Southern School Master of the Flute
In order to tell the story "The Lone Orchid in Spring" the flute master excelled in the past 30 years. "Three Five Seven" and "Scenes On the Wu River" became the best work for the bamboo flute. After some sixty years experience as a player of the dizi, Zhao Song-ting was generally recognized as representative of the southern school of technique and is responsible for the Zhejiang school style that blends the vigor of northern style with the gentler character of the southern. Innovations in technique include uninterrupted breathing and particular control of dynamics. He has invented new forms of instrument, such as the paidi, a group of flutes of different pitch bound together, and the L-shaped bass bamboo flute. He has developed the theory and method of frequency calculation of the transverse dizi and has composed and arranged music that enjoys wide popularity.
Zhao Song-ting
(1924-2001)
Shen Sin-yan
In recent months, the master of the dizi (Chinese bamboo flute), Zhao Song-ting, who was just preparing for his first U.S. concert and lecture tour, felt sick. He passed away on March 9, 2001, at the age of 77.
I first listened to his music was in the 1970's. I found a dizi piece, "Scenes on the Wu River" on a just-released album. The music as well as the performance was like a peacock showing off its splendid feathers. But somehow you could detect traces of sadness everywhere in the music. Later I found out that all his music gave me the same feeling.
In order to tell the story of "The Lone Orchid in Spring", let us go back to the beginning of Zhao's life. Zhao Song-ting was born in Dongyang, Zhejiang, on the 30th of September, 1924. He began to study music at the age of nine. When he was fifteen he studied with Ye Xiao-gou, an artist of the classical Kunqu opera, and spent his spare time playing in instrumental ensembles. He later served for three years as a music teacher, before moving to Shanghai to study law. Apparently, the love of music made him decide to choose music instead of law as his career later. After the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he worked as a dizi soloist in the army and with the Zhejiang Song and Dance Troupe. He toured a lot and soon became a rising star of the flute. One day after his return of a tour concert to the northeast, he found himself being accused of anti-revolution. His arrest was allegedly a result of an ugly and bitter political war within the Shanghai and Zhejiang musical circle. He was jailed for a very long period of time.
After his release, he took appointment in 1976 at Zhejiang College of Arts, of which he became artistic director. He also gave master classes at Shanghai Conservatory and Chinese Music Conservatory in Beijing. In 1987 he was given the title of Grade 1 State Instrumentalist and his name cleared. Zhao became the honorary president of the Zhejiang College of Arts, honorary chairman of the Zhejiang Music Association and a member of the expert panel of the Science and Technology Department of the Chinese Ministry of Culture. He is also visiting professor at Hangzhou University of Zhejiang, Shanghai Conservatory and Xi'an Conservatory.
After some sixty years experience as a player of the dizi, Zhao Song-ting was recognized as representative of the southern school of technique and is responsible for the Zhejiang school style that blends the vigor of northern style with the gentler character of the southern. His most famous piece, "Three Five Seven", was named after the special structure of three measure-five measure-seven measure of the composition. The musical idea has its root in the Zhejiang opera in the south, but its bright and dynamic performing style has a defining northern flavor.
Zhao's innovations in the dizi technique include uninterrupted breathing and particular control of dynamics. He has invented new forms of instrument, such as the paidi, a group of flutes of different pitch bound together, and the L-shaped bass bamboo flute. He has developed the theory and method of frequency calculation of the transverse dizi and has composed and arranged music that enjoys wide popularity. His pupils include virtuosi performing throughout China, as well as in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and various countries of Europe, America and Australia.
The repertory of Zhao Song-ting include:
"Morning"
"Three Five Seven"
"Flying Partridge"
"Er Fan"
"The Lone Orchid In Spring"
"Scenes On The Wu River."
Although both "Three Five Seven" and "Scenes On the Wu River" are the best work for the Zhejiang school of bamboo flute. I personally like "Scenes on the Wu River" the most. After all, it is the piece that introduced me to Zhao Song-ting.
This article is featured in the Chinese Music International Journal (CM) Volume 24 No. 2
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