[Xmca-l] Re: "THE LAST INTERNATIONALE | WORKERS OF THE WORLD- UNITE! ( OFFICIAL VIDEO)"

[Helena Worthen]

I also don't like wailing songs about workers. 

But the Yellow River Cantata is a kick!!! The one that came up for me had Lang Lang, who was having a great time.

Helena Worthen
helenaworthen@gmail.com
Vietnam blog: helenaworthen.wordpress.com

On Apr 15, 2017, at 4:37 PM, David Kellogg wrote:

> Too pessimistic, Ulvi! And not a little self-contradictory, because in the
> end she leaves New Orleans and gives up the fight. What happens to all
> those Latino workers farmworkers she's living behind in New Orleans?
> 
> You are a pianist. You will appreciate this, particularly the ending:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlivqMItDFo
> 
> It's called the "Yellow River Cantata", and it was originally written by
> Xian Xinghai in a cave in 1939, over six days, as the Japanese were closing
> in. The composer is using a bunch of local folk melodies and opera motifs
> to describe how the Yellow River itself will defend those who defend it.
> 
> The conclusion is an example of "huanwei"--this is a technique used in
> Chinese opera when the whole audience is singing along and they all think
> they know exactly how it is going to end (on "East is Red", which back then
> as now was a nationalistic theme). Instead, it ends with a phrase from the
> Internationale...and yet somehow the two fit together perfectly, and the
> audience is not wrong footed at all, but instead lifted from tune to a
> higher one, and (metaphorically, anyway) from one form of anti-imperialist
> consciousness to a still higher one.
> 
> (Notice that the pianist herself is not Chinese!)
> 
> David Kelllogg
> Macquarie University
> 
> 
> 
> On Sun, Apr 16, 2017 at 8:42 AM, Ulvi İçil <ulvi.icil@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> https://youtu.be/dgaJb0lQJ84
>>