长安古乐：啥？中国古代就有“交响乐”！
远观如大唐壁画，近听似仙乐飘飘，犹如回到唐朝长安！身着圆领袍服、头戴幞头的乐师，与高髻罗裙、红妆花钿的丰腴仕女，击座鼓、吹笙笛、敲云锣……奏出一首首极富韵味的长安古乐曲目。
Watched afar, it’s like a wall painting from Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD); if listen closely, it’s like heavenly music that brings people back to Tang’s capital, Chang’an. Musicians with round collar robes and Futou on their heads, and ladies with high hair buns in gauze dresses are playing Chang’an ancient music with traditional drum, sheng, flute, yunluo and other instruments.
长安古乐，又叫西安鼓乐，起源于唐代，是宫廷聚会时奏响的音乐，后流入民间，是中国传统器乐文化的典型代表。2009年被列入联合国教科文组织“人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录”。
The Chang’an ancient music, also known as Xi’an Guyue, (Xi'an wind and percussion ensemble), originated in the Tang Dynasty. Initially, it was played only for royal gatherings, but later on, such music became popular among common people. Chang’an ancient music is a typical representative of Chinese traditional instrumental music; in 2009, it was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
长安古乐从古奏到今，这跨越千年的盛世妙音，到底是出自哪些乐器呢？长安古乐是一种大型的乐种，以中国传统打击乐器、吹管乐器和弹弦乐器混合演奏，被誉为“中国古代交响乐”。它比形成发展于18世纪的西方交响乐还要早。
What kind of instruments can produce such graceful music which has been played for more than a millennium? Chang’an ancient music is a grand ensemble integrating traditional Chinese percussion, wind and string instruments, and it has been acclaimed as “symphony from ancient China”. Its history is even longer than western symphony, which formed and developed in the 18th century.
与西方交响乐用五线谱不同，长安古乐记谱方式沿用着宋代俗乐半字谱，同时还保存着唐宋以来各类体裁的曲牌千余首。传统的长安古乐的演奏中全程无乐谱、无指挥，这就要求乐队成员必须将唱调烂熟于心。
Different from the music notation used by western symphony, Chang’an ancient music adopts a Song Dynasty music notation method. Meanwhile, it inherits over 1,000 qupai, or labelled melodies of various forms from the Tang and Song Dynasty. In the performance of traditional Chang’an ancient music, there is neither score nor conductor: All performers must keep all the tunes in mind.
长安古乐流传至今，少不了一代代的传承人不断将其发扬光大。除了展示传统长安古乐，西安外事古乐团在传承的基础上大胆创新，全新演绎长安古乐版游戏主题曲《王者战歌》。不但融入了长安古乐富有代表性的竹笛、荜篥、笙、双云锣、大锣、铰子、鼓、筝、琵琶等乐器，同时还加入了埙、二胡等其他中国民乐乐器，把现代乐曲与充满盛唐气韵的长安古乐结合带到世界观众的面前。
The Chang’an ancient music has been played for over a millennium, which won’t be possible without efforts made by generations of inheritors. For example, besides performing the traditional art, the Xi'an International University Ancient Chinese Music Orchestra has been innovating. The Chang’an ancient music version of “War Song of Kings”, the theme song of an online game is a masterpiece of their innovation. In it, musicians not only include representative instruments like bamboo flute, bili, sheng, double yunluo, gong, cymbals, zither and pipa, but also other Chinese folk music instruments like erhu and xun. In such a way, the orchestra has brought to the audience a vivid mixture of modern music and Chang’an ancient music with Tang Dynasty features.
在演绎《加勒比海盗》时更是将长安古乐与西方钢琴融合演奏，东方韵味与西方元素结合，别有一番风味。
When the orchestra plays “Pirates of the Caribbean”, piano was added into Chang’an ancient music. When oriental charm meets with western elements, unique sparks appear.
西安大唐芙蓉园东仓鼓乐社的年轻乐师们，则选择入驻短视频平台进行线上直播。让更多中国乃至海外观众开始关注长安古乐，爱上这一来自中国古代的“交响乐”，让古乐焕发新生。
In Dongcang Drum Music Society of Xi’an’s theme park Tang Paradise, musicians chose live-streaming. Their live videos have attracted more and more audiences from China and abroad, enabling them to know more about Chang’an ancient music. As more and more people fall in love with the “symphony from ancient China”, this ancient art form is now injected with new vitality.
