On the night of March 8, a national concert tour of Chinese art songs was held at Beihang Sunrise Concert Hall. Huang Lu, a young soprano, provided audience with a fantastic feast of music with her pleasant voice.

Unlike chorus, folk songs and pop music, an art song is often a musical setting of an independent poem or text with strong literary and artistic senses. The composer uses the full resources of the art form to embellish the poem. Besides, tones and rhythm are also main focuses in art songs. The national concert tour of Chinese art songs made its debut at Shandong University of Arts and Linyi University at the end of 2018, making a hit once it was staged.

Before the show, Liu Xiaojiang from China Conservatory of Music previewed the programs. Zhang Huan, a young pianist played piano accompaniment for the concert. The concert kicked off with a female solo song “Passing at Yangguan Pass” adapted from a classic music. Then, more than 10 enduring masterpieces like “Listen to the Rain”, “The Phoenix Hairpin”, “Crying Ospreys” were presented, receiving deafening applause. The mellifluous music, elegant accompaniment together with useful previews created an atmosphere of refinement and impressed audience with lingering charm and beauty of art songs. The concert reached the climax when audience constantly called for encore.

The art songs specially selected for the concert represent the transformation of traditional Chinese lyric poetry towards a more modern and innovative style, which is also a display and enrichment of profound traditional Chinese culture.

Reported and edited by Song Chao

Translated by Xiong Ting