Quick Answer: What Is Big Waves Wash the Sand?
Big Waves Wash the Sand (Da Lang Tao Sha, 大浪淘沙, Dàlàng Táoshā) is a pipa (琵琶, pípá) solo preserved in a 1950 recording by Abing (阿炳, Ābǐng), the Wuxi musician Hua Yanjun (华彦钧, Huà Yànjūn).[1][5]
- Archive: The performance is one of three pipa solos recorded from Abing that year.[1]
- Listening cue: The quiet opening gives way to more forceful rhythms.[2]
- Version: Look for the musician’s name and the instrument, since the title appears in different English forms.[3][4]
The surviving performance is the clearest evidence of how Abing played the piece.
The title gives the listener an image of moving water. Start with the space around the notes and notice how the pulse gathers weight. This gives you a way to follow the music even without a score.
What the Wuxi Recording Preserves
Yang Yinliu and Cao Anhe used a wire recorder to document Abing’s playing in Wuxi in 1950. The recording preserves a performance on the pipa. It is part of six performances preserved from the 1950 recording work, three on each instrument.[1][5]
Two of the erhu selections were Moon Reflected on Erquan and Listening to the Pine. The same musician played all three works. Compare the plucked tone here with the bowed sound on those erhu recordings.[1]
Why the Origin Is Uncertain
The Chinese Music Archive recounts that Abing associated the music with a Daoist ensemble tune. It also reports that an earlier tune corresponding to his description has not been identified. That leaves room for Abing’s own contribution to the shape and details of the pipa piece.[2]
The recording fixes how Abing played the music in 1950. The earlier source remains an open question. A credit to Hua Yanjun can identify the version even when the origins of its material are uncertain.[2][3]
Listen for Three Changes in Character
The Chinese Music Archive describes three parts. Start with the first part’s quieter delivery. In the second, listen as the phrases gain rhythmic drive. The last part has a firmer, more emphatic rhythm.[2]
As a comparison, Ambush from Ten Sides builds contrasts on the same kind of lute in a longer martial suite. Here, shifts in pulse help distinguish the three broad stretches of a much shorter recorded performance.[3]
Read the Instrument and Performer Credits
The International Music Score Library Project lists Abing’s pipa recording separately from a piano transcription. The Smithsonian catalog lists Yi Li on sanxian for a track titled Great Wave Washes the Sand. These catalog entries provide different instrument and performer information under closely related English titles.[3][4]
Search using Da Lang Tao Sha as well as the English title. Add Abing or pipa when you want his recorded performance.
FAQs About Big Waves Wash the Sand
Who is credited with Big Waves Wash the Sand?
The pipa piece is associated with Hua Yanjun, known as Abing. The precise origin of the tune remains uncertain.[2]
What instrument did Abing play on the recording?
He played pipa, a four-string plucked lute, on the recorded version.[1][3]
Is it the same as Moon Reflected on Erquan?
They are distinct pieces preserved in the 1950 recordings. Abing played this one on pipa and Moon Reflected on Erquan on erhu.[5]
Sources
[1] China Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Museum. Building a Digital Archive of Traditional Music Recordings
[2] Chinese Music Archive. Plucked Instrument Notes: Da Lang Tao Sha
[3] International Music Score Library Project. Da Langtaosha, Abing
[4] Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Anthology of the World’s Music: China I
[5] China Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Museum. Rescue Documentation Is a Race Against Time