look how in love she is with her instrument. She periodically stares not at her fingers but at it, she also leans her head in close as if to embrace it. Her passion towards this is absolutely lovely.
Everything about Wu Man is so great here - her playing, choice of repertoire and especially her facial and body movements which clearly convey the joy of playing and making music.
First time I heard Wu Man's extraordinary Pipa playing was on a Water Lilly Acoustics recording, where she played duets with Martin Simpson on guitar. They had only met for the first time the same day they were recorded by Kavi Alexander. The results were mesmerizing and almost hallucinatory. Two musicians of this caliber. from entirely different musical cultures and traditions- and they were able to seamlessly meld together in a ravishing display of virtuosity, the likes of which I don't think I've seen before or since.
Fun fact: "Ambush from All Sides", or literally "Ambush from Ten Sides" in Chinese 十面埋伏 is also the name of the Chinese name for the Zhang Yimou film "House of Flying Daggers", where this piece of music is also featured.
I`ve counted the number of strings many times. Only four? How come it sounds like many more? The term virtuoso comes to mind. Great performance. Thanks Wu Man, thanks NPR.
The best part of Chinese music is the silence between licks，like the empty part of painting，these are the parts that art take your mind in deep thoughts. We call it 留白
Yes, Chinese music and a lot of Asian music in general like to bend notes to add expression. I've developed somewhat of a sense to differentiate what country the music is coming from (At least differentiate China, Japan, and Korea). China has a lot of intense and expressive music that usually have a strong meaning in it, whether happy, sad, angry, etc. Japan has more of a calming sense of music. Very rarely does the music have fast paced, very happy music. Korean music almost always has a sort of "bounce" to it. I don't know why, but it's very easy to tell if it's a traditional Korean song if you hear a general bouncing sound or rhythm to the song.
This kind of music is the reason why i never doubt the Chinese always respected and fought many real historic wars in the past, historic in the true sense of the word! Every beat from her fingers shoots like clouds of arrows, spears and blade sharp knives from the horseback!
Stephen Zakaria The music and the idea that China fought many real wars have zero correlation. There isn’t a reason at all to doubt China is and has been extremely powerful and respected and involved in wars. They’ve been a power for thousands of years. Music shouldn’t be what you base your info on politics/ war from IN MY OPINION
Excellent work on the pipa. I've been enjoying listening to that video for the past few mornings, sitting at my desk at work. Wu Man was a fine choice for a tiny desk performer.
Absolutely remarkable !. An honour and privilege to hear this amazing virtuoso !. Fascinating and fantastic. Sending love and good wishes, from Scotland 🏴 x.
Although the music sounds familiar to me from film scores, I've never seen the instrument or the musicianship that creates it. Ms. Wu is a virtuoso. Thank you
I have never read so many disgusting comments on NPR Music. They bring us these segments for education and enjoyment. MAKE a choice to broaden your minds: 1) ask the Lord to forgive you for judging, 2) go read a book, 3) learn to like/love yourself FIRST and then extend that love to others.
Heh. Pipa music actually usually is notated in special Pipa tab. Not surprising, considering the instrument is 2000 years old and pre-dates conventional Western staff notation by over 1500 years! "Ambush from all sides" is one of the most famous pieces for the instrument. Its been transcribed, but I think finding a copy might be tricky. If you *do* manage to find one, and can decipher it, good luck playing it. This is a considered a virtuoso level piece and it will probably take you a few years of practice before you can do so.
@azrasound "Ambushed from ten sides" is quite a popular traditional repertoire for virtuosos. There's an interesting story behind it, too, if you're into ancient militaristic stuff.
Wouldn't surprise me if you could mail order actual musicians from anywhere on the Silk Road and some enterprising individual would "acquire" and deliver. Please allow 4-6 years delivery.
What makes Wu Man's virtuosity so much more impressive is that the pipa is actually a notoriously difficult instrument to learn, much less master. One can't just become a self-taught master pipa player, unlike with guitar.
its important to understand that this is for entertainment, imagine having to entertain an emperor in the time when these pieces originated. I am sure that they would be quite impressed!!
But this pipa is more modern rendition, the ancient one probably resembles more like japanese biwa? Search tang dynasty pipa it is kept in japanese museum
琵琶起原Translated from Wikipedia The origin of the lute is unknown, but its appearance is similar to that of the lute, barbat (lute) and oud, possibly originating from a common ancestor. There are many speculations about its origin in ancient Chinese records. Du Zhi believes that it originated from the end of the Qin Dynasty; Liu Xi believes that this musical instrument originated from nomadic Hu people, which may have been introduced from Central Asia or West Asia; one Said from Wusun . It has become a common musical instrument in China during the Han Dynasty. Before the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the pipa can be used to refer to all plucked instruments. The most common pipa is the straight neck, and now Ruan Xian is born from the pipa. In the Tang Dynasty, the curved-neck pipa was introduced from Qiuci. The modern pipa is the improved Quxiang pipa, which was finalized in the Ming Dynasty.
@Keegster1120: No i do not want to strip that "unique, culturally vibrant instrument" out of her hands, i just think she is simply awesome and would be amazed to see what she and "everyone and their mother" could do on a guitar. Thank you for speaking your mind...
pipa is awesome. i wonder, if u use nylon or gut strings, instead of steel, would it sound much softer? i like pipa cause i like idea of 100% hole - less lute(completely flat). & 4 strings gives plenty of finger room, unlike room lost with 6 stringed guitar.
Master of puppets I’m pulling your strings Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing Just call my name, ‘cause I’ll hear you scream Master Master Just call my name, ‘cause I’ll hear you scream Master Master
@Quack4Zac The other way round I thnk. The lute evolved from the Oud, which was brought back to Europe during the Crusades, which start before but continued through Marco Polo's time. I don't think the lute as we known it evolved until after Marco Polo's times. This was all long after the 9th century, which she says pipa music dates from (and probably startered earlier).
I thank you, Wu Man! Such grace and devotion. And extremely wonderful! I see a Samurai in you. (You know what I mean) Your from China. And you may not like Japanese intent. I know what they did to your country while allied to Russian. I appreciate your musicianship in what you shared to me & the world... Love~ Charlie...
The another reason why a lot of girls learning pipa but not boys is that pipa is traditionally for girls, for boys they practice Erhu, Guqin etc. A lot of pipa masters were males though
