xi's moments
Home | Music & Theater

The sound of traditional music goes online

By Chen Nan | China Daily | Updated: 2022-05-07 09:07

Musicologists Wang Shixiang (left) and Meng Xianfu (front) doing research about ancient Chinese musical instrument Bianzhong. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"This is the most comprehensive collection of Chinese traditional music, which we want to share with a wider audience. Now, the singers and players who sang and played the music have mostly died, even the musicians who made the recordings are mostly no longer with us. This is why we have a deep sense of responsibility to preserve these audio materials," says Han, adding that since many of the early musical materials in China was mainly kept orally, audio materials are crucial.

According to Han, the launch of the digitalized sound archives also celebrates the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Memory of the World program, which UNESCO established in 1992 as a global initiative to prevent the loss of important collections held in libraries and archives.

"This heritage is a shared, common legacy that should be transmitted to later generations," according to the website of the UNESCO."Through its international register, which currently lists 245 items from most countries in the world, the Memory of the World enables the intellectual treasures that have been created by all cultures and in all regions to be better known."

In autumn 1993, Henri Lopes, the then UNESCO assistant director general for culture, visited the Chinese National Academy of Arts in Beijing. Qiao Jianzhong, the then head of the academy, invited him to experience the sound archives.

|<< Previous 1 2 3 4 Next   >>|
Global Edition
BACK TO THE TOP
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349