Hear today's full episode by clicking "Listen" above or find "Intermezzo" from your favorite podcast app.
Welcome to Intermezzo from Interlochen Public Radio, where we take a few minutes to bounce some ideas around about classical music.
This week, Christy L'Esperance and her co-host, Bianca, celebrate Chinese New Year by exploring traditional Chinese instruments playing music related to horses — this year's animal in the Chinese zodiac.
Yesterday, we learned about the erhu, which an instrument with two strings. Today, we'll be learning about the pipa.
The pipa has been played in China for over 2000 years. It’s a four-stringed, pear-shaped Chinese lute. It can be very expressive with a history spanning over 2,000 years.
Its name comes from the "pi" (forward pluck) and "pa" (backward strum) sounds. You can bend the strings after plucking to make inflections that resemble spoken Chinese and Chinese opera. The pipa is used in modern orchestras alongside Western instruments.
Listen to today's episode for some samples of pipa music!
黄怀海 (Huang Huaihai) - "Horse Race"
This week's Mystery Melody
It's time to test your ears. Each week we have a mystery melody that we have to figure out together. It relates to our topic. (We'll make the melody less mysterious each day.)
If you know the mystery melody, text your name and the title and we’ll give you a shout out on Friday. The number to text is (833) 490-4718.
