Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Chinese Music: A Request

A bleg, of sorts. I'm very interested in listening to some good Chinese traditional music, not necessarily court music but whatever constitutes virtuoso singing or playing, in whatever style. I'd like to get the chance to become familiar with it before arriving in China, and it would be great to have some basic understanding of its forms and variations.

Can anyone help by recommending recorded artists, pointing me at educational articles, or recommending places in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an or Chengdu where I can listen to good music?

6 comments:

Forrest said...

well, the first fan of Chinese I met.
In fact , there are many traditional Chinese music and instruments. And today 12 pretty girls builds up one team to play music combined modern with traditional. That is what I wanna prefer most.

Anonymous said...

You might like Phases of the Moon. The Edge of Heaven is also good although a bit on the modern side.

Anonymous said...

And while you're in Beijing, I heartily recommend making two stops: 1) the dragon pavilions to the northwest in Beihai Park, where people often sing and play traditional Chinese music, and 2) the Temple of Heaven, where there are usually plenty of people playing traditional instruments. Both are good places to take kids.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CsZCbWWr8o

Unknown said...

Those are really great links - thanks so much. I'm looking forward to checking out Beihai Park.

Anonymous said...

An outstanding album of qin music, 'Lost Sounds of the Tao' by Lo Ka Ping, can be downloaded here:

http://sharebee.com/55506195