Title: Ambush on Ten Sides
Performer: Vivian Liu
Mixing: Joseph Ma

"Ambush on Ten Sides" is a famous grand Pipa melody, which can be called a classic in traditional Chinese melodies. The magnificent and splendid content of the music and the majestic and peculiar style are rare in classical music.

00:00 - 1. “Deploy of the Army”, the preface to the whole melody, showing the motivating scene of the drum beating and other percussion instruments reverberating, horns blowing, and the crowd shouting before the expedition. The music gradually becomes faster and faster, and the complex nature of the mode and its alternating transitions make the music more unstable.
01:27 - 2. "Beat the drum".
02:13 - 3. "Line up and Rehearse", exposition of the theme, using successive long fingers circular movement techniques and the combined fingering of "click, wipe, flick, and wipe" to express the mighty style of the soldiers.
03:30 - 4. "Arrange Forces in Formation", the music has a certain contrast with the previous ones, Using "cover and divide" and "cover and stroke" techniques to further demonstrate the military's brave and vigorous posture.
04:41 - 5. "Ambush", on the night before the decisive battle, the Han army was in ambush, the atmosphere was quiet and tense, paving the way for the following two paragraphs.
05:53 - 6. "Small Battle", Chu and Han armies met each other, the swords and spears struck each other, the breath was rushing, and the main melody starts to unfold.
07:30 - 7. "Scream", depicts the intense fighting scene of the fierce battle between the two armies. The sound of horseshoes, weapons and screams intertwined, shocking people. First use alternate play of "draw, row, flick, and row", then use techniques such as alternate playing, double stringing, push and pull, etc., to push the music to a climax.
08:25 - 8."Chase", the victory is set, then a big victory is achieved. A triumphant return is on the way. The whole song ends.

This song was first seen in Hua Qiuping's "Pipa Score" published in 1818. It was renamed "Huaiyin Ping Chu" in "The New Scores of Thirteen Big Cycles of the South and North School of Pipa" compiled by Li Fangyuan published in 1895. The music is based on the historical story that when the Chu and Han armies were engaged in a decisive battle in Gaixia (now southeast of Lingbi County, Anhui Province) in 202 BC, the Han army set up a ten-sided ambush formation, thus completely defeating the Chu army and forcing Xiang Yu to commit suicide at the riverside of Wujiang River.

The decisive battle of Gaixia was a famous battle in the history of China. The Pipa song "Ambush on Ten Sides" brilliantly uses musical means to express the fierce battles of this ancient war and presents a vivid and touching picture of the ancient battlefield to the world.

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Vivian Liu's personal feelings of playing "Ambush on Ten Sides":

For thousands of years, the Pipa has been hailed as the king of Chinese national musical instruments. Because of its rich and diverse performance skills, expressiveness, and dominance in folk music and legends, it won the honorable title of king. Playing the Pipa is a kind of self-confidence, a kind of heritage, and a kind of cultivation for me. I will experience the long-lasting Chinese ancient culture from the depths of my soul through this unique musical instrument, the kind of beauty is like flying fairies who hold a Pipa in the ancient murals of Dunhuang Grottoes on the Silk Road, from their delicate fingertips floating out the wonderful heavenly music. The heavenly melody is like flowers, scattered around the world, echoing leisurely and elegantly on the land of China.

"Ambush on Ten Sides" is a very famous traditional Pipa song. The turbulent and grieved historical story behind this song, the creation of the music itself and the wonderful and delicate subsequent adaptations make this music extremely expressive. I think this is the connotation and charm of a piece of music, just like an old man who has gone through the vicissitudes of life, depicting things transpired and people’s behaviors in this world; like a cup of fragrant spirit, it makes people taste the bitterness of the world and stirring people’s soul. Through a Pipa song, experience the battle of Gaixia in the famous war between Chu and Han, and feel the splendor, passion and heroism of Chinese historical drama. It is really a rare historical and artistic experience.

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Traditional Chinese Pipa music 'Ambush on Ten Sides'｜Vivian Liu｜琵琶曲十面埋伏｜epic classical music｜2021

#pipa #琵琶 #十面埋伏

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