中国民乐
Chinese Folk Music
The Chinese believe that music is an expression of harmony that exists among heaven, earth and man, and nature has provided man with eight kinds of such materials to build musical instruments. Therefore traditionally, Chinese instruments are also classified according to the type of material they are made from. They are stone, metal, silk, bamboo, wood, skin, gourd and clay.
Stone - A good example is the Pien Ching. It is a set of L-shaped stones, of different quantities and sizes, hanging from a stand and struck with a special hammer. They are played only at court and during religious ceremonies.
Metal - Includes Bells, Luo (gongs) and Bo (cymbals).
Silk - Refers to the stringed instruments. The stringed instruments can be further divided into two categories: the bowed strings (e.g. Erhu) and the plucked strings (e.g Guzheng).
Bamboo - the majority of woodwind instruments are made from bamboo. Examples include the dizi (flute), suona (trumpet).
Wood - This section includes a large variety of small percussion instruments including wooden blocks, boxes and xylophones with wooden blocks. These were used by Buddhist monks during religious ceremonies.
Skin - Drums are often covered with different types of animal skins along the top or head.
Gourd - a type of plant. A sheng (mouth organ) is one of the oldest Chinese instruments made out of hollowed-out pumpkin-like vegetables. It consists of a wind-chest and a number of bamboo pipes set in a circle. The sheng imitates the sound of a phoenix.
Clay - The ocarina, a small, egg-shaped wind instrument (with six holes for the finger tips) made of clay.
The variations of rhythm, beat, tone quality, and embellishments in Chinese music are highly distinctive and unlike their Western counterparts. This is mainly due to the unique sounds and playing styles of traditional Chinese musical instruments.
Most Chinese instruments are performed as solo form as well as a part of an ensemble or orchestra. A Chinese orchestra is a mixture of many cultural traditions. Similar to a western philharmonic orchestra, a full Chinese orchestra is made up of four sections as below:
Plucked-strings - Pipa, Liuqin, Yangqin, Ruan, Yueqin, Guzheng, Guqin, Sanxian, etc.
Bowed-strings - Erhu, Jinghu, Gaohu, Gehu, Banhu, Matouqin, etc.

【中央民族乐团介绍】
中央民族乐团是当今我国最具民族代表性、最完整的国家民族乐团。乐团由庞大的民族管弦乐队和民族合唱队组成，并拥有一批具有卓越成就的艺术家和管理人才。乐团创始人为前中国音乐家协会主席、著名作曲家李焕之（1919.01- 2000.03）。现任团长席强。

中国是一个具有悠久历史、多民族的文明古国，有着灿烂的音乐文化传统。经过数千年的继承、改革和发展，现在中国民族音乐在世界上已独树一帜。中央民族乐团以其丰富多彩的形式演奏、演唱了大量极富浓郁民族风格的作品，同时，也以其独特的艺术形式展现了中国当代的音乐风貌。

乐团以弘扬中国民族音乐文化为宗旨，收集和整理了大批优秀的民族民间音乐，为继承和发扬民族音乐做出了卓越的贡献。毛泽东、周恩来、江泽民、胡锦涛、曾庆红等党和国家领导人曾多次观看乐团演出，并给予高度评价。乐团涌现出秦鹏章、王铁锤、张黎、刘文金、姜嘉锵、胡炳旭、阎惠昌、周耀琨、丁鲁峰、王慧中、吴玉霞、王次恒、唐峰、宋飞、杨静、冯晓泉、曾格格等著名演奏家和指挥家，并拥有大批在国内外音乐大赛中获奖的优秀音乐人才。国内外著名音乐家马友友、谭盾、郭文景、瞿小松、陈怡、周龙、艾森巴赫、让?雅尔、汤沐海、陈澄雄、陈燮阳、三木稔等都曾与乐团合作演出。

建团以来，乐团除了在中国各地巡回演出外，还先后多次出访英国、法国、德国、奥地利、俄罗斯、美国、丹麦、瑞典、希腊、埃及、日本等横跨五大洲的几十个国家和地区。1993年，乐团与日本音乐集团和韩国国立管弦乐团共同创建了亚洲乐团，为促进亚洲民族音乐的创作和交流做出了贡献。1997年乐团应美国ICM公司邀请赴纽约、华盛顿、芝加哥、洛杉矶等十几个城市巡回演出，并在纽约卡内基音乐厅与世界著名大提琴演奏家马友友合作演出。1998年、1999年乐团两度赴奥地利维也纳“金色大厅”和柏林爱乐大厅举办《中国新春音乐会》，取得了巨大成功。2000年，乐团随江泽民总书记进入联合国会议大厅进行专场演出，从而拉开了“2000中华文化美国行”的序幕；2002年赴日本参加“中日文化年”开幕式演出；同年6月赴希腊参加“雅典艺术节”，在世界著名的希洛德古剧场演出；2003年赴法国参加“中法文化年”开幕式演出及11个城市巡演；2005年赴荷兰在阿姆斯特丹音乐厅演出，均获成功。乐团精湛的演出获得当地观众及新闻媒体的高度赞誉，并在国内外掀起了中国民族音乐的热潮。

随着新世纪的到来，乐团委约了国内外多名著名的作曲家创作了大量新作品，并从国内最高音乐学府的毕业生中吸收了大量优秀人才，未来的中央民族乐团，将以崭新的面貌为我国的民族音乐事业走向世界、再创辉煌做出应有的贡献。

乐队介绍
Introduction of the orchestra

The orchestra of the National Traditional Chinese Ensemble is the most influential orchestra on the Chinese music stage. Their long years of rich experience and mastery was developed and perfected evolving into various music styles and rooted in various traditional folk music genre, such as drum music, silk and bamboo music, and wind instruments ensemble from Canton, Chaozhou, South of the Yangtze River, Zhejiang, Fujian，Hebei, Northeast-China, as well as from Xinjiang. In the past several decades this ensemble worked with various other groups collecting, arranging, compositions and invented and produced new instruments, such as the added-keys mouth organ, Chinese fiddle, Chinese harp, and the added-keys zouna. These not only enriched the tone color of the Chinese Traditional Ensemble, but also contributed to their development.

To spread the essence of national music and enhance its spirit, a number of well known musicians, such as the composers and conductors Li Huanzhi and Qin Pengzhang, rearranged music for the Ensemble, including the "Overture of the Spring Festival", "Folk dance music of the Yao", "Moonlit Flowers by the Spring River", and " Dance Music of the South Frontier". Based on the symphonic development of the Orchestra, composer Mr. Liu Wenjin has created numerous new innovative and spirited compositions including the "Ballad of North Henan", "Three Door Gorge Capriccio","Soaring Aspirations", "Festival of the Mountain Village", "Unforgettable Water-Sprinkling Festival","the Great Wall Caprice", and "Jasmine Flower”. Qin Pengzhang, Yan Huichang and Hu Bingxu and other conductors were instrumental in training the Orchestra. They can motivate artistic emotion of the players, elevate the level of performance of the Orchestra. Numerous well-known musicians and conductors worked in the Ensemble. Among these are bamboo flute players: Wang Tiechui and Ning Baosheng; Chinese fiddle players: Chen Chaoru and Zhou Yaokun, Ding Lufeng; mouth organ player: Wang Huizhong; Chinese harp player: Cui Junzhi. Now many first-rate musicians in China are working in the Orchestra, among them the Pipa player: Wu Yuxia, bamboo flute players Wang Ciheng and Zeng Gege, Chinese fiddle players Tang Feng and Li Yuanyuan, zuona players Li Guangcai and Feng Xiaoquan, mouth organ player Zhu Jiaming, Chinese lute player Wei Yuru, percussionist He Jianguo and the liuqin player Zhang Xinhua.

The musicians of the Orchestra have worked hard to build a new style national orchestra, and not only continue the tradition but successfully develop tradition. In recent years, this orchestra performed in many cities of Europe, America, and Asia, and they performed in Vienna's Golden Hall, America's Carnegie Concert Hall, Lincoln Art Center, Berliner Philharmoniker, Japan's Saporo Concert Hall, and Denmark's National Concert Hall. Audiences everywhere showed appreciation and enthusiasm. Meanwhile the Orchestra rearranged numerous foreign compositions, such as "A Gavotte with Chinese Style", "An Invention of J.S Bach", "Carmen Overture", "Radetzky-Marsch", and "Alilang", a Korean folksong. These new arrangements successfully combine the have a unique Chinese style and the ethnic characteristics of those of foreign cultures.

New compositions represent new images. The constant expansion and innovation of the Orchestra bring the audience the full enjoyment of the infinite allure of music. China needs to establish and develop a Chinese orchestra. A new and comprehensive national Ensemble not only represents the view of socialist spiritual culture, but also reflects the new developing form of the modern Chinese music. Chinese national instrumental music art is one of the unique performing forms of Chinese culture and a treasure of the world culture, splendidly embellishing the stage of the world culture and eye-dazzlingly accompanying the improvement of the times.

二胡
又名“胡琴”，唐代已出现。现已成为我国独具魅力的拉弦乐器。它既适宜表现深沉、悲凄的内容，也能描写气势壮观的意境。勾人心魄的《二泉映月》、催人泪下的《江河水》、思绪如潮，宏伟壮丽的《长城随想》协奏曲等都是代表性曲目。二胡也成为歌舞伴奏和大型合奏乐队中的重要声部。

Erhu
This instrument, also called the Huqin was known as the Xiqin during the Song Dynasty. The Huqin described in Yuan Dynasty records was the real forerunner of the modern Erhu, having its stem, sound box and pegs made of wood. The sound box can be round, hexagonal or octagonal, with one of its ends covered with snakeskin, sometimes from a python, and the other end an ornamentally carved sound vent. There are two strings, played with a bamboo bow with horsetail passing behind the strings, The range is normally five octaves, and sometimes four in special cases, In modern times, many people have made innovations to improve the timbre of Erhu.

琵琶
原称“批把”因弹奏方式而得名。从白居易的不朽名诗《琵琶行》足见琵琶在唐宋时期相当盛行。琵琶常用于独奏、重奏、器乐合奏。代表曲目有《阳春白雪》、《十面埋伏》、《月儿高》、《寒上曲》等。

Pipa
The earliest form of this instrument appeared in the Qin Dynasty, It had a long neck, leather surface and circular sound box, and was held upright.

From the Tang and Song dynasties, the Pipa underwent unceasing development until it attained the form it has today: a semi-pear-shaped sound box, paulownia-wood top board, the neck curved backwards,“xiang”and“pin”frets on the body and neck, four strings and four-or five-octave intervals.

The Pipa is now one of China's most important national instruments for solo, accompaniment and ensemble recital.

笛子
一般认为，在汉武帝时笛自西域传入中原。形制较多，常用的有梆笛、曲笛两种。常用于演奏、合奏和戏曲、歌曲伴奏。代表曲目有《喜相逢》、《三五七》、《鹧鸪飞》等。

Dizi
This transverse bamboo flute has a blowing hole, a stop hole and six finger holes. The two holes furthest from the player are fundamental tone holes and next to them are two auxiliary tone holes. Its range is two and a half octaves.

大鼓
大鼓也叫大堂鼓，为较大型的鼓，鼓框木制，一般鼓面直径在一尺半以上。由木制的圆桶上下端蒙以两块面积相等的牛皮而成。一般摆在四脚的木架上演奏，奏时用两根木槌敲击面而发音，音色低沉而厚实。大鼓无固定音高，用一线记谱。 代表曲目《亚洲鼓魂》。

Percussion
Orchestral music, although it was known as “performance of metals”, was played on arrangements of bells, drums and stone chimes. This orchestral music was very elaborate, and in old days, was for the entertainment of the emperor and the feudal lords only. Lesser nobility had to be content with drums. The sonorous volume of bells and chimes combined to form majestic sound, and when drums were added, they had an incomparable effect of honoring the exalted positions and authority of the emperor and the feudal lords.

扬琴
扬琴是一件外来乐器，在中国的发展已有二百多年的历史。扬琴属于打弦乐器，双手持一副竹制的琴键敲击琴弦发音。音质特点：扬琴音域较宽，音色刚柔并济，有人把它称作中国的钢琴。经典曲目有《天山诗画》、《金蛇独舞》、《苗岭的早晨》。

Yangqin
Beside daqing (struck instrument with two beaters), one of its other names means“foreign instrument”in its original Chinese character, owing to the fact that the Yangqin is an adaptation of the Persian santur or some Arabian type. The original was confined to the southeastern coastal province of Guangdong late in the Ming dynasty (c. the 16th century). It spread later throughout the inner areas.

The earliest type was arranged in two choirs (two rows of bridges), each having 8, later 10-12 courses (2 or 4 strings per course). In the 1960s, it developed into a type with 3 choirs. Special devices such as the grooves with balls on both sides were added for the convenience in modulating. One of the recent types, without grooves, is arranged in traditional Chinese 12 lu, similar to Western chromatic scale, for more convenient modulation. Its range is over 4 octaves. Under the box is a damper to control lingering tones.

The instrument, bright and harmonious in tone, is often used for solos and in ensembles or in the accompaniment of local operas, narratives and other vocal singings.

古琴
是“八音”分类中“丝”的代表乐器，又名七弦琴。历史悠久，故现称古琴。常用于独奏或与洞箫合奏，现存的琴谱有数千首之多，是一个巨大的音乐宝库。各流派的代表曲目有《流水》、《潇湘水云》、《梅花三弄》等。

Qin
The Qin symbolizes the silk category in the bayin classifications. It arose from the instrument long history of 3000 years or more. it is often used for sols or in duets with the vertical dongxiao flute. The extant tablatures are thousands in number, a vast repertory of various schools.

Repertory: Flowing Water and Cloud of Xiao Xiang, three Variations of the Plum Blossom Tune.