4 Songs that Remind Us of Taiwan
What Song Would Best Represent Taiwan?
For most Taiwanese, I think they would say one of the following.- 望春風 Bāng Chhun-hong
- 四季紅 Sù-kùi-âng
- 雨夜花 The Torment of a Flower
- 月夜愁 Gua̍t-iā Tshiû
Or as we call it "四月望雨", for short.
The songs are written in the 1930s. They are still loved by many Taiwanese, even 'till these days. Initially, they are songs to be sung, yet as time went on many classical musicians in Taiwan rearranged them. They are now performed even at classical concerts in Taiwan. Although the original arrangements are now in the public domain, the lyrics are still protected by intellectual property rights.
As a kid, I learned some of the words in my native tongue from singing the song Bāng Chhun-hong. For many Taiwanese when we go to school, we learn at least one of these songs on recorders. Whenever we travel by flying Eva Air, they would play Bāng Chhun-hong as we land in Taiwan. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration when I say that these four songs remind us of Taiwan.
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The Themes of the Songs
Bāng Chhun-hong is a song about a girl who has a crush on a boy. She fidgets under the street lamp while waiting for him to walk past her. Yet, she could not pluck up the courage to ask the person for his name because there are expectations of how a lady should behave. Click here for the performance by the NTSO.Sù-kùi-âng is about how falling in love is beyond the restriction of seasons. Seasons change, but the love they have for each other is strong enough to fight the cold winter.
The Torment of a Flower uses withering of the flower as a metaphor for the agony of shattered dreams. It was based on a story told by a lady who followed her lover and moved to Taipei city. Later on, how her dreams are brutally crushed.
The scenes in Gua̍t-iā Tshiû, again, set in Taipei. It is about a girl who waited for her lover to show up at the Chokushi Kaidō. As the night went on, her lover was still nowhere to be seen. She started to panic and couldn't help but wonder 'Has her lover abandoned her?'.
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The Composer - Teng Yu-hsien (鄧雨賢)
He was an influential Taiwanese Hakka musician born in 1906. The songs were written with Taiwanese tradition along with classical music theories in mind. He was the one who successfully introduced western music to Taiwanese society. Many of his arrangements were created based on the lyrics written by the songwriter named Lee Lim-chhiu(李臨秋).-
Modern Arrangements for Solo Instrument and Orchestra
One of the well-known adaptations of Bāng Chhun-hong was written by a composer named Tyzen Hisao(蕭泰然). Many soloists would learn and perform his arrangements.My personal favorite is a piece named Raining in April Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra, composed by Che-Yi Lee(李哲藝).
Here is my favorite performance of the piece, performed by Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra and Jimmy Hsueh(薛志璋), the violin soloist. The conductor is also the composer, Che-Yi Lee(李哲藝), himself. Click here to listen to it on the soloist's YouTube channel.
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Reference:
- Wikipedia
- National Taiwan Normal University Library http://archives.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/exhibitions/DengYuShian/si.jsp
- One Song Orchestra http://www.onesongorchestra.com/concerts_reading.php?a=43
- Jimmyhsueh's YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/d4uJ6w7sKb0
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