纪念古琴大师吴景略诞辰100周年

吴景略介绍

        吴景略（1907-1987），古琴艺术家，音乐教育家，名韬，别号缦叟。祖籍江苏常熟，结庐于虞山之下。
        先生潜心琴艺，精於打谱，每每师楷化机，诣绝穷微。其写气图貌，必取象于形器，随手拈来，定为山水人物传其神。其演奏以气韵见长，兼有北之雄奇、豪宕与宏廓，又备有南之清润、柔婉与流丽；落指成珍、挥掌可范，精熟神妙，烨烁琴坛。他自行打谱并擅长演奏的作品有：《潇湘水云》、《广陵散》、《胡笳十八拍》、《墨子悲丝》、《秋塞吟》、《阳春》、《渔樵问答》、《梧叶舞秋风》、《忆故人》等。音乐理论家蓝玉崧先生为其定评为：飞腾绮丽，一代宗师。
        先生深於琴器制作、於髹漆独绝，五十年代与乐器厂合作，致力於琴器改良。在不改变原有音色，保持传统演奏技术，保存民族固有形式的前提下，取得了音量扩大、消除滑指嗓音等较为理想的效果。五十年代改良了今虞琴弦，七十年代与乐器厂研制成功了钢丝尼龙弦，受到广大琴人的喜爱，成为古琴器制发展史上的佳话。
        先生少从赵剑侯、周少梅、吴梦非、学习音乐；向天津琴家王端璞学习琴艺。师事肖蜕庵、樊少云学习书法与绘画。三十年代中期经李明德介绍加入上海今虞琴社，抗战期间，炳绍查阜西所创立的今虞精神，担任司社，主理今虞社务，首次带领今虞乐队将古琴曲目带到上海舞台进行公演。五十年代初於上海首次开设琴舘从事古琴教学，五三年被聘为中央音乐学院民族音乐研究所通讯研究员，五六年秋任中央音乐学院民乐系弹拨教研室主任，中国音乐学院教授。七十年代后，重新出任中央音乐学院终身教授，当选为中国文学艺术联合会委员、中国音乐家协会民族音乐委员会委员、北京古琴研究会会长。
        先生辞世后，原作《七弦琴教材》被整合到《虞山吴氏琴谱》，东方出版社於2001年出版发行；音响资料被整合为《吴景略古琴艺术》个人CD全集，龙音出版社1998年发行。

吴景略打谱曲目索引

曲名	谱本	定稿时间	备注
湘江怨	闽江庐氏琴谱	1928
关山月	王端璞传谱	1928
普庵咒	六十四琴斋	1928
梧叶舞秋风	琴学心声	1928
平沙落雁	五知斋琴谱	1929
阳关三叠	琴学入门	1930
石上流泉	琴学入门	1930
渔樵问答	琴学入门	1930
挟仙游	琴学入门	1930
阳春	诚一堂琴谱	1930	原文为《松弦舘琴谱》
春山听杜鹃	春草堂琴谱	1931
秋塞吟	五知斋琴谱	1931
白雪	自远堂琴谱	1931
高山	五知斋琴谱	1931
潇湘水云	五知斋琴谱	1937
胡笳十八拍	五知斋琴谱	1937
玉楼春晓	梅庵琴谱	1939
风雷引	梅庵琴谱	1939
长门怨	梅庵琴谱	1939
梅花三弄	琴谱谐声	1939
忆故人	理琴轩旧藏本	1939
普庵咒	理琴轩旧藏本	1939
渔歌	五知斋琴谱	1940
伯牙吊子期	西麓堂琴统	1940
雉朝飞	五知斋琴谱	1940
碣石调·幽兰	琴学丛书	1953
广陵散	神奇秘谱	1954
广陵散	西麓堂琴统	1955
流水	天闻阁琴谱	1960
墨子悲丝	五知斋琴谱自远堂琴谱	1960	合参
长清	西麓堂琴统	1962
短清	西麓堂琴统	1962
长侧	西麓堂琴统	1962
短侧	西麓堂琴统	1962
秋鸿	神奇秘谱	1970
离骚	西麓堂琴统	1973
羽化登仙	五知斋琴谱	1974
岳阳三醉	春草堂琴谱	1974
离骚	风宣玄品	1978
醉渔唱晚	五知斋琴谱	1980
塞上鸿	五知斋琴谱	1980
l 引自《吴景略古琴艺术生涯六十周年纪念音乐会·节目单》 l 原节目单中所列时间出自吴景略回忆，与所藏手稿印证。 l 本条目经吴文光更正修订。

WU JINGLUE AND HIS QIN MUSIC

WU Jing-lue, was born in the Town of Xitangshi, Changshu County, Jiangsu Province, China, on February 5, 1907; he died in Beijing, August 16, 1987. Three years after he was born, the last feudal dynasty in the history of China, the Qing Dynasty, was overthrown. Although in WU’s childhood China had already entered the time of sweeping social changes, his small town on the Yangtze delta, was still quite closed and conservative. Therefore WU’s early education was based on the historical traditions of the late Qing Dynasty.

WU Jing-lue was always very enthusiastic about Chinese traditional arts, especially music. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Yangtze delta and Shanghai played a pivotal role in communications, economy and culture throughout Southeast China. Many literati and artists, traditional and modern, lived there, having come from all over the country. This cultural condition provided a great opportunity for people who were willing to learn. WU Jing-lue started to study the pipa, a four stringed Chinese guitar, sheng, mouth organ, xiao, vertical bamboo flute, and other instruments from well-known local musicians such as ZHAO jian-hou, ZHOU Shao-mei, and WU Meng-fei.

It was not until 1927 that he established a career as an amateur qin musician when he met WANG Duan-pu and WANG’s family, scholar/masters of qin music who had moved to Changshu from Tianjing because of an official assignment. WU Jing-lue learned several small pieces within a few months from WANG and by the time the WANG family moved again, to Suzhou, he had become very interested in qin music and its literature. The ardor for studying qin music led him to abandon the other musical instruments. He concentrated on the qin and, after mastering the fundamental technique and knowledge, went to Shanghai seeking teachers and ancient qin music handbooks.

Qin music was a vanishing genre and it was quite difficult to find the small number of qin musicians even in Shanghai. Once he asked in a traditional book store and was told of a dentist, XU Shao-feng, who knew how to play the instrument. WU Jing-lue then visited XU as an uninvited guest. Through XU’s recommendation WU Jing-lue met LI Ming-de, an accomplished qin player. LI was invited to WU’s home in Changshu and WU Jing-lue played his newly learned piece Meihua Sanlong, plum blossoms. LI Ming-de admired WU’s learning spirit and musical ability, and became close qin-music friends, qinyou.

LI recommended WU Jing-lue to the Jinyu Qin Musicians Association at Suzhou in April of 1936. Therefore WU Jing-lue was introduced to the members of the association, including well-known qin scholar/master ZHA Fu-xi, and others, such as PENG Zi-qing, ZHANG Zi-qian, ZHUANG Jian-chen, SHEN Chao-nong, FAN Shao-yun, and FAN Bo-yan.

Changshu was the birthplace of the Yushan School, founded by scholar/master YAN Cheng (1547-1625) during the Ming Dynasty. Yushan means Mt.Yu, which is located in Changshu county. YAN Cheng was a high officer and an accomplished scholar. He originally learned the qin from local masters, who had inherited a tradition of the Southern Song dynasty. YAN also absorbed the performing style of master SHEN Tai-shao who was a dominant performer in Beijing. YAN established the Qinchuan Qin Musicians Association. Qinchuan was another name for Changshu County, because there were seven rivers passing through the area like the seven strings stretched on the instrument. The aesthetic advocation of YAN’s school was qing, the clear; wei, the subtle; dan, the simple and elegant; yuan, the remote. These opinions about qin music were treated as orthodox criteria for qin performance by the late scholar/players. The literal meaning of the Jinyu Qin Musicians Association is “Today’s Yushan school”.

Wuyewu Qiufeng, leaves dancing in the autumn wind, was WU Jing-lue’s debut piece in the Jingyu Qin Musicians Association. His playing style impressed the members of the Association. Since the Sino-Japanese War had begun, ZHA Fu-xi and some of the Jingyu musicians left from Shanghai. Therefore, with ZHANG Zi-qian, WU Jing-lue became a major organizer of the Association until 1956. During this period, he organized and performed numerous qin concerts with the Jingyu musicians and other traditional musicians. At the same time he began to teach private qin students.

To know and play ancient qin tablature is the way to establish one’s own style in qin performance. As a master, he/she should not only follow the teacher’s styles in terms of a living tradition after passing the first stages of study, but should also refer back to the meaning inherent in the ancient tablature. It is possible to do so because of the special qin notation, which although detailed in the fingering with tonal implication but lack of rhythmic indication. Through one’s creative performance, an ancient piece can be animated stylistically. This process is traditionally called dapu, meaning stylistic re-creation.

WU Jing-lue never stopped his dapu activity throughout his whole life. Based upon ten different ancient handbooks, such as the Wuzhizhai Qinpu(1722), Shenqi Mipu, Fengxuan Xuanpin(1539), Songxianguan Qinpu (1614) he realized forty ancient qin works according to his own style and understanding.

WU Jing-lue also composed Shenglichao, the celebration, and adapted a number of songs from folk tradition.

In 1953, he was invited by the Research Institute of Chinese Music to become an adjunct researcher. By 1956, he had started his professional career of qin music and eventually became a full professor at the Central Conservatory and China Conservatory of Music, in Tianjing and Beijing. Beside teaching, WU Jing-lue wrote a four-volume Teaching Text Book and other monographs and articles. WU Jing-lue was a member of the Committee of Chinese writers and Artists Association, a member of the Committee of Chinese Musicians Association, and the president of Beijing Qin Musicians Association.