Musical to reproduce sound of ancient flute at coming festival

Chinese musicians are rehearsing a musical to reproduce the sound of an ancient bone flute at the upcoming Shanghai Spring International Music Festival in May.

Chinese flute virtuoso Tang Junqiao and her team took a year to make the replica, which best resembles the sound of the Jiahu bone flute, thought to be 8,000 years old, which was unearthed in central China's Henan Province in 1980s. The multimedia musical, Flute: Sound of Nature, will premiere during the three-week music festival.

"The musical not only tells the legendary story of the Chinese flute, but also demonstrates many Chinese cultural and art elements," says Tang, who acts as the leading lady in the play.

Since the archeological find of more than 30 bone flutes from Jiahu village in Henan, Chinese flute master Zhao Songting has been invited to play music with the ancient instruments.

In 2016, Tang, a student of the late master Zhao, started a project to reproduce the sound of the ancient flutes. The project was supported by the China National Art Fund.

Her team has made more than 30 replica flutes, mostly with resin and bamboo, while two were made of bird bones.

The flutes originated in China, have six holes and were made of the ulna bones of red-crowned cranes.

Tang's team tried materials from bones to wood, bamboo and synthetics to find the right sound.

The sound of one of the replicas made with resin synthetic material and bitter bamboo is considered by musicians to be "very similar to the bone relic".

Tang, also a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, says as compared with the previous recording of the flute master, the pitch of the replica to be played in the musical was more precise and the tone quality richer.

"About 4,000 years ago, the Chinese started to make flutes with bamboo instead of bird bone. And bamboo is highly symbolic in Chinese culture. So we produced the multimedia musical inspired by the replica," says Lin Zaiyong, dean of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and producer of the musical.

He says the production convened China's top artists for composing, scriptwriting and directing.

"To awaken the sound from over 8,000 years on stage is beautiful. But we are aiming for more than that," adds Lin.

He says the original musical would be among China's recommended music for international events.