On the evening of June 23, the bright lights in Yangzhou Concert Hall, where the notes of the integration of history and modern music stirred up a grand wave, Yangzhou's first large-scale music work - large-scale original ethnic orchestra "Yangtze River" grand premiere. The work was produced by the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, supervised by Yangzhou Canal Culture Investment Group, and created by the Municipal Song and Dance Theater Chinese Orchestra. The performers praised the Mother River with beautiful notes and told the stories of the Yangtze River and China in the new era with their musical works.

Seven movements Praise "Mother River"

That night, the Yangzhou Concert Hall was full of colorful, and the melodies of various Musical Instruments were woven together like heavenly sounds, and every audience was immersed in the magnificent music.

In order to deeply praise the great mother River Yangtze River, the whole work is composed of seven movements: "Kiss the Yangtze River", "Long History", "Magnificent Three Gorges", "Breaking the Waves", "Thousands of Miles of Spring River", "Rivers embrace" and "Yangtze River Sky Flow". The performance began with the national orchestra "Kiss the Yangtze River", and introduced the music with the children's voice singing, expressing the profound emotion of the Mother River with the most sincere and simple language; National orchestral music "Long history" traces the history in music, looking back at the footprints of the Chinese ancestors, in order to sing the ancient and splendid Chinese civilization; The bamboo flute Concerto "Magnificent Three Gorges" is mainly played by bamboo flute, mainly "painting scenery", and at the same time "expressing emotion", conveying respect to the great project and the great people in the wonderful musical picture; National orchestral music "Breaking the Waves" depicts the war with music, healing the pain, looking back at history, eulogizing heroes, singing a "red river"; "Ten Thousand Miles of Spring River" performed by the Erhu and the orchestra, with the most singable Erhu as the main melody, depicts the happy life of the people in the new era in a simple and affectionate melody, singing the glorious scenery of China in the new era; Led by the pipa and echoed by the band, the Pipa concerto "Rivers Embrace" describes the era of Yangzhou after the convergence and collision of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal in the surging music. The national orchestral music "Yangtze River Sky Flow" shows the Chinese blood flowing in the Yangtze River with music, carrying the national aspirations, telling the dream of The Times, witnessing the changes of the homeland.

Centering on the creation goal of "Yangtze River theme, style of The Times, and hometown characteristics", the work tells the story of the Yangtze River in the new era and the story of China in the form of large-scale ethnic orchestral music, so that the magnificent scroll of the river flows into the hearts of the audience.

A high quality auditory feast

The music was beautiful and the house was full. The performance of the Chinese Orchestra of the City's Song and Dance Theater presented a high-quality, high-standard and high-level auditory feast, bringing the audience the ultimate shock of national orchestral music.

A quality performance is inseparable from a professional orchestra. As the performance unit, the Municipal Song and Dance Theater Chinese Orchestra is the first professional orchestra in the city. Since its establishment in 2022, it has created and performed nearly 100 high-level concerts, fully demonstrating the endogenous driving force of continuous innovation and continuous creation of Yangzhou stage art. Members of the orchestra come from many famous art institutions at home and abroad, such as Central Conservatory of Music, China Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, Nanjing University of the Arts, Italy's Venice Conservatory of Music, Ukraine's Tchaikovsky State Conservatory of Music.

High standards of performance, from a strong performance lineup. The performance brought together Yang Tingting, associate professor and postgraduate tutor of China Conservatory of Music, Gao Bai, PhD student of the Department of Folk Music of Central Conservatory of Music, young bamboo flute player Chen Hongxuan and other performers. Their participation added luster to the performance and helped the performance to be successfully completed.

The high level performance comes from the strong core of the creation of the work. The large-scale ethnic orchestra "Yangtze River" is composed by Wang Yunfei, deputy director of the composition and Conducting Department of Zhejiang Conservatory of Music and director of China Music Creation and Research Center. Ruan Yunsong, national first-class screenwriter and artistic director of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, is the literary writer. Zhang Wei, permanent conductor of Jiangsu National Orchestra and Chief conductor of Yangzhou Folk Orchestra, is the conductor.

That night, as the last note fell, the concert hall burst into applause, and the concert ended successfully.

Spread Yangzhou culture and tell Chinese stories

"Yangtze River" filled the gap in Yangzhou's literary and artistic creation field without large-scale music works. In order to spread Yangzhou culture and tell Chinese stories at home and abroad, "Yangtze River" not only highlights the characteristics of national instruments, national orchestral instruments and national music, but also has a universal character, showing the charm of national music with a mind facing the world.

"The works are rooted in the local, using Jiangsu local materials to create, on the basis of big themes and big patterns, in some chapters highlight regional characteristics." Wang Yunfei introduced that Yangzhou local folk music has a deep foundation and rich materials, and the Yangtze River also has the use of Yangzhou local musical elements, such as Yangzhou folk songs, Yangzhou minor tunes, Yangko songs and so on.

"The national orchestra 'Yangtze River' tells the story of the Yangtze River in the new era and the story of China in the form of 'music talking about the Yangtze River'." Qin Rufeng, president of the city's Song and Dance Theater, said that in the second half of the year, the orchestra will launch 10 concerts in cities along the Yangtze River with "The Yangtze River" to highlight the value of the new era of the Yangtze River and spread the charm of Yangzhou's literature and art.

"The Yangtze River shows Yangzhou's strength in the field of music creation and its ability to innovate independently." Qin Rufeng introduced that the Municipal Song and Dance Theater National Orchestra strives to enhance the integrated development of cultural tourism in "good place" and contribute wisdom to the innovation and development of Yangzhou culture. "The orchestra's large-scale ethnic orchestral work, River Dream, has entered the stage of creation. The work will take the Yangtze River and the canal as the background, and convey the new atmosphere of Yangzhou in the new era where rivers meet. It is expected to premiere in 2025."