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China II
START MUSIC SOUND FILES DISCOGRAPHY REPERTOIRE CRITICS DIARY LINKS PHOTOS RECIPES TRAVEL ORDERS
John
Williams and Gerald Garcia - China Tour September
24th - October 6th 1997 PART II
Sept.29th
The train
for Nanjing is fully booked, so we cool our heels with more
sightseeing and get the train at 7.00 pm. We arrive in Nanjing
at 4.00 in the morning, and are surprised to find a huge reception
committee - 30 or so guitarists and members of the Jiangsu International
Culture Exchange Centre with flowers and video cameras. They
had apparently been told to wait twelve hours for us! After
approximately a million photographs, we proceeded to the Ding
Shan Hotel clutching huge bouquets of flowers. Falling into
bed was not difficult.
Sept.30th
Late (i.e.9.00am)
rising and, after a banquet at midday, we go to a small guitar
school run by Mr.Zhao, who has been following us around since
Shanghai, where he played in the class.His playing is actually
very good, and he teaches his students in front of us, by example
- just as it must have been in the old days with master and
pupil. Then two advanced groups play ensembles for us, including
a "ladies group" who play an incredible arrangement of 'Recuerdos
de la Alhambra' featuring balalaika-like tremolo. John and I
respond by playing 'Recuerdos'as a duo, John plays a duo with
Zhao, and then he signs a guitar which a maker has brought from
Beijing (in order to imbue it with the"Spirit of the Guitar",
i.e. John). After the usual round of photos and autographs,
we prepare for the evening concert, which was also sold out.
Mr.
Zhao Chang Gui originally studied with Chen Zhi in the 80s and
then established himself very soon after in Nanjing,founding the
Flying Guitar School. He was one of two pioneers after Chen Zhi
to teach the guitar seriously as far as repertoire and technique
were concerned. The other was Mr. Ying Biao in south China, who
is renowned for his compositions and playing of Chinese-style
Guitar music taken from the repertoire of the pipa, the Chinese
4-stringed lute, of which he is also a master. The original inspiration
of "serious" guitar students was Segovia, but from what we heard,
most guitarists are well up on contemporary guitar players even
though CDs and music are hard to come by (we heard many errors
in students' playing caused by the widespread use of poorly pirated
editions from Taiwan and Japan.) As well as John, Pepe Romero
and David Russell seem to be well known.
Recuerdos 1
October
1st
In the morning
we left early to give a lecture chaired by Prof.Zhong Guang
Shi, Conductor and Director of the Nanjing Institute of Arts,
among other things. This was a class held in a Karaoke Bar,
with many compliments and welcoming speeches as well as some
playing! In the afternoon, we visited some gardens in the Eastern
suburb and the Mausoleum of Sun Yat Sen, the Revolutionary precursor
of Mao. After a twenty five course meal with any unidentifiable
dishes in the Confucian temple area, complete with Karaoke Chinese
dancing and a guitaristic homage from Mr.Zhao, we left on the
night train for Beijing.
Oct.2nd
We arrive
at Beijing mid afternoon and are met by four of my guitarist
friends from Hong Kong, Chen Zhi, Professor of Guitar at the
Central Conservatory, and Madame Lungsheng, with whom I have
been corresponding regarding the arrangements for this trip.
Chen Zhi and the Hong Kong guitarists were the original impulse
for this tour with John Williams when I met them two years ago,
and we had a feeling that all the prime movers had finally met.
That afternoon, after 17 hours on a train, we had a well deserved
rest!
Recuerdos 2
John Williams and Gerald Garcia - China Tour September 24th - October 6th 1997 PART II |
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Sept.29th The train for Nanjing is fully booked, so we cool our heels with more sightseeing and get the train at 7.00 pm. We arrive in Nanjing at 4.00 in the morning, and are surprised to find a huge reception committee - 30 or so guitarists and members of the Jiangsu International Culture Exchange Centre with flowers and video cameras. They had apparently been told to wait twelve hours for us! After approximately a million photographs, we proceeded to the Ding Shan Hotel clutching huge bouquets of flowers. Falling into bed was not difficult. |
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Sept.30th Late (i.e.9.00am) rising and, after a banquet at midday, we go to a small guitar school run by Mr.Zhao, who has been following us around since Shanghai, where he played in the class.His playing is actually very good, and he teaches his students in front of us, by example - just as it must have been in the old days with master and pupil. Then two advanced groups play ensembles for us, including a "ladies group" who play an incredible arrangement of 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra' featuring balalaika-like tremolo. John and I respond by playing 'Recuerdos'as a duo, John plays a duo with Zhao, and then he signs a guitar which a maker has brought from Beijing (in order to imbue it with the"Spirit of the Guitar", i.e. John). After the usual round of photos and autographs, we prepare for the evening concert, which was also sold out. |
Mr. Zhao Chang Gui originally studied with Chen Zhi in the 80s and then established himself very soon after in Nanjing,founding the Flying Guitar School. He was one of two pioneers after Chen Zhi to teach the guitar seriously as far as repertoire and technique were concerned. The other was Mr. Ying Biao in south China, who is renowned for his compositions and playing of Chinese-style Guitar music taken from the repertoire of the pipa, the Chinese 4-stringed lute, of which he is also a master. The original inspiration of "serious" guitar students was Segovia, but from what we heard, most guitarists are well up on contemporary guitar players even though CDs and music are hard to come by (we heard many errors in students' playing caused by the widespread use of poorly pirated editions from Taiwan and Japan.) As well as John, Pepe Romero and David Russell seem to be well known. | |
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Recuerdos 1 |
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October 1st In the morning we left early to give a lecture chaired by Prof.Zhong Guang Shi, Conductor and Director of the Nanjing Institute of Arts, among other things. This was a class held in a Karaoke Bar, with many compliments and welcoming speeches as well as some playing! In the afternoon, we visited some gardens in the Eastern suburb and the Mausoleum of Sun Yat Sen, the Revolutionary precursor of Mao. After a twenty five course meal with any unidentifiable dishes in the Confucian temple area, complete with Karaoke Chinese dancing and a guitaristic homage from Mr.Zhao, we left on the night train for Beijing. |
Oct.2nd We arrive at Beijing mid afternoon and are met by four of my guitarist friends from Hong Kong, Chen Zhi, Professor of Guitar at the Central Conservatory, and Madame Lungsheng, with whom I have been corresponding regarding the arrangements for this trip. Chen Zhi and the Hong Kong guitarists were the original impulse for this tour with John Williams when I met them two years ago, and we had a feeling that all the prime movers had finally met. That afternoon, after 17 hours on a train, we had a well deserved rest!
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Recuerdos 2 |
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All content, music, sounds and code ©Gerald Garcia 1999