Members of the Amber Quartet (from left): violinists Ning Fangliang and Su Yajing, viola player Qi Wang and cellist Yang Yichen. All teach at the Central Conservatory of Music. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Quartet 'plays' famous piece as it educates audiences and broadens the appeal of the musical genre, Chen Nan reports.
The sound of silence to make a loud statement. For a brief period of time, 4 minutes 33 seconds to be precise, on Aug 29, 1952, pianist David Tudor from the United States walked onto the stage in Woodstock, New York, and sat down at the piano, for the world premiere of American avant-garde composer John Cage's work. Its name? You guessed it. 4'33". The piece, if that is the right description, is actually a silent span of 273 seconds. It was to become the most famous and infamous work by Cage.
Fast forward to this month in Beijing. Cellist Yang Yichen and his colleagues that make up the Amber Quartet "played" 4'33" at the National Library Arts Center on July 13.
When the quartet sat still on stage without playing a sound, the audience made their own music as their breathing and whispered comments filled the vacuum. After the allotted time elapsed, the silence was shattered by thunderous applause, when the players stood and bowed.
"I didn't expect the audience tonight to handle the piece so well," said Ning Fangliang, one of the quartet's violinists, after the show.
"4'33" is rarely performed in China since it challenges the audience more than the musicians.
"We were ready to hear disgruntled voices from some of the audience like 'what are they doing onstage?', but instead they broke into rapturous applause. Amazing!"
The audience had been warned; they were not caught unaware. The musicians explained the piece and its meaning before the silent performance.
Before the concert, they introduced and explained the works they would play, or in this particular case, not play.
"John Cage was influenced by Buddhism and I Ching (Book of Changes, a Chinese classic)," Yang said as he addressed the audience before the performance.
"He wanted to encourage people to listen to the sounds around them. Silence is like the number zero, which is actually the most important of all numbers. It adds and enhances rather than stands for nothing."
Besides Cage's 4'33", the quartet also performed Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No 8's first movement during the 90-minute concert.
Yang relayed how Shostakovich was influenced by World War II, and how the composer created the work, which they were about to play, in three days (July 12-14, 1960).
The musicians closed the concert with Totem, a string quartet work created by Chinese composer Zhang Chao, who spent two years in his hometown in Southwest China's Yunnan province observing and researching ethnic folk music.
The quartet reached out to the audience and established a bond as they explained each piece of work before performing it.
With background stories of the composers and their pieces, as well as photos, the quartet highlighted the appeal, centrality and emotion of classical music to the audience, especially the younger members.
Cellist Yang Yichen (right) in a music workshop, tutoring several students from the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.[Photo provided to China Daily]
Loyal followers
"It is said that classical music is a high art or high culture but it's not true in China," says Yang. Now 30, he was born in Beijing and started to learn the cello at the ripe old age of 8.
Giving background to the composers and their work helps audiences "enjoy classical music", he says. "That's why we've been trying to do our bit to help usher them into the world of classical music with simple and fun knowledge and anecdotes about the art form and the works."
Yang and the band have a loyal following. Hsieh Peiwen is one of them. She flew from Taipei to Beijing to attend the quartet's concert on June 16.
"The musicians of the quartet use simple language and easy-to-understand stories to explain the history of classical music. This approach made me interested in the composers and their pieces," says Hsieh, who has been following the quartet since 2013.
"The quartet has solid technique and the musicians are dedicated to popularizing classical music among audiences who may have no classical music training or background. It's inspiring," she adds.
The quartet is performing at the National Library Arts Center to Aug 24.
The repertoires include Franz Joseph Haydn's first movement of String Quartet in D Minor, Op 76, No 2, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quartet No 19 in C Major, K 465, and Franz Schubert's Death and the Maiden, String Quartet No 14 in D Minor, D 810.
The quartet was founded in 2005 by cellist Yang and violinist Ning, both former students of the Central Conservatory of Music. The other members are viola player Qi Wang and violinist Su Yajing. Violinist Ma Weijia, a co-founder of the quartet, left in 2011 and joined the string quartet at the National Center for the Performing Arts.
In 2013, the quartet scooped three awards at the Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne-the Grand Prize, the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Prize, and the Hamer-Tribe Trust Prize. It was the first Chinese quartet to win a string of three prizes at an international chamber music competition.
Many happy returns
The quartet has toured more than 30 countries and it will perform in September at the Bonn Beethovenfest, a classical music festival in the city of Beethoven's birth.
The idea of combining live concerts with introductions and illustrations about the history of classical music started in 2014, and from the very beginning the quartet received warm feedback from audiences at venues in Beijing, such as the National Center for the Performing Arts, the Forbidden City Concert Hall and Beijing Concert Hall. The players also went to train and interact with students in middle schools during music workshops, including the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China and Beijing National Day School.
"These concerts are for audiences who want to learn classical music, maybe from scratch. We are musicians and interpreters who want to share our joy of music with them," says Qi, who, like Yang and Ning, teaches at the Central Conservatory of Music.
Compared with the West, the classical music scene in China is relatively young, says Qi. "So fan curiosity and love for classical music needs to be nourished with our help."
Ma noticed that at the concerts given by the Amber Quartet, more people have begun to learn and enjoy chamber music.
"When we started, chamber music was not considered mainstream culture in the country. Parents wanted their children to study music but with the goal of becoming 'great' soloists," says Ma, who returned to the quartet this year.
"But now, to our delight, we find that many children play music together simply because it's fun."
