Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student assistant Rocio (class of 2027) which features music from the Bridgerton television series.
Bridgerton: A Regency Romance Playlist
Immerse yourself in the opulent world of Bridgerton with this curated playlist. Inspired by the lavish early 1800s London Regency era depicted in the series, each track captures the elegance, drama, and allure of high society. Experience the charm and sophistication of a world where love and ambition dance in perfect harmony.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
The Shanghai Quartet is one of my favorite string quartets. After receiving coaching from them, I was not only able to work on my own violin techniques efficiently, but also learned to listen and appreciate string quartet music more actively. This semester, the documentary Behind the Strings, shown at the Richmond International Film Festival featured the Shanghai Quartet, so I got to learn more about each member of the quartet and how they have become so successful today.
One of the attributes of the Shanghai Quartet is their Chinese heritage, which I also share similar experiences with. Therefore, in the documentary, I was especially impressed and attracted to the string quartet arrangement they performed based on a number of traditional Chinese folk songs. It is well known that a string quartet is one of the most prominent and common chamber ensemble arrangements in Western Classical music. Collaborating with Chinese folk music, which is largely based on the pentatonic scale and is very different from Western classical music, Shanghai Quartet’s performance illustrates the best possible way of culture integration, as they infuse the music with their personal experiences and emotions growing up in a different cultural background.
Zhou Long, the composer of the album The Flowing Stream: Chinese Folk Songs and Tone Poems, mentioned that “for many years, I have been devoted to merging Eastern and Western cultures through my music. That has meant, specifically, the combining of ancient Chinese musical traditions and western compositional techniques into a coherent and personal statement”. The Shanghai Quartet shared similar experiences and values with Zhou; therefore, they were able to fully support his compositions through their performances.
Chinese folk songs are valued greatly because of their historical and cultural significance. Based on the album’s description, these songs mirror people’s daily lives, thoughts, and sentiments in Chinese culture. Nowadays, these songs are widely re-created and shared in the global music world. One of the songs that I found being the most representative in this album is “Jasmine Flower.” The lyrics are simple, “Jasmine flower, such a beautiful flower, her sweet scent covers all others in the garden…”. In the 2016 Chinese New Year Gala, Celine Dion performed this song with Song Zuying, a Chinese classical/folk singer. Here is a link to the performance:
Here is a link to the version arranged by Zhou Long, as performed by the Shanghai Quartet:
In this version, the first violin starts the main melody, mimicking the soprano vocal line. Then, all four strings pass the melody to each other, accompanied by pizzicatos in the rest of the voices. This arrangement focuses on the aspect that the texture of Chinese folk music is often monophonic, where only one instrument is playing or one voice is leading. To me, hearing Eastern Music performed on Western instruments always creates a different feeling.
There are also four pieces that are created from poems in the Tang Dynasty. Zhou Long composed these four pieces based on four different poems for string quartet and orchestra. The four poems are:
To me, Zhou Long’s inspirations in these four pieces derived from the original poem verses. He emphasized on the meaning of these verses and added his feelings into his composition. I am able to have visual interpretations from his music. For example, in the first piece – “Hut Among the Bamboo,” the rests between different parts, the pizzicatos, and the shifting harmonics vividly presented an image of being in a bamboo forest alone. Meanwhile, I do find the composition style really similar to some characteristics in Igor Stravinsky’s music, as they are both contemporary pieces.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
Of particular interest is the last piece, String Quartet No. 12, “American” by Dvořák, which was written during his time in the United States. His works during this time were greatly influenced by both Native American folk music and contemporary works of African Americans and other immigrants. His most famous piece, Symphony No. 9, From the New World was written during this period. The musicians of this recording, the Hollywood String Quartet, are considered to be the first American based classical group to have an international reputation. They accompanied pop singers in the mid-1900s, most notablyFrank Sinatra. Fans of older movies may also recognize their work in cinema. Before HSQ was formed, many of the members provided the orchestral soundtrack for early 1900s Hollywood movies, hence the name of the group.
