《古琴吟》(pinyin: GǔQín Yín) is a beautiful, melancholy piece that is also known as《相思曲》 (pinyin: Xiāngsī Qū).
Background
The lyrics of the song are from a poem that tells of 蘇軾 (Sū Shì, also known as Su Dongpo), a Chinese poet and scholar who lived during the Song dynasty.
In the poem Su Shi travels to the Red Buddha Temple in Qiongzhou with a courtesan, who sadly died of illness and was buried there with her qin. When Su Shi spent the night at that location again many years later, he heard a woman’s sad singing outside the window. The next day, he ordered the ground to be dug up and found a poem:
“Sound, sound, sound, you are unfaithful, truly unfaithful, betraying me until now. Remember the soft singing of those days, the light toasting, one song worth a thousand gold. Now I’m abandoned in the shadow of an ancient wall, autumn wind blows through wild grass, white clouds are deep, broken bridge and flowing water with no old friends. Sorrowful and lonely, cold and desolate.”
It appears that during the Ming Dynasty, someone turned this poem into a guqin piece called “Xiang Si Qu” (eventually also known as “Gu Qin Yin”). The lyrics use the un-played guqin as a metaphor for an abandoned woman, expressing feelings of resentment and loneliness.
(For an in-depth discussion of the piece, see Melody of Mutual Love on silkqin.com.)
Lyrics
音音音，爾負心，爾負心，真負心，辜頁找
到如今，記得當年低低唱，淺淺
斟，一曲值千金。如今抛找
古墻陰，秋風荒草白雲深
斷橋流水無故人。凄凄切切。
冷冷清清，凄凄切切，冷冷清清。
Yīn yīn yīn, ěr fùxīn, ěr fùxīn, zhēn fùxīn, gū yè zhǎo
Dào rújīn, jìdé dàng nián dī dī chàng, qiǎn qiǎn
zhēn, yī qū zhí qiānjīn. Rújīn pāo zhǎo
Gǔ qiáng yīn, qiūfēng huāngcǎo báiyún shēn
Duàn qiáo liúshuǐ wúgù rén. Qī qī qièqiè.
Lěng lěngqīngqīng, qī qī qièqiè, lěng lěngqīngqīng.
Technique
This piece builds on many of the foundational techniques developed in the previous song, 《仙翁操》(Xiān Wēng Cāo). The new techniques that are introduced are listed below.
Right Hand Techniques (*symbols)
抹 (mǒ) – index finger pulling inward, like 勾 (gōu) but played with the index finger
抹挑 (mǒ-tiāo) – index finger pulling inward (mǒ) and then plucking outward (tiāo) to create two sounds
剔 (tī) – middle finger plucking outward, like 挑 (tiāo) but played with the middle finger
勾剔 (gōu-tī) – middle finger pulling inward (gōu) and then plucking outward (tī) to create two sounds
抹勾 (mǒ-gōu) – index finger pulling inward (mǒ) followed by middle finger also pulling inward (gōu) and to create two sounds
Left Hand Techniques (*symbols)
分開 (fēn-kāi) – playing three distinct notes by first plucking a pressed note, then executing a 進 (jìn) by sliding up to the next highest pitch, followed by returning to the original position and plucking a second time (“to separate”)
下 (xià) – after playing a pressed note, slide down to a lower pitch position and hold a second distinct note (without plucking)
撞 (zhuàng) – after plucking the string, quickly slide up and back a half note (“to bump”)
退復 (tuì-fù) – after playing a pressed note, slide down one note and then return to the original pressed note position (“withraw-return”)
就 (jiù) – repeat the same left-hand fingering as the previous note
? (?) – left hand pressed note position just beyond the 13th hui
推出 (tuī-chū) using the indicated finger, push out and release the string producing an open note (“roll out”)
泛 (fàn) – Single note played as a harmonic (feature touch)
Additional Videos
