Newsletter No. 453

8 453 • 19.2.2015 本刊由香港中文大學資訊處出版，每月出版兩期。截稿日期及稿例載於 www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/chinese/newsletter/ 。 The CUHK Newsletter is published by the Information Services Office, CUHK, on a fortnightly basis. Submission guidelines and deadlines can be found at www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/english/newsletter/ . 陳慶恩教授 • 1992年崇基音樂系 • 2013香港藝術發展獎「年度最佳藝術家獎」 （音樂） • 香港大學音樂系系主任 可以略談一下你自畢業之後的創作路嗎？ 畢業後，我取得中大兩個獎學金，到美國伊利諾大學唸碩士和 博士，1997年4月回港，其後曾在中大教授兼讀課程，1998年加 入香港大學。起初當然沒甚麽人找我作曲，不過我認真做好每 一份工作，漸漸找我的人多了，有樂團、舞團，也有個別演奏家， 最近期是香港藝術節委約創作《蕭紅》和《大同》兩套歌劇，分 別在2013年和2015年演出。 只兩三年內，你寫了兩套以近代中國人物為題材的歌劇， 為何會有這樣的發展？ 在器樂、聲樂作品和舞劇音樂之後，更大挑戰自然便是寫歌 劇，因為在眾多音樂類型裏，歌劇牽涉的藝術範疇可說最為複 雜。2011年是 蕭紅 百歲誕辰，藝術節在翌年找我寫歌劇。我覺 得 意珩 的劇本很有詩意，況且導演是我渴望合作已久的 黎海 寧 ，這樣的黃金機會，我當然充分把握。至於《大同》，多少是 因藝術節認為《蕭紅》的合作頗為成功，再找我與編劇 陳耀成 先生和導演 鄧樹榮 先生合作。跟不同類型不同取向的藝術家合 作得愈多，學到的東西也愈多。 你希望在這兩套華語「室內歌劇」裏試驗些甚麼？ 室內歌劇對比三四小時的大型歌劇，無論在配器、人數、布景和 舞臺設計方面，規模都較簡單，製作費也較低，適合用作嘗試起 點。最大問題是詞與樂的結合，中文是聲調語言，增加了入樂的 難度。把人聲與歌詞和樂器好好結合，營造張力，過渡起承轉 合，推進個多小時的劇情，並非易事。 中國元素是否貫串你作品的特質？ 所謂「中國元素」很難界定，我不想、甚至有點想擺脫別人界定 我是一個常用中國元素的作曲家。創作人因應成長過程、音樂 經驗而儲備自己獨特的音樂語言，有人會覺得我把中國樂器或 中國元素運用得特別好，也有人認定我長於融合中西，會定下 一些配器框限，反倒很少聽聽我希望怎樣寫。我則自認二胡也 好，小提琴也好，擅長捕捉每種樂器不可替代的特性，才是貫串 我作品的特質，多於所謂的「中國元素」。 除了取材中國之外，音樂的「中國色彩」可體現在甚麼地 方？ 「中國色彩」是評論人也是創作人的迷思。你不會覺得一個德 國或美國作曲家需要寫一首德國或美國音樂，唯是你會希望中 國作曲家有些中國元素。作曲家在非自己的土壤推出作品時，有 時會過分強調「我是個中國作曲家」。有些所謂中國元素是非 常表面的，若說五聲音階就是中國音樂的話，那麽整首都用五 聲音階的 Auld Lang Syne 豈不便是中國音樂了？我不想刻意經 營，也不希望流於表面，好像用一段中國旋律配上西洋和聲便 算。我希望是比較深層次的，例如西方音樂很多時用和聲作終 止式，但中國音樂多會利用速度和音色變化。如何用其他方法 構建中國音樂，反而是我思考得更多的問題。 回顧中大歲月，甚麼最可貴？ 當時音樂系還是自成一角，有自己的建築物，資源是全港最好 的，影音圖書館是我們考試期間通宵留守的地方。練琴時偶爾 會見到蛇出沒，晚上蚊子又叮得厲害，但那種像一家人的氛圍非 常難得。最可貴是小班教學的互動交流，有些課是一位老師對 着兩三個學生，不斷發問，在你苦思不得其解的時候， 紀大衛 教 授突如其來的一句笑話就把你任督二脈都打通了。現在我教音 樂理論，也會衝口而出用上紀教授當年的一些箴言。 對於有意以作曲為業的後學，有甚麼提點？ 我到美國唸書的時候，也思考過這個問題。一位中大師兄對我 說：「不用想了，死路一條！把書讀完再算吧！」想想付出的努力 與金錢回報，真的不成正比。不過，讀藝術和從事創作都源於 熱情，近乎宗教和愛情，有那種需要才會去追求。有興趣，自知 有才能，那就不要多想前途甚麽的。香港近年音樂創作和發表 空間比我讀書的時候大多了，路是會慢慢走出來的；我就是這 樣走過來的。 請掃描QR碼閱讀全文版 Scan the QR code for the full version 觀看錄像，請掃描QR碼或瀏覽以下網址： To watch the video, please scan the QR code or visit: www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/video/?nsl453-chan-hing-yan soil, the identity of a ‘Chinese composer’ is somewhat overemphasized. Some so-called Chinese elements are very superficial. People tend to equate the pentatonic scale with Chinese music. If it is that simple, is Auld Lang Syne , which is entirely pentatonic, Chinese music? I don’t want to be too artificial or superficial, like conveniently assigning chords in Western music to a Chinese melody. I want to do it with some depth. Let’s say, the cadence in Western music is usually presented in form of chord progression, but in Chinese music, it is usually expressed by changes in tempo and tone colour. I’m actually more concerned with exploring ways to build up the architecture for Chinese music. What do you most treasure in your CUHK years? I remember the Department of Music then was housed in a small hub in its own building. We had the best musical resources in Hong Kong and we used to stay overnight in the audio-visual library during the exam season. We were occasionally visited by snakes in the studio, and swamps of mosquitoes in the evening. But staying together like a family is something unforgettable. I treasured the days of small classes when student-teacher ratio was low and interaction was close. Sometimes one teacher attended to only two to three students. The teacher would keep asking questions. As we racked our brains for an answer, Prof. David Gwilt would use his casual humourous remark to enlighten us. His words of wisdom are so useful that I would quote them as if they are mine when I teach music theories now. What advice would you give to young students who aspire to take up composition as their profession? I did give some thought to making a living on composition when I went abroad for my postgraduate studies in the US. An upperclassman from CUHK told me, ‘Forget it, it’s a dead end! Don’t worry about it until you complete your studies.’ To be honest, the effort is disproportionate to the monetary reward. But the studies in arts and creative work are both driven by passion, which is close to religious fervour and love. So if you have interest and know that you’ve got the talent, don’t think too much about the prospects. Just do it. Here in Hong Kong, the room for musical creation and publication has grown tremendously in recent years than when I was a student. You will find your path ultimately. I’ve also come along slowly step by step. Prof. Chan Hing-yan • Music, Chung Chi College, 1992 • Award for Best Artist (Music), Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2013  • Chairperson, Department of Music, University of Hong Kong Can you tell us how you fared on composition after graduating from the CUHK? I obtained two scholarships from CUHK to pursue my master’s and doctoral studies at the University of Illinois in the US. After returning to Hong Kong in April 1997, I taught some part-time programmes at the Chinese University and joined the University of Hong Kong in 1998. Predictably, I didn’t get many commissioned composition jobs at the beginning. However, I did give my best whenever there was one. Gradually more people came to know about me and I started to work with orchestras, dance troupes and virtuosi. The more recent ones include two operas commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF)— Heart of Coral in 2013 and Datong, the Chinese Utopia in 2015. You have written two chamber operas within a couple of years, both based on historical figures in modern China. Why so? After working on instrumental and vocal music, and also music for dance drama for so many years, I’m prepared for a bigger challenge. Opera seems to be a justified choice since it involves practically the most complicated combination of art forms in all musical genres. The year 2011 marked the 100th year of Xiao Hong ’s birth. The HKAF asked me in 2012 to write an opera on this female writer. I found the script written by Yi Heng very poetic, and the crew, with Helen Lai as director, irresistible. So I grabbed the golden opportunity to write my first opera— Heart of Coral . Building on the successful collaboration, the HKAF got me to work with librettist Mr. Evans Chan and director Tang Shu-wing . I’ve learnt a lot through cooperating with artists in various fields. What do you want to experiment in the two Chinese chamber operas? Chamber opera, in comparison with full-blown opera of three to four hours in duration, is produced on a much smaller scale in terms of instrumentation, cast, stage set-up and design, and budget. So it is a good starting point for a first-time opera composer. The biggest issue is how to fit the words to music. Chinese, being a tonal language, makes it even more difficult. It’s really not easy to blend in the human voice, libretto and instruments to create dramatic intensity and tell the story in an hour or so. Is it apt to say that Chinese elements are typical of your works? It’s difficult to define ‘Chinese elements’. I don’t want to be labelled as a composer who habitually employs Chinese elements. A composer gathers various musical experiences in his process of growth and development, which help shape his own musical language. Some people may think I’m well versed in using Chinese instruments or Chinese elements, while others may consider that I’m good at integrating the East and the West. Some will lay down for me some parameters for instrumentation, without bothering to know how I would like the music to be written. I would say I’m good at capturing the irreplaceable characteristics of different instruments, be it erhu or violin, and this profound knowledge in instruments, rather than the so-called Chinese elements, is consistently found in my works. How do Chinese elements find their place in music, other than a Chinese background? ‘Chinese elements’ is a myth to both reviewers and composers. You won’t ask a German or American composer to write music in a German or American manner, but you will definitely expect a Chinese composer to feature something Chinese. When a composer introduces his work on alien Photo by ISO staff