By Howard Ho
DAILY BRUIN REPORTER
[email protected]
The Spring Festival of World Music, which began last Thursday,
continued Friday with a free concert of Chinese and Bulgarian
music. Featuring ensembles from UCLA’s ethnomusicology
department, the concert contrasted two cultural domains that could
not be any more different from each other.
The Music of China ensemble, led by instructor Chi Li, began
with two pieces for large, 90-piece Chinese orchestra, which, like
a Western orchestra, has bowed strings, plucked strings, winds and
percussion. Unlike a symphony orchestra, this music’s
emphasis was on melody, not rhythm or harmony, and most everyone
played in unison. All the instruments were traditional Chinese
instruments, such as the pipa (a Chinese lute), erhu (a Chinese
violin), and xiao (a Chinese flute).
The music often came from ancient musical manuscripts and
portrayed mostly internal emotion, especially with the solo
performances. Each seemed to tell a very personal tale of
loneliness and sorrow. In fact, Mike Gubman’s solo on a qin,
(an ancient string instrument) dated from 1864, was accompanied by
several incense sticks burning on stage, a sign of repentance and
internal purification.
These internal struggles were also supplemented with many
playful pieces, often involving dances. The lion and fan dances
showcased the colorful Chinese traditional costumes as well as
captivating the audience with its choreography. In a departure from
Chinese melodies, these dance pieces were accompanied by
percussion. One standout piece was the duet of dizis (bamboo
flutes), where Tiffany Chen and Michael Sheridan played what
sounded like Chinese counterpoint. The sound of the piece titled
“Talking Back,” was akin to two birds arguing with each
other and trying to out-sing the other party. The music’s
humor, however, did not keep the audience from being cordial and
quiet.
Adelaine Foo’s Chinese opera theatrics ended the concert
with beautiful singing and stage acting as she fed imaginary
poultry and livestock. As her performance emphasized, the Chinese
music was about telling stories of internal struggle with lilting
melodies.
The Balkan ensemble, led by Ivan and Tzvetanka Varimezova, took
a 180-degree turn from Chinese music. Instead of doing ancient
pieces, the ensemble focused on a style known as Bulgarian
neotraditional, which features traditional Bulgarian folk tunes
incorporated into mostly modern instruments and modern harmonies.
Unlike the Chinese ensemble, the group utilized rhythmic drive and
provocative harmonies, but also had fast, catchy melodies. The
opening band consisted of a bass guitar, an electric guitar, two
saxophones, two accordions, two clarinets, a tupan (Bulgarian bass
drum) and a gaida (a Bulgarian bagpipe). After watching the band
set up, audience members immediately reacted with cries of
“Let’s Rock!”
Indeed, they did ““ in a type of music that seemed to
combine Celtic rhythms and melodic virtuosity with Middle Eastern
melismas, trills and ornamentations. If that description makes no
sense, it’s because the music itself was hard to pin down,
owing to Bulgaria’s history both as a part of Europe and the
former Turkish empire. Solo turns seemed to resemble jazz-like
improvisations and the rhythm was so danceable that the final
number contained an invitation for the audience members to come
onstage and do just that.
The women’s choir, conducted by Tzvetanka Varimezova,
floated beautifully on top of exquisite chords and a wonderful
tone. Occasional yelps and calls dotted the music, adding flavor.
The expert vocal glissandos (sliding down a note) elicited laughs
from the audience and demanded several short encores.
If the audience stayed quiet and clapped politely for the
Chinese ensemble, they went crazy for the Bulgarians, tearing the
roof down with deafening whistling and standing ovations. This was
not the internal struggle of an opera aria but the raucous fun of a
rock concert.
The mismatching of China and Bulgaria created a concert that had
the best of both worlds. While the two musical cultures seemed to
have very little in common, they shared the goal of exporting the
listener from UCLA to wherever the music would take them. Both
groups succeeded and anticipated the possibility for more musical
travels as the world music festival continues May 30 to June 2 with
the music of Africa, Asia, and South America.