Quick Answer: What Is White Snow in Early Spring?
White Snow in Early Spring (Yang Chun Bai Xue, 阳春白雪, Yángchūn Báixuě) is a traditional pipa (琵琶, pípá) piece. It appears under several English names, including Sunny Spring and White Snow, and survives in versions of different lengths.[1][2]
- Versions: Chinese Music Archive notes distinguish longer and shorter pipa scores.[1]
- Listening: The Smithsonian lists a pipa solo by Yi Zhou from 6:23 to 9:40 in a recorded concert.[2]
- Similar titles: The guqin repertory has separate pieces called Sunny Spring および White Snow.[4][5]
Use the instrument and performer fields to identify the track before comparing two versions.
Short, quick phrases give this pipa piece its lively character. Listen for the quick figures that link one passage to the next and give the music its steady forward motion.
The Pipa Versions and Their Lengths
The Chinese Music Archive describes a longer form called Great Bright Spring, with ten to twelve sections in scores associated with Li Fangyuan and Shen Haochu. It credits Wang Yuting with a seven-section Little Bright Spring and describes a further four-section reduction by Wei Zhongle.[1]
The Smithsonian places its recorded piece in the Wang school and credits it as traditional. Use the performer and version fields if an archive gives them. An arrangement and a transmission credit describe different kinds of contributions.[2]
How the Tune Holds Together
The archive describes the work as a series of short tunes linked by recurring material known as Baban (八板, Bābǎn). Its note places that shared material at different points in the long and short forms.[1]
Listen for an idea that seems to return while the phrases around it change. The way a pipa player shapes short repeated notes here offers a comparison with the contrasting passages of Dance of the Yi People and the narrative sections of King Chu Doffs His Armor.
The Old Phrase and Two Guqin Titles
A text attributed to Song Yu uses the words yang chun bai xue in a story about music that fewer and fewer listeners can join. Scholars have debated whether the words designate one tune or a pair. The phrase is also encountered as one of many Chinese literary allusions.[3]
In qin scores, Yang Chun および Bai Xue can identify separate pieces. The archive lists Wu Jinglue for Yang Chun and Guan Pinghu for Bai Xue. Choose the guqin credit when looking for either of those solo works.[4][5]
Choose a Recording and Listen for Returns
The Chinese Music Archive gives 3:39 for Wei Zhongle’s 1934 recording.[1]
The Smithsonian’s Yi Zhou track appears earlier in the concert than Three Variations on Plum Blossom.[2] Compare the opening plucks in the two pipa recordings and the first moment a recognizable rhythmic figure returns.
FAQs About White Snow in Early Spring
What instrument plays White Snow in Early Spring?
The combined title here refers to a pipa work. Guqin catalogs have separate entries called Sunny Spring and White Snow.[1][5]
What is the difference between Great and Little Bright Spring?
The archive describes the great form as longer and the little form as a seven-section version associated with Wang Yuting.[1]
Where can I hear a pipa performance?
Yi Zhou’s solo runs from 6:23 to 9:40 in the Smithsonian’s Han Tang Ensemble concert recording.[2]
出典
[1] Chinese Music Archive. Pipa Programme Notes: Snowwhite in Sunny Spring
[2] Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. Traditional Chinese Music: The Han Tang Ensemble
[3] East China Normal University Journal. On the Titles of Ancient Tunes Yang Chun Bai Xue and Xia Li Ba Ren
[4] Silkqin. Shenqi Mipu: Bai Xue
[5] Chinese Music Archive. Guqin Audio Music Archive