Lutes of the Silk Road Concert

A concert held in SOAS Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre on Thursday 25 July 2024, as part of the international Chinese music festival, hosted by the School of Arts.

Review by Jane Spiro
Head of Applied Linguistics
and Principal Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University

For music lovers, the Lutes of the Silk Road concert gilding London's week-long International Chinese Music Festival, was a gala of virtuosity and technical wizardry.

Showcasing the multifaceted cosmopolitan talent of the SOAS music department, headed up by "Pipa" maestro Dr Cheng Yu, the accomplished band of lute players traced the sounds of ancient trade routes through China, into Central Asia, Iran, Syria and Turkey, each echoing the unique sounds of their homelands.

Dr Cheng Yu, founder member and president of Europe's first Youlan Qin Society, playing the Chinese "Pipa", a 4-stringed lute, opened with an astounding display of skill and sensitivity accompanied by Elizabeth Nott's haunting Middle Eastern drum and Shohret Nur's Uyghur Rawap.

The audience was transported westwards through the Middle Kingdom to East Turkestan (modern day Xinjiang), with a sojourn to Kashgar at the southern edge of the vast Taklamakan desert, to feel the "Kashgar Rain", Shohret's own composition, pounding on the sands and the dust of his hometown. His second piece, from Uyghur Iraq Muqam, was played as a trio with Elizabeth Nott on percussion and Rihab Azar on the Syrian Oud, whose fingers never seemed to tire with the mesmerising rhythmic beat of the melody. Shohret then led the entire ensemble first on his two stringed Dutar followed by the Satar, a bowed, 12-stringed lute, in an electrifying conversation of sounds from each instrument in turn.

Sabine Masters, a retired German medic-turned devotee of the Kazakh Dombyra, fell in love with the instrument when on secondment in West Kazakhstan five years ago, and has never looked back. She enthralled us by taking the two-stringed lute through its paces playing works by Kurmangazy the 19th Century hero of Kazakh traditional music, loved by Kazakhs for championing the rights of the poor and oppressed in his country.

From Kazakhstan, we travelled over the Caspian to Iran, for a melodious and thought-provoking improvisation of Dastgah Shur, played by Pouyan Biglar. The respected musician and ethnomusicologist and leader of London's Hengām Ensemble was playing the double-bodied, six stringed Iranian Tar introduced to the nation only 250 years ago but now a central instrument for the classical Persian music repertoire.

And onto Turkey. Ozan Baysal's electrifying performance on his two-necked Turkish Saz seemed to defy all the laws of co-ordination with his traditional "şelpe" jazz harmonies strummed and plucked simultaneously on both necks. The set culminated with the stunning Middle Eastern flavoured "Wind of Saba" duet composed by both Shohret on his Uyghur Dutar and Ozan on his single-necked Turkish Saz who gave outstanding displays of technical brilliance whilst at the same time complementing each other's interpretation of the music.

The lute journey finished in Syria with Rihab Azar, renowned for being the first female Oud-ist in the Syrian National Orchestra. The technical mastery of her 13-string instrument was beyond doubt with her sensitive and spirited rendering of two classical Syrian pieces.

Elizabeth Nott who had skilfully accompanied several of the duets and trios throughout the evening, came into her own with a final solo set where she demonstrated her own versatility and vibrant personality over a wide range of percussion instruments. The grand finale of the evening was a riot of improvisation and good humour as each member took it in turns to take up the melody. Their comrades provided a spirited backdrop, each one taking their own instruments through its paces in a whirlwind of sound. Keeping the seven masters on track was no easy task but they managed. A fitting end to an electrifying evening of creative flair and skilful musicianship, reminiscent of every flavour of the fabled Silk Road.

中文翻译：

乐评：

牛津布鲁克斯大学应用语言学系主任兼首席讲师Jane Spiro

2024年7月25日星期四，伦敦亚非学院文莱画廊演讲厅迎来了一场别具一格的音乐盛宴 —《丝绸之路上的鲁特琴音乐会》。作为由中国艺术，英国中乐团、伦敦幽兰琴社共同举办的2024伦敦国际中国音乐节的一部分，这场音乐会在伦敦亚非学院举办，以其深厚的文化底蕴和卓越的音乐表现力，成为了整个音乐节的亮点。

《丝绸之路上的鲁特琴》音乐会不仅为为期一周的伦敦国际中国音乐节增光添彩，更是一场技艺精湛与技术魔法的完美结合。音乐会上，才华横溢的鲁特琴演奏家们在伦敦亚非学院音乐系的国际舞台上绽放光芒。由中国四弦琵琶大师、伦敦幽兰琴社社长程玉博士领衔，他们带领观众踏上了一段音乐之旅，从中国到中亚、伊朗、叙利亚和土耳其，沿途每一个国家的独特声音在演奏中得到了完美的诠释。

音乐会以程玉博士的琵琶演奏拉开序幕，她的表演在Elizabeth Nott 令人难忘的中东鼓声和Shohret Nur的维吾尔热瓦普伴奏下，展现出惊人的技巧与敏感度。随后，观众仿佛被带到了西方的中土王国，感受着《喀什雨》的动人旋律，这首由Shohret创作的作品，以他家乡喀什的沙土为灵感，将人们带回了塔克拉玛干沙漠南部边缘的那片土地。 接着，Shohret与Elizabeth Nott和里Rihab Azar合作，演奏了维吾尔伊拉克木卡姆的三重奏作品，Nott的打击乐与Azar的叙利亚乌德琴交织出迷人的旋律和节奏。而后，Shohret继续带领乐团，依次演奏了两弦杜塔尔琴和萨塔尔琴，乐器的声音交替变换，激动人心。 在哈萨克族多姆比拉琴的演奏中，观众再次感受到音乐的魅力。由德国退休医生Sabine Masters带来的库尔曼加齐作品，将哈萨克民族音乐的英雄形象生动地展现在听众面前。

从哈萨克斯坦出发，我们穿越里海，来到伊朗，欣赏了由Pouyan Biglar演奏的发人深省的即兴曲《达斯特加·舒尔》。这位备受尊敬的音乐家、民族音乐学家，以优雅的指法和深厚的情感演绎了这段美妙的旋律。 然后，我们来到了土耳其，Ozan Baysal用他的双颈土耳其萨兹琴演奏了一首激动人心的曲子，他的演奏技艺展现出与众不同的爵士和声，将观众深深吸引。接着，他与Shohret合奏的二重奏作品《萨巴之风》再次让观众感受到他们卓越的技术与音乐诠释能力。

鲁特琴之旅在叙利亚结束，Rihab Azar作为叙利亚国家管弦乐团中的首位女性乌德琴演奏家，以敏感而充满活力的演绎，展现了13弦乐器的独特魅力。 整个夜晚，Elizabeth Nott多次参与二重奏和三重奏的表演，最后她以一段独奏展示了她在各种打击乐器上的多才多艺和活泼个性。

当晚的压轴戏是一场即兴演奏，每位成员轮流展示他们的乐器，在同伴的伴奏下，整个乐团在狂欢的气氛中完成了音乐会的最后一章。

这场充满创意与卓越音乐技巧的夜晚，让人们仿佛重回传说中的丝绸之路，感受着多样的文化和风情。

Keywords: Lutes of the Silk Road Concert, SOAS 2024, London International Chinese Music Festival, Jane Spiro review, traditional Chinese music, Eastern and Western music fusion, guqin, pipa, SOAS events, cultural concert review