li Can, I couldn't help but ask it.

"It's a concerto, but it's not a concerto either. If we just do it like this, I reckon some people in the industry will say something about that."

"Say what you want, we'll do whatever we want."

Upon hearing Li Can's words, Zong Yan couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

No wonder he is Professor Xu Qing's disciple.

It cannot be said to be completely similar; it can only be said to be exactly the same.

The Butterfly Lovers

If you only look at the sheet music.

This can't be called a concerto! It's not even close to being a concerto!
If you only talk about sonata form, then talking about concerto means you've forgotten all your knowledge of musical form.

But this work is indeed a concerto, and it can be played as a concerto, only the method and texture are completely different.

Li Can was pointing at the piece, pressing everyone's heads down and saying, "I can play a concerto whenever I want, I say this is it, this is it."

What can we do? Just accept it.
Zongyan gave a thumbs-up and praised him.

"The strong are always good at breaking the rules."

(End of this chapter)