Chaozhou Folk Music Troupe & Linghai String and Woodwind Ensemble | Chaozhou String Music |Hugo | China

The ancient Chinese conceived of music as a melodious union between Man, Heaven and Earth. Ever the scrupulous list makers, the ancient Chinese named Earth's eight material contributions to the musical collaboration: stone, metal, silk, bamboo, wood, skin, gourd and clay. Sizhu, or "silk/bamboo," is a well-known ensemble style of Southeastern Chinese folk music which uses plucked and bowed strings (silk) combined with (bamboo) flute. Hugo's Chaozhou String Music is a recording of tunes played in that southern region's particular version of Sizhu. Chaozhou string music de-emphasizes the flute and explores the wide melodic, timbral and temporal possibilities of the strings.

One of the first things that will strike newcomers to this music is the lack of harmony. Predating the European harmonic influence that colors much of the Chinese music heard since the twentieth century, the Chaozhou style weds its various instruments in melodic unisons and octaves. It's an approach to music that will immediately appeal to fans of early European and some contemporary minimalist music--yet this material is not minimalist in the least. The Chaozhou Folk Music Troupe and Linghai String and Woodwind Ensemble play with vigor, spinning forth complex variations on their simple melodies at sometimes dizzying speeds. Not to be left out, wood and metal join the show for percussive explosions of woodblock and gong, adding to the energy of pieces like "The Lion Playing With a Ball." This is a recording that oscillates between tranquility and exhilaration.

Clearly, most of us who listen to traditional Chinese music are engaged in a learning process and in this regard the Hugo label really shines. Like other Hugo releases, Chaozhou String Music includes a generous booklet. There are notes on Chaozhou music, the performers and the individual songs, plus photos and a glossary of the various lutes, dulcimers, zithers and fiddles heard on the CD.

Audiophiles will be pleased to know this is a pristine HDCD recording. Producer/engineer Aik Yew-goh has even listed all the equipment he used so we can geek out till our heart's content. It's another example of this release's attention to detail in both recording and package.