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A Hong Kong resident for more than 40 years, the American guqin player John Thompson will stage three recitals with sharing sessions to reveal the scope and sheer beauty of guqin music.
The recitals will be held at 7.30pm on July 5, August 2 and September 6 (Saturdays) at the Recital Hall of Hong Kong City Hall, featuring music of the early, middle and late Ming dynasty respectively. The programmes will include "Amidst Mountains Thinking of an Old Friend", "Nomad Reed Pipe", "Clouds over the Xiao and Xiang Rivers", "Unity of the Great Ming", "Fisherman's Song", "Hidden Virtue", "Wine Mad" and "Canon of Form and Emptiness" (Heart Sutra). A sharing session will be conducted (in English with Cantonese translation) after each performance. Through questions and answers and accompanying discussions on forms of guqin music, Thompson will elaborate on some beautiful but largely unknown early works for the benefit of the audience.
The guqin once provided the music of the Chinese literati class. The earliest surviving books with detailed scores of Chinese music are some 40 handbooks for the silk string guqin zither published during the Ming dynasty. In addition, the 77 melodies in the two most important collections, "Shen Qi Mi Pu" (handbook of spiritual and marvellous mysteries, 1425) and "Zheyin Shizi Qinpu" (guqin handbook of music from the Zhejiang school with lyrics, 1491), both from the early Ming dynasty, were written using a tablature that is still in use today. The intention behind these two works was to re-create the music that had been played in China in the 13th century, at the end of the Song dynasty. With our current state of knowledge it is not possible to say to what extent this music was of the Song dynasty rather than of the Ming dynasty, but it seems to represent very well the musical ideals of the 15th century guqin players.
Born in the USA, Thompson studied piano and violin as a child. After gaining a college degree in Western musicology (early music) and completing graduate studies in ethnomusicology (Asian music), he began to study guqin under Sun Yu-qin in Taiwan in 1974. In 1976, he turned his focus to its early repertoire, moving to Hong Kong to consult with Tong Kin-woon. Throughout these 40 years Thompson has continued his guqin work, which includes composing but emphasises reconstructing, analysing, teaching and performing ancient guqin music, and he has gradually gained a reputation for fidelity, fluency and feeling in his performances.
Since 1976 Thompson's focus has been guqin music published during the Ming dynasty. Through exclusive use of silk strings and carefully following the written scores, he has become the best-known practitioner of historically informed performance of early guqin music.
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, tickets for the recitals priced at $120 (free seating) are now available at URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by telephone credit card booking. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 15 per cent is offered for a single purchase of two or more performances.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/program_553.html. Ticketing enquiries can be made on 3761 6661 and telephone credit card booking on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Saturday, May 24, 2014
Issued at HKT 11:01
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