''Dance of the Yao People'' (simplified: 瑶族舞曲; traditional: 瑤族舞曲; pinyin: Yáozú Wǔqǔ; sometimes translated as ''Dance of the Yao Tribe'') is one of the best known and most popular Chinese instrumental compositions of the second half of the 20th century. It was composed collaboratively by

Liu Tieshan / ( or ) is an East Asia, East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the c ...

( 刘铁山) and Mao Yuan( 茅沅) in 1952, inspired by the long drum dance ( 瑶族长鼓舞歌), a form of traditional festival music of the

Yao people The Yao people (its majority branch is also known as Mien; ; vi, người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China and Vietnam. They are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China and reside in ...

of southern and

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

China. It was premiered in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in 1953.

History

Inspired by the folk songs of Yao people, Liu Tieshan composed ''Long Drum Dance of the Yao People'' during a visit to Youling village (油岭村), Sanpai town (三排镇),

Liannan Yao Autonomous County Liannan Yao Autonomous County ( postal: Linnam; ) is located in the north of Guangdong province, China, and is part of Qingyuan prefecture-level city. More than half the population of the county is part of the Yao people The Yao people (its ...

(连南瑶族自治县),

Qingyuan Qingyuan, formerly romanized as Tsingyun, is a prefecture-level city in northern Guangdong province, China, on the banks of the Bei or North River. During the 2020 census, its total population was 3,969,473, out of whom 1,738,424 lived in the ...

(清远市), northern Guangdong province, southern China in 1951. Mao Yuan, another composer, adapted this piece into an orchestral work in 1952. Although it was originally composed for Western instruments, it is generally performed by Chinese traditional instruments (either for solo ''

guzheng The zheng () or gu zheng (), is a Chinese plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25, or 26 strings, is long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from ''Paulownia'' wood. Other co ...

'',video
/sup> chamber ensemble, or

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

).video
/sup> It is also performed by ensembles or orchestras of Western instruments.video
/sup> The work achieved wide attention in 1954, when the arrangement for

Chinese orchestra The term Chinese orchestra is most commonly used to refer to the modern Chinese orchestra that is found in China and various overseas Chinese communities. This modern Chinese orchestra first developed out of Jiangnan sizhu ensemble in the 1920s i ...

by the conductor Peng Xiuwen was disseminated throughout China. Other arrangements have been made by the Taiwanese composers Cheng Si-sum (鄭思森) and

Chen Tscheng-hsiung Chen may refer to: People * Chen (surname) (陳 / 陈), a common Chinese surname * Chen (singer) (born 1992), member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band EXO * Chen Chen (born 1989), Chinese-American poet * (), a Hebrew first name or surname: ...

(陳澄雄). Musically, the work is in several sections, some slow and some fast. It begins in 2/4 meter at a slow tempo, moves to 3/4 meter, then returns to 2/4 meter in a faster tempo for the finale. In the late 20th century, the song was used as the basis for several pop songs, in both China and the United States. The first 18 notes of the 1998 song "

When You Believe "When You Believe" is a song from the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature ''The Prince of Egypt''. It was written and composed by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version of "When You Believe", with additional music and lyrics by writer-prod ...

," as recorded by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

and

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

, are based on "Dance of the Yao People," although the Chinese composers of the original work were not credited. The piece has been performed in the

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Great ...

hall in Vienna.

In popular culture

* Used in the soundtrack for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

game ''

The Way of the Exploding Fist ''The Way of the Exploding Fist'' is a 1985 fighting game based on Japanese martial arts developed by Beam Software, by a team consisting of Gregg Barnett, Bruce Bayley, Neil Brennan and David Johnston. Originally developed on the Commodore 64 ...

'' (1985) * Partially covered by heavy metal band

Cacophony Phonaesthetics (also spelled phonesthetics in North America) is the study of beauty and pleasantness associated with the sounds of certain words or parts of words. The term was first used in this sense, perhaps by during the mid-20th century and ...

on the song "Black Cat", from the album ''

Go Off! ''Go Off!'' is the second and final studio album by heavy metal band Cacophony, released in 1988 through Shrapnel Records. About two years after the album's release, guitarist Jason Becker was diagnosed with ALS, rendering him paralyzed and co ...

'' (1988)

External links

Video

Video of "When You Believe"''Dance of the Yao People'' videos''Dance of the Yao People'' videos''Dance of the Yao People'' videos

References

{{Authority control Chinese classical music Yao people 1951 compositions 1952 compositions

History

In popular culture

External links

Video

See also

References