CANTONESE SUONA INSTRUMENTAL
7 Comments so far
Leave a comment
August 12, 2008, 8:08 pm
Filed under: cantonese opera
Filed under: cantonese opera
I’m always amazed at how cacophonous these Chinese records can be and here’s a perfect example. A Cantonese instrumental played on the suona. The suona is a type of shawm that originated in Northern China and eventually spread across China for use in military, wedding, folk and opera music. It’s similar to the Turkish zurna and the Indian shennai, among others.
After World War II, local entrepreneurs around the world started setting up their own record companies. Tsing Ping is one of the many Chinese-owned labels that emerged in this period, many of which were based in Chinese immigrant communities throughout Southeast Asia. Tsing Ping and Num Sing (see below) were based in San Francisco.
7 Comments so far
Leave a comment
HAJI MAJI 
I….love it! Right up there with the best of the loud shawms of the world!
Comment by JW August 13, 2008 @ 9:19 pmyep, shawm family instruments are extremely loud…anyone who has stood next to a zurna player knows they shouldn’t be allowed indoors…
Comment by hajimaji August 14, 2008 @ 9:14 amHM
Anyone who has stood next to or had a Marshall half stack pointed at them in a bar wouldn’t blink at a Kaba Zurna, even!
Thanks for posting this and all the others, I love Chinese music on it’s own merits and also because it seems to annoy westerners very much!
Comment by Stephen January 29, 2009 @ 11:29 pmYou’re welcome…I STILL wouldn;t want to stand right next to a zurna!
Comment by HAJI MAJI January 30, 2009 @ 9:06 am[…] CANTONESE SUONA INSTRUMENTAL […]
Pingback by The Chinese New Year Special Exhibition : CHINA RECORD LABEL(Pameran Piringhitam Tionghoa Tahu Baru Imlek) | Driwancybermuseum's Blog February 2, 2011 @ 4:46 am[…] I had decided not to post this recording because it’s pretty scratchy, but because it’s one of my all time favorite Victor records and I because you must be an intrepid bunch of music lovers to be here in the first place, I figured what the hell. Enjoy. CANTONESE SUONA INSTRUMENTAL […]
Pingback by THE VINTAGE CHINESE OPERA RECORD COLLECTIONS | Iwansuwandy's Blog October 1, 2011 @ 9:08 pm[…] be an intrepid bunch of music lovers to be here in the first place, I figured what the hell. Enjoy. CANTONESE SUONA INSTRUMENTAL […]
Pingback by THE vINTAGE CHINESE CANTON TRADITIONAL OPERA RECORD | Iwansuwandy's Blog October 2, 2011 @ 3:25 am