Ruan (instrument)
Ruan | |
---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | ruǎnqín |
The ruan (
Sizes
The ruan comes in a family of five sizes:
- soprano: gaoyinruan (高音阮, lit. "high pitched ruan"; tuning: G3-D4-G4-D5)
- alto: xiaoruan (小阮, lit. "small ruan"; tuning: D3-A3-D4-A4)
- tenor: zhongruan (中阮, lit. "medium ruan"; tuning: G2-D3-G3-D4)
- bass: daruan (大阮, lit. "large ruan"; tuning: D2-A2-D3-A3)
- contrabass: diyinruan (低音阮, lit. "low pitched ruan"; tuning: G1-D2-G2-D3)
The ruan is now most commonly used in
Playing techniques and usage
The instrument can be played using a
In Chinese orchestras, only the zhongruan and daruan are commonly used, to fill in the tenor and bass section of the plucked string section. Occasionally the gaoyinruan is used to substitute the high-pitched liuqin.
Daruan soloists generally use the D-A-D-A tuning, as it allows for the easy performance of diatonic chords. Some orchestral players tune to C-G-D-A, which is exactly the same as cello tuning. The advantage of using C-G-D-A in orchestras is so that the daruan can easily double the cello part.
A ruan ensemble (重奏) consists of two or more members of the ruan family, for instance, an ensemble of the xiaoruan, zhongruan and daruan. The wide range covered by the ruan, its easily blended tone quality, and the variety of soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass instruments all make ruan ensembles very effective in playing polyphonic music.
History
Ruan may have a history of over 2,000 years, the earliest form may be the qin pipa (秦琵琶), which was then developed into ruanxian (named after
The antecedent of ruan in the Qin dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC), i.e. the Qin pipa, had a long, straight neck with a round sound box in contrast to the pear-shape of pipa of later dynasties. The name of "pipa" is associated with "tantiao" (彈挑), a right hand techniques of playing a plucked string instrument. "Pi" (琵), which means "tan" (彈), is the downward movement of plucking the string. "Pa" (琶), which means "tiao" (挑), is the upward movement of plucking the string.[5]
The present name of the Qin pipa, which is "ruan", was not given until the Tang dynasty (8th century). During the reign of
Also during the Tang dynasty, a ruanxian was brought to Japan from China. Now this ruanxian is still stored in
Nowadays, although the ruan was never as popular as the pipa, the ruan has been divided into several smaller and better-known instruments within the recent few centuries, such as
The famed Tang poet Bai Juyi (白居易) once penned a poem about the ruan, entitled "Having a Little Drink and Listening to the Ruanxian with the Deputy Minister of Linghu" 《和令狐仆射小饮听阮咸》 (He Linghu Puye Xiao Yin Ting Ruanxian):
《和令狐仆射小饮听阮咸》 Having a Little Drink and Listening to the Ruanxian with the Deputy Minister of Linghu (He Linghu Puye Xiao Yin Ting Ruanxian) 作者:白居易(唐) by Bai Juyi (Tang dynasty, 772–846)
- 掩抑复凄清,非琴不是筝。
- Gloom and melancholy compounded with misery and desolation;
- It's not a qin, and neither is it a zheng.
- 还弹乐府曲,别占阮家名。
- It still plays yuefu songs,
- And also bears the Ruan family name.
- 古调何人识,初闻满座惊。
- Of ancient melodies, who [today] knows them?
- [Yet] upon first listen, all those in attendance are left in awe.
- 落盘珠历历,摇佩玉琤琤。
- Pearls fall on a platter, one by one;
- Shaken pendants of jade jangle.
- 似劝杯中物,如含林下情。
- As if to urge [listeners to drain] the contents of their winecups,
- Or to harbor emotions [such as one might feel while lying] beneath a grove [of flowering plum trees].
- 时移音律改,岂是昔时声。
- As the times change, so too does music;
- Can this be the sound of former times?
Ruan and Pipa
A small pipa was found in murals of tombs in
During the
Note that the frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers never touch the actual body—distinctively different from western fretted instruments. This allows for a greater control over timbre and intonation than their western counterparts, but makes chordal playing more difficult.
Laruan (bowed ruan)
In addition to the plucked ruan instruments mentioned above, there also exist a family of bowed string instruments called lāruǎn and dalaruan (literally "bowed ruan" and "large bowed ruan"). Both are bowed bass register instruments designed as alternatives to the gehu and diyingehu in large orchestras of Chinese traditional instruments. These instruments correspond to the cello and double bass in range. Chinese orchestras currently using the laruan and dalaruan include the China National Traditional Orchestra and Central Broadcasting National Orchestra, the latter formerly conducted by the late maestro Peng Xiuwen (彭修文).
Repertoire
A famous work in the zhongruan repertoire is the zhongruan concerto "Reminiscences of Yunnan" 《云南回忆》 by Liu Xing (刘星, b. China, 1962), the first full-scale concerto for the zhongruan and the Chinese orchestra. This work finally established the zhongruan as an instrument capable of playing solo with the Chinese orchestra.
Some works for the ruan:
- 《满江红》 Red Fills the River – zhongruan concerto
- 《汉琵琶情》 Love of the Han Pipa – zhongruan concerto
- 《玉关引》 Narration of Yuguan – ruan quartet
- 《山韵》 Mountain Tune – zhongruan concerto
- 《塞外音诗》 Sound Poem Beyond The Great Wall- zhongruan concerto
- 《泼水节》The Water Festival- Ruan Tecerto
- 《睡莲》 Water Lilies- zhongruan solo
- 《火把节之夜》 Night of the Torch Festival- zhongruan solo 吴俊生* – Fernwood "Nightingale"[permanent dead link]
- 《翠华山的传说》
Some of Lin Jiliang's compositions for the ruan:
- 《石头韵》
- 《凤凰花开》 Flowers Open in Fenghuang Translation from MDBG.net
- 《满江红》
- 《侗歌》
- 《草原抒怀》
- 《牧马人之歌》
- 《石林夜曲》
Some of Liu Xing's compositions for the ruan:
- 《云南回忆》 Reminiscences of Yunnan, zhongruan concerto
- 《第二中阮协奏曲》Second Zhongruan Concerto
- 《山歌》, zhongruan solo
- 《月光》, zhongruan solo
- 《孤芳自赏》, zhongruan solo
- 《天地之间》, zhongruan solo
- 《第六号-异想天开》, zhongruan duet
- 《第七号- 夜长梦多》, zhongruan solo
- 《第十一号-心不在焉》, zhongruan solo
- 《流连忘返》, zhongruan solo
- 《随心所欲》, zhongruan solo
- 《回心转意》, zhongruan solo
- 《来日方长》, zhongruan solo
- 《无所事事》, zhongruan solo
- 《水到渠成》, zhongruan solo
- 《心旷神怡》, zhongruan solo
Some of Ning Yong's compositions for the ruan:
- 《拍鼓翔龙》 Flying Dragons in Drum Beats, zhongruan solo (composed with Lin Jiliang)
- 《丝路驼铃》 Camel Bells on the Silk Road, zhongruan/ daruan solo
- 《篮关雪》 Snow at Lan Guan, zhongruan solo
- 《终南古韵》 Ancient Tune of Zhongnan, zhongruan/ daruan solo
- 《望秦川》 zhongruan solo
Notable players and composers
- Cui Jun Miao (崔军淼)
- Ding Xiaoyan (丁晓燕)
- Fei Jian Rong(费剑蓉)
- Feng Mantian (冯满天)
- Lin Jiliang (林吉良)
- Liu Bo (刘波)
- Liu Xing (刘星)
- Miao Xiaoyun (苗晓芸)
- Ning Yong (宁勇)
- NiNi Music
- Ruan Shi Chun (阮仕春)
- Shen Fei (沈非)
- Su Handa (苏涵达)
- Tan Su-Min, Clara(陈素敏)
- Wang Zhong Bing (王仲丙)
- Wei Wei(魏蔚)
- Wei Yuru (魏育茹)
- Wu Qiang (吴强)
- Xu Yang (徐阳)
- Zhang Rong Hui (张蓉晖)
Makers
Beijing
- Xinghai (星海)
Shanghai
- Dunhuang (敦煌)
Suzhou
- Huqiu (虎丘)
See also
References
- ^ The music of pipa
- ISBN 9780873384551.
- Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era. Original text: 漢遣烏孫公主,念其行道思慕,使工知音者,戰琴箏築箜篌之屬,作馬上之樂。 Translation: "The Han Emperor sent the Wusun princess, and being mindful of her thoughts and longings on her journey, instructed expert music craftsmen to make an instrument, based on the zheng, zhu, and konghou, which is tailored for playing on horseback." (Note that there are variations of this passage from other sources, and Konghou is not listed in the other sources.)
- Jin dynasty. Original text: 樂錄雲,琵琶本出於弦鼗。而杜摯以為秦之末世,苦於長城之役。百姓弦鼗而鼓之 Translation: According to Yuelu, pipa originated from xiantao. Du Zhi thought that towards the end of Qin dynasty, people who suffered as forced labourers on the Great Wall, played it using strings on a drum with handle. (Note that for the word xiantao, xian means string, tao means pellet drum, one common form of this drum is a flat round drum with a handle, a form that has some resemblance to Ruan.)
- ^ Shen, Sin-Yan (1991). Chinese Music and Orchestration: A Primer on Principles and Practice, p. 102. Chinese Music Society of North America, Woodridge. October 19, 2009.
- ^ 杜佑 《通典》 Tongdian by Du You. Original text: 阮咸,亦秦琵琶也,而項長過於今制,列十有三柱。武太后時,蜀人蒯朗於古墓中得之,晉竹林七賢圖阮咸所彈與此類同,因謂之阮咸。 Translation: Ruan Xian, also called Qin pipa, although its neck was longer than today's instrument. It has 13 frets. During Empress Wu period, Kuailang from Sichuan found one in an ancient tomb. Ruan Xian of The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove from the Jin dynasty was pictured playing this same kind of instrument, it was therefore named after Ruan Xian.
- ^ a b c Shen, Sin-Yan (1991). Chinese Music and Orchestration: A Primer on Principles and Practice, p. 108. Chinese Music Society of North America, Woodridge. October 19, 2009.
- ^ The Seven Sages of the Bamboo (in Chinese) Archived 2009-11-24 at the Wayback Machine, 竹林七賢, accessed October 20, 2009
- ISBN 0-19-590777-9. October 18, 2009.
- ^ Shen, Sin-Yan (1991). Chinese Music and Orchestration: A Primer on Principles and Practice, p. 109. Chinese Music Society of North America, Woodridge. October 19, 2009.
External links
More information
- Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
- Ruan at MelodyofChina.com
- An introduction to the ruan on the Chinese Culture Channel in traditional Chinese
- Ruan Yahoo Group
- Ruan photographs (fifth, sixth, and seventh rows)