The Xi’an Drum Music ensemble is a large-scale music genre with a combination of percussion and wind instruments. It is rich in content, has a large orchestra, numerous repertoires, and a complex structure. It is a miracle in the development of ancient Chinese music and even world folk music, and is known as a living fossil of ancient Chinese music and ancient symphony. Xi’an Drum Music originated in the Sui and Tang dynasties. With the development of history, it has continuously absorbed and integrated various artistic essences. It integrates folk music, national music, court music, religious music, and literati’s created music of past dynasties, and gradually forms a unique music form and style. To this day, it still retains a fairly complete repertoire, notation system, structure, musical instruments, and performance forms. In 2005, Xi’an Drum Music became a national intangible cultural heritage. In 2009, it was included in the list of world intangible cultural heritages. The Xi’an Waishi Drum Music Troupe is a typical representative of the new generation inheriting Xi’an Drum Music. It was founded in 2016 by Professor Huang Teng, chairman and president of Xi’an International University. Taking ‘promoting Chinese culture, spreading classical music, revitalizing ancient music art, and uniting national spirit’ as its responsibility, it vigorously promotes Xi’an Drum Music, which is a ‘world intangible cultural heritage’ and ‘national intangible cultural heritage’. The drum music performed by the orchestra has a strict and complete structure. It incorporates Chinese classical instruments such as xun, pipa, zheng, guqin, se, flute, yazheng, konghou, erhu, etc. The melodies of the works are melodious, elegant, and the tunes are solemn and precise. The artistic style is solemn, quiet, elegant, and leisurely. The whole set of drum music is performed in one go and is quite innovative, fully demonstrating the unique charm of the musical tradition of ancient Chang’an. Opening time: Saturday, December 28. Starts at 19:30. About 90 minutes (without intermission).
【Nanjing】2025 New Year Concert ‘Elegant Rhythm of Tang Dynasty, Bell Ringing and Drum Music’ at Jiangsu Grand Theatre
The Xi’an Drum Music ensemble is a large-scale music genre with a combination of percussion an[...]
