Interview and Reading: The Missionary
Even though life may not always go as planned, I will transform it into musical notes and poems.
Only by upholding an unwavering faith can one create an immortal legend of life.
—Excerpt from Dong Rongcan's Quotations
(three)
How did he learn to play the piano?
Sentences like this are common in popular literature; they don't seem cool or original, and this is definitely not my writing style.
In recounting his piano learning journey, Mr. Kong Xiangdong described how his mother first created a 1:1 replica of the black and white keys of a piano using a piece of cardboard. He also recounted how his family painstakingly scraped together about 800 yuan to bring home their first piano from the home of a destitute old woman, and from then on, he devoted himself to playing it!
But did you know that Dong Jun's true story of learning piano is actually even more vivid?
One day when he was 20, on the stage in his company cafeteria, a piano appeared by chance, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind: "This piano will definitely be my future—"
He wasn't delirious at that time, but rather in a period when life wasn't going as he wished!
While he was recounting the above, my own thoughts led me to another idea: what he saw that day wasn't just a piano, but rather the Virgin Mary herself, present in that moment, awakening her people across the world! That day, his soul was leaving his body, a divine call was being made, and this wondrous idea was born! Otherwise, there is no theory that can explain it!
The piano is the king of musical instruments! And he began to prepare to embrace it. Remember: embracing is a two-way street. Only when one is endowed with certain qualities, and possesses an unknown innate nature, will one dare to act in this way. At this moment, Dong Jun possessed all of these qualities! From this, I read that it was because he was alive and had a sense of mission in life. In this world, it was his turn to shine—Romain Rolland's vision of Jean-Christophe!
"Use music to describe the human world and to express the inner world of the heart."
He was still being modest when he introduced himself to me that day!
"At 20, I fell in love with the piano at first sight and dreamed of playing it. I started teaching myself to read sheet music using the 'Thomson Piano Book' that's used by 4 or 5-year-olds..."
Yes, fate was kind to a young man who was obsessed with music. He entered the piano department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music from a humble background and became a test subject for the educational reform initiative of "whether workers, peasants and soldiers can learn piano".
This is fate's arrangement, and also God's arrangement.
A year and a half later, the academy sent him to Beijing to write a summary of "The Red Lantern with Piano Accompaniment," and subsequently transferred him to the music research department. This marked the end of his history of learning piano under the guidance of a teacher.
Not long after, he was admitted to the composition department.
When he got to this point, he joked that Chen Gang only taught him composition in fifteen minutes, but when he taught female students, it took him an hour!
Haha, I added for him: Geniuses learn even without being taught! Girls are better at it than boys—long live understanding!
In addition, he also mentioned the contribution of teacher He Zhanhao to the composition of the main melody of the violin piece "Butterfly Lovers"!
I listened, and I chimed in, saying that I believe the earliest version of the Butterfly Lovers story originated from folk songs, and has existed since ancient times! Just like Wang Luobin admitted that some of his songs came from folk songs of Northwest China…
Here, I sensed a slight bias towards those among the workers, peasants, and soldiers who loved music. He Zhanhao also entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with a similar background! Because he genuinely loved music! (I later sent a text to Dong Jun, based on my understanding of the creation process of "The Butterfly Lovers," for his reference. From this, it's clear that no one is perfect, including Chen Gang's father, Chen Gexin—that's my opinion!) Of course, Dong is not forgetting his teacher's kindness, which is also understandable.
That day, Dong was still concerned about his junior classmate, and he also mentioned Kong Xiangdong's depression. Was he better? I added to his comments from the side.
This is a gathering of the elites of our Chinese music scene!
Take Yu Lina for example, she is the music goddess in my heart - because she is defending the sanctity of music! She dares not do things against her conscience!
On another note, in episode 90 of the SGM music talk show series, I heard someone say this:
"China possesses only 10% of musical knowledge (in fact, it is extremely lacking)."
Someone in the comments section also said:
"It would be good if it reached 5%. In this day and age, with mobile phones all the time, even when music was at its most developed, the inheritance of music was probably less than 10%."
“I’ve heard our university professors who teach music form, sight-singing, and ear training talk about these things before. But our undergraduate music theory textbooks don’t cover these things at all. I don’t know because I haven’t taken graduate courses, but only about 10% of undergraduates actually graduate with these degrees, maybe even less than 10%…”
There are even more comments!
Are these words true? I wonder!
But there's one thing I do understand!
Physics, chemistry, biology, music... these are all relatively broad individual fields. Even a titan of physics like Newton, and modern humans like us, can we truly grasp all of the physics in the universe? Impossible. Currently, we only understand a small part, less than 10%. This is the rational way to position ourselves and approach science!
No wonder Mr. Dong was at my house that day. His low-key approach to the music industry is justified; it's simply a reflection of his character. I'm really learning about him! (To be continued)