Master of Chinese Percussion - Yim Hok-Man Poem of Chinese Drum Duck's Quarrel The Garden of Hundreds of Flowers The Golden Peasant Flying Out of the Mountain Deep Silent Night A Lion That Has Just Woken Big Gun Shooting Towards the Sky Triumphal Return of Fishing Boats With the Central Virtuosi Orchestra MARCO POLO Chinese Music 8.225942 [61:27] full-price Master of Chinese Percussion II - Yim Hok-Man Flying Dragons and Leaping Tigers Camel Bells in Tibet Popular Festivity Xinjiang Girls The Menacing Tiger Wakeful Lions Celebrating New Year Everlasting Joy Welcoming Spring With the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra MARCO POLO Chinese Music 8.225950 [58:42] full-price

MASTER OF CHINESE PERCUSSION

YIM HOK-MAN

Vols.1 & 2

by Harvey Neo

Noting that this site has no prior reviews on Chinese classical music, I feel very much obliged to provide uninitiated readers a very brief introduction to the genre. This is both an unenviable and difficult task for Chinese music has an extremely long and complex history. In an astonishing 1978 find in Hubei Province, Chinese archaeologists unearthed a remarkably well-preserved ensemble of ancient Chinese strings, wind and percussion instruments which dates back more than 2400 years. The form and shape of these instruments have since gone through many improvisations and refinements. What one sees in a contemporary Chinese orchestra today is a plethora of diverse instruments; broadly divided into four sections - the strings, the wind, the plucked-strings and the percussion.

Though contemporary Chinese orchestras are highly imitative of their Western symphonic counterpart in structure, they sound delightfully different as anyone who has heard the Chinese orchestral rendition of The Flight of the Bumble Bee will attest to. Yes, very kitschy I know, but the point is made. To listeners who still harbour real or imagined impressions that amongst other things, Chinese music is 'noisy', without clean and clear lines and only capable of playing pentatonic folk ditties; the time has now come to open your ears and minds to the fascinating world of Chinese music.

If Chinese music is at best neglected and at worst marginalised then its percussive variant is even more unheard of. Nonetheless, this 2-CD collection of Chinese percussion is an excellent microcosmic illustration of the varied sounds of Chinese music. Together the two 1999 offerings by Marco Polo contain 16 tracks and admirably cover almost all available genres of Chinese percussion. Liner notes in both English and Chinese gave helpful information on the pieces and even illustrate the orchestral layout of certain pieces. In particular, CD 2 also provides an excellent and detailed analysis of the major genres of Chinese percussive music.

The selection ranges from the celebratory and festive music of Zhejiang and Shandong provinces to the folk music of Tu-jia ethnic minority, to the refreshing percussion adaptation of the famous Beijing operatic music, Deep, Silent Night. Personal favourites include Duck's Quarrel (CD 1, track 2) and The Menacing Tiger (CD 2, track 5). As can be inferred from their titles, these pieces, performed by less than five people using a variety of gongs and drums, are spot-on in conjuring up the sounds and mood of these animals. Never did go near enough to tigers in the zoos to hear them sharpening their claws? Well, tune in to The Menacing Tiger then. It is truly simplicity at its best and most effective.

Though the two main groups of Chinese percussion instruments are drums or gu (say "ghoo" - large version above left), gongs or luo ("loo-aw" - picture above right) - the available range of instruments easily runs into the hundreds. I am thus delighted to hear some very obscure percussion instruments in this collection. A piece that deserves special mention is track four of CD 2, Xinjiang Girls, involving a xylophone and hand-drum duet. The latter instrument hails from the border regions of Southwest China is basically a large (perhaps with a circumference of 60cm) hand-held drum played by tapping one's fingers on its python skin. Sounds simple enough? But the shou gu ('show-ghoo') is notoriously difficult to play, which partly explains why it is seldom heard. The energetic and invigorating performance by the guest shou gu soloist is testament to his mastery.

The production values of both CDs are very high indeed. Check out the somber second track of the second CD, Camel Bell in Tibet, for a taste of the excellent recording which picks up the softest timbre emanating from the camel bells. Incidentally, this piece is notable for having a part for the bian zhong ("bhien jhong") an ancient percussion instrument which dates back 2000 years old. Weighing in excess of one ton with numerous differently-sized bronze bells suspended on a heavy-set and ornamentally crafted rack, the bian zhong is a visually stunning instrument. Played by striking the bells with a hammer, the tones produced are solemn, deep and mellow.

Notwithstanding the inclusion of such obscure instruments, for the unlikely few who may be bored with track after track of percussion - a few tracks have the accompaniment of the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra (in CD 2) and the Central Virtuosi Orchestra (in CD 1). These include Flying Dragons and Leaping Tigers (opening track in CD2) and Triumphal Return of Fishing Boats (last track of CD 1), arguably two of the most famous percussion pieces.

There is very little to complain with regard to the quality of play and recording for both CDs. But just to get it off my chest, I have to say that even though the soloist, Yim Hok-Man, is more than competent in his playing - his mastery of the paigu ('pie-ghoo', an ensemble of Chinese drums) in Triumphal is particularly noteworthy - some modesty would be appreciated. The description of him as yan huang di yi gu (loosely translated as 'the foremost Chinese percussionist') is a tad over the board.

It is a small pity too that no more recent percussion pieces were included in the collection. The only post-1990s piece is perhaps Poem of Chinese Drum (opening track of CD 1) composed by Li Zhengui and Tan Dun. The latter, a past winner of the Grawemeyer Award for music composition, is of course renowned for his high profile composition of Symphony 1997: Heaven Earth Mankind. Another notable exclusion is percussion music with religious or spiritual origins.

But these are ultimately minor complaints. I can offer no reasons not to purchase both CDs unless one does not wish to be inducted to the world of Chinese percussion. If however, acquiring two CDs at once is an expensive indulgence to you, then get CD 2 first simply for its bonus and invaluable guide to Chinese percussion music.

Harvey Neo is an enigmatic 25-year-old who has been striking less-than-perfect chords with the yangqin (the Chinese dulcimer) for more than a decade. A non-recovering alcoholic, he loves the Cheshire Cat.

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