"Song of Colorful Feather Clothes" describes the myth that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty longed for gods and went to the Moon Palace to see fairies. Its dance, music and costumes all focus on depicting the ethereal fairyland and the image of dancing fairies, giving people a sense of wonder. Immersive artistic experience. Bai Juyi's poem "Neon Clothes and Feathers Dance Song and Wei Zhi" gave a detailed description of the structure and dance posture of the song: the whole song has thirty-six sections, scattered with a preface (six sections), a middle preface (eighteen sections) and the song It is divided into three parts (twelve sections), integrating singing, dancing and instrumental music into one. There are 36 sections in the whole song, which express the fairy tales of Chinese Taoism.
"The Song of Colorful Feather Clothes" was very popular in the Tang court and played an important role in the music and dance of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Xuanzong personally taught the Liyuan disciples to play, and the palace maids sang, using 30 female artists, 10 at a time. Regarding the performance of this song, Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen have wonderful descriptions in their poems.
The whole song has 36 sections, divided into three parts: prelude (six sections), middle prelude (eighteen sections) and break (twelve sections): the prelude is a prelude, all in free rhythm The Sanban is played solo or in turn by musical instruments such as chimes, xiaos, zithers, and flutes, with no dancing or singing;
The middle sequence, also known as the beat sequence or the beginning of the song, is a slow lyrical section. There are also several changes from slow to fast in the middle, singing and dancing according to the rhythm of the music;
Qupo, also known as Wubai, is the climax of the whole song, mainly dance, with complex sounds and sharp rhythms, and the music is sonorous. The speed gradually increases from loose to slow, then to fast beat, and then slows down at the end, dancing instead of singing.
Bai Juyi praised the exquisiteness of this dance and said: "Thousands of songs and dances are countless, but the dance of neon clothes is my favorite."
"The song of neon clothes and feathers" shows that the great opera of the Tang Dynasty has become huge. The artistic expression of the varied tunes shows the great achievements made by the court music of the Tang Dynasty. From Bai Juyi's "Song of Neon Clothes and Feather Clothes", it can be seen that the accompaniment of "Song of Ni Clothes and Feather Clothes" uses chimes (referring to copper bowls in the Tang Dynasty), zither, Xiao, flute, konghou, 筚篥, sheng and other gold, stone, silk and bamboo music. The sound is as intoxicating as "jumping beads shaking jade".
This is a famous dance in the court of the Tang Dynasty. Legend has it that it was performed by Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and performed by his beloved concubine Yang Yuhuan. The original dance has been lost, and the performance is recreated based on written records and poetic descriptions. The music uses the ancient "Chang'an Drum Music" as the material, and the dance absorbs some dance postures and shapes from Shaanxi and Dunhuang murals, adopting the structure of Tang Dynasty music.
Historical records
Li Longji was an emperor in the middle of the Tang Dynasty and a famous "romantic emperor" in history. In the later period, Li Longji was deceived by the clever words of the traitor Yang Guozhong and ignored state affairs, but he still made outstanding contributions to music and art.
Li Longji loves music very much, among the ancient kings. Li Longji's research on music should be the most in-depth and proficient, and he can play various instruments.
According to legend, Li Longji once dreamed that when he was traveling in the Moon Palace, he heard fairy music playing in the sky and fairies wearing colorful feathers dancing. The songs of the fairies are mysterious and beautiful, and the dancing fairies are graceful. After Li Longji woke up, he still remembered the scene in his dream clearly.
I really want to record the music in my dream, let the musicians play it, and let the singers dance. He kept thinking and thinking and writing down something when he remembered it. Even when he went to court during the day, he still had a jade flute in his arms. While listening to the minister read the memorial, he secretly played the jade flute below. He was playing the flute and looking for tunes. He was fascinated by the fairy music, but he still couldn't compose the complete tune. Very distressed.
Once, Li Longji came to Sanxiang Translation. He looked towards Nuji Mountain in the distance, with undulating mountains and misty clouds. Suddenly there were many beautiful fantasies. He recalled all the celestial music he had heard in his dream. Record it on the score immediately. He composed a palace opera suitable for playing in the palace.
Li Longji ordered the musicians to rehearse "The Song of Colorful Feather Clothes", and his concubine Yang Yuhuan designed the dance. In order to give them a good place to rehearse, Li Longji established a pear garden in the palace (later generally referred to as opera singing) The place).
Yang Yuhuan and the palace people rushed to arrange the ceremony day and night. Finally, I finished practicing a large-scale song and dance "The Song of Colorful Feather Clothes" and performed it at a grand festival. The delicate and beautiful "Song of Colorful Feather Clothes" played fairy music, and Yang Yuhuan led the palace maids to sing and dance. They were all like fairies descending to earth, and the eyes of the officials were all fixed. But Yang Yuhuan's dance skirt was stepped on by Mei Fei, causing the whole dance to fail.