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Post by douglaslam on May 22, 2009 7:17:05 GMT -5
I'd like members to share this great rendition of a Cantonese melody, to kick off another piece of my trivia. Music is the theme of my ranting.
I am sure many of us have fond memories of Hong Kong, for HK is often a stepping stone to yonder. It was quite an experience for a country boy arriving in HK in the mid-50s. Even in the laid-back mid-20th century, life couldn't have been more different. The pace of life was slower, living condition was crowded in the pre-War flat where we stayed (in Mong Kok ). There was no wet closet. The potties, chamber pots, commodes or whatever had to be put out for collection every evening. It stank to high heaven when the team of women ( usually ) made their round. Since then we had moved house many times.
I learned Cantonese quickly. It was in Hong Kong that I was introduced to the magic of radio and the cinema. There was Radio HK and cable Rediffusion Radio. I loved the serial of kung fu epics, enjoyed Cantonese and Mandarin pop, traditional music and opera. One such trad Cantonese music is in my next link. This is always the opening theme to accompany the credit of a long running series of Wong Fei Hung films. WFH is the quintessential kung fu hero. The movies carry no subtle protests or messages, but they do espouse Confucian ethic of filial piety, honesty, non-violent dispute resolution etc.,. The leading actor Kwan Tak Hing, lived by what he portrayed in films. The fighting sequences were simple, no slow motion action, no excessive blood and gut, no special effects, no dubbing, and costumes were authentic We kids loved them.
In contrast, the ones featuring Jet Li now do not resonate with we the older brigade.
This piece of music is now becoming HK's unofficial signature tune, and words are set to the music as a motivation song. But I prefer this original instrumental version. Enjoy.
The next one is often featured in period Cantonese movies with singing. It is a piece of celebratory music. Listen to the clash of cymbals, gong, drum and wooden block, it is rousing, so Cantonese and so Chinese, and it warms my heart.
Thanks for the modern miracle of the Internet, I am able once more listen to the music I've been missing for about 50 years. I know fellow Forum members like tyuti1668, Woodson and laohuaqiao would know the tunes. Music probably plays a part in all our lives. I can't read a bar of music but it does not diminish my love for Chinese and Western pop, the uplifting Beethoven symphonies and Rossini overtures, the sunny, delightful music of Mozart, or the melodic masterpieces of Schubert and Mendelssohn. But they all come up short for only the Chinese music I learnt to love as a young boy could make my eyes tear-up.
Douglas
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Post by Woodson on May 22, 2009 12:00:40 GMT -5
As a lad in HK, 1956-57, I never watched any of the Wong Fei Hung movies because they were deemed too violent by my family. There was much chance of me, a 7-year-old, wondered off on my own to watch. Besides I had no spending money. We did watched a lot of the Cantonese opera stuff. This video is of the two biggest names then
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Post by tyuti1668 on May 22, 2009 20:40:46 GMT -5
I learned Cantonese quickly. I... ... The next one is often featured in period Cantonese movies with singing. It is a piece of celebratory music. Listen to the clash of cymbals, gong, drum and wooden block, it is rousing, so Cantonese and so Chinese, and it warms my heart. ... Douglas Douglas the "Cantonese" - from my experience old generation from Longdu: the oral cantonese is not passable to outsider but at least they understand above 80% Cantonese. When my mum're still young she're shy to speak Cantonese  but she understands it. (there's an old saying in my mother side's village "挨挨埋，都唔夠戲佬債" their villagers 're big fans of the opera. Held many operas each year. ) - ;D when heard that "將軍令" memories from secondary school life floats in my brain. I was in a colonial govt school & every student need to learn a musical instrument. (i'm a cheapstake & love self-taught) Bought some book & learn the "xiao ruao" . 將軍令 is the only song mastered well from the self study (Every term's music lessson exam is the same "將軍令" ;D ;D ;D). |
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Post by douglaslam on May 22, 2009 22:29:30 GMT -5
Woodson and tyuti1668,
Glad you are sharing my passion for HK of old. I was a little older than you were when I arrived in 1956. Of course, the two artists are well known to me. I saw a lot of Cantonese films with singing, we could squeezed in at no cost. A colour movie was also a big deal, some resorted to have part colour, towards the climax. I always tried to follow the singing by reading the sub-titles. This helped me learning the written language enormously. The first Hollywood film I saw I think it was The Niagara, starring Marilyn Monroe. I remember because I was too scared at the time watching Marilyn met her watery end. Many many years later, when I saw it again on TV in Sydney, then I realized it was my first Hollywood movie.
I remember I was sent out the first time to buy 5 cents of dried shrimp. I wouldn't go because I was too afraid of not speaking Cantonese well enough. It didn't take long for me to pick up the dialect. I attended many unregistered schools, some housed in a residential flat. There was no such thing as musical education.
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Post by Woodson on May 23, 2009 0:32:20 GMT -5
Yes, I remember kids lurking near the theater entrance and tried to tug along behind any older woman as a mean of gaining free entrance.
tyuti1668, the problem I had with live Cantonese opera was that I always fell asleep while watching. Had no such problem with the movies.
Many of the Cantonese opera movies were low budget and low quality productions. Very often the entire production took only a week. I hear they paid Yam Kim Fai HK$100,000 per movie.
The school I went to was registered. But it didn't registered all the students. One year I was one of those. One day an inspector showed up and they had to hide us. I didn't mind because it was a day without class.
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Post by douglaslam on May 23, 2009 7:10:46 GMT -5
tyuti1668, Woodson and all our colleagues,
I'd like to share another one of my very favourite piece of Cantonese music :
This one is called Birds in the Woods or Forest. It encapsulates the many songbirds answering and vying with each other with their calls. I have not heard another piece of music, Chinese or Western, which captures the enchanting bird calls such as this one. It is short and sweet. I can never get tired of listening to it.
My full five years in Hong Kong before I got sent away were very memorable. I was nurtured in a staple of traditional music and culture. My life is so much the fuller for it.
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Post by laohuaqiao on Jun 23, 2009 23:07:02 GMT -5
The success of the Wong Fei Hung series would not have been possible without a great nemesis to our hero. Shek Gin 石堅 was the ultimate movie bad guy, a gesture with his eyebrows and any kid could tell he was up to no good. Sadly, he passed away earlier this month at the young age of 96.
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Post by helen on Jun 24, 2009 4:05:36 GMT -5
We went to the H K Heritage Museum in Shatin. They had a display of the Cantonese Opera Stars and information. I used to watch them with awe - not that New Plymouth had many movies - just once a year on the 10 october.
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 24, 2009 6:18:08 GMT -5
Laohuaqiao,
I agree with you, Shek Kin was the equivalent of Bruce Dern, Jack Palance, and Eli Wallach all rolled into one. He is still a household name where there are Cantonese about. People from HK in particular will always remember him as the ultimate baddie, but a much loved and respected elder off screen. He is very much a part of our collective memories of childredhood in Hong Kong.
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Post by Henry on Jun 24, 2009 15:34:54 GMT -5
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 24, 2009 20:38:41 GMT -5
Wow Henry, you are going to keep me busy in front of the monitor. There is always a soft spot in my heart for HK. It is the window to the outside world and a refuge for many millions, over so many years for those fleeing China. It is an irony that HK was ceded to the Brits after the Opium War, yet it served us well as a safe heaven right through modern history. Sun Yat-sen for one used HK as one of his rallying points to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.
Helen didn't get to see too many Cantonese opera. I had seen a few in my childhood. Cantonese opera are not high-brow stuff. There is something for every one. It matters not you are a serious student or an iliterate peasant; there is singing, pantomine action, facial make-up, moral message, comic characters and so much more to please.
I read that in Nanaimo, a small timber town in Vic. Canada, there were up to for opera troupes performing at one time in the old days. The old timers needed entertainment , an escape and socialising, and they loved their opera. I,too, was mesmerised when the gong was struck to signal the opening of the first act.
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but she understands it. (there's an old saying in my mother side's village "挨挨埋，都唔夠戲佬債" their villagers 're big fans of the opera. Held many operas each year. )
