Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble is a song and dance company from the Chinese province of Hubei. That province has a rich musical tradition, with its own styles of opera and many folk songs. The company became best known for performances of ancient court music on replicas of instruments from Chinese antiquity.

Music and breakthrough

The occasion was a find in Hubei in the late 1970s: the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, from the fifth century BC. In it lay a large set of bronze bells, a bianzhong, which hung in rows on a wooden rack. Such bells do not sound by means of a clapper, but are struck from the outside with mallets. On recordings from 1989 the company plays pieces such as Bianzhong Chime Bell Solo, Music of the Chu Palace and Concert of the Eight Tones. The name Chu refers to the ancient kingdom in this region. The eight tones are the old Chinese classification of instruments by the material they are made of, such as metal, stone, silk and bamboo.

Influence

The music gives an idea of how the court in ancient China may have sounded. It remains a reconstruction, though: nobody knows exactly what was played at the time. Even so, it shows that long before Western pop music there was already complex, organised music, with tuned instruments made specially for the court.

Listening

• 
  Bianzhong Chime Bell Solo · Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble, 1989
• 
  Music of the Chu Palace · Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble, 1989
• 
  Concert of the Eight Tones · Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble, 1989

See also

• Ancient China: bells and court music