Music bridges differences, builds friendship

One of the most popular rock bands in the United States, OneRepublic performed at Chinese Media Group's Spring Festival Gala for the Year of the Snake on Jan 28, stirring up a warm musical rendezvous. As the great Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet, Li Bai, composed in his poetic work, Seeing Meng Haoran off from Yellow Crane Tower: all I see is the Yangtze River flowing to the far horizon.

As OneRepublic sang their chart-buster Counting Stars at the gala, captivating audiences worldwide with their infectious melody and heartfelt lyrics, the stage screen flashed the Yellow Crane Tower which sits atop the Snake Mountain in Wuhan, Hubei province. Formed in 2002, OneRepublic has blended pop, rock and folk elements to create a unique sound that resonates deeply with listeners. By featuring OneRepublic, the gala not only added a touch of international flair but also sent a message of China's cultural openness.

At the end of 2023, the Philadelphia Orchestra performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its historic 1973 tour of China as the first foreign orchestra to perform in the country since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Moreover, the NCPA's production of Giuseppe Verdi's opera in December 2023 commemorated the 210th birth anniversary of the Italian composer and the 170th anniversary of the Western classic La Traviata's premiere (originally La Dame aux Camélias). Under the baton of Yu Long, Italian-Russian soprano Ekaterina Bakanova starred in the title role in the opera named Violetta alongside tenor Shi Yijie, baritone Liao Changyong and other artists to highlight the value of respect and love.

A combination of Chinese and Peruvian musical performance, adapted from an original Shaanxi folk song from China and replenished with Peruvian folk music, was also screened at the CMG's Spring Festival Gala on Jan 28, with singers Zhou Shen and Juan Diego Florez from the two countries illustrating China-Peru stories interactively accompanied by lilting music.

Music, as a universal language, has the power to bridge the differences between cultures. Since operatic music is highly regarded in the West, people naturally follow it, furthering music's function and commitment to expand people-to-people exchanges.

What music can showcase is something more than an artist's incredibly high and wide vocal range, magnetic, metallic voice and musical style that combine different genres such as opera, folk and rock 'n' roll. The most apparent outcome music can generate is the understanding and exchange of cultures. From this perspective, to attend a foreign musical performance is to learn to understand another culture.

What is also worth mentioning is Nessun Dorma from Giacomo Puccini's eternal Turandot, an opera which describes an imaginary Chinese story through Westerners' eyes, with some of the music pieces based on the traditional Chinese folk song Jasmine. Another melody, Das Land des LacheIns, composed by Franz Lehár and set in Vienna and China, presents a winding love story of separation due to cultural differences, but with prince Sou-Chong always smiling.

Both operas show how the Western world imagined, experienced and illustrated the mysterious Oriental elements, with the language of music. Apart from the above-mentioned China stories told by Western composers, there are still many traditional Chinese cultural elements and stories which can be disseminated through opera to promote Chinese culture across the world and establish cross-cultural communication.

The Phoenix Returns Home, The Mountain and Flowing Water, Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Mansions, Mulan, Farewell My Concubine, The Butterfly Lovers and many other works are part of traditional Chinese cultural heritage. They have always interested foreign readers and audiences. If these works are adapted and composed in opera form in foreign languages, the Western world will better understand China stories.

Music can be the key to transcend cultural differences and build people-to-people bridges, bringing cultures closer, promoting mutual learning, dialogue, inclusiveness, communication and cooperation, and writing a new chapter of cultural exchanges and friendly relations. Music can bridge distances, bring true friends closer and encourage people to know about each other even if they are thousands of kilometers apart.

Music lends a healing touch, relieves pain. It has been working like medicine for centuries. Music connects people around the world, narrating stories of civilizations and cultures. Music has the power to enhance China's cultural soft power.

The author is an associate professor at Guangzhou Maritime University, and a research committee member in Foreign Discourse Section of Translators Association of China.  The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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