Before I begin, I just want to say that I’m really excited about a new Chopin waltz I’m currently working on and that it inspired me to write this post.
Jay Chou is my favorite Chinese pop (AKA C-pop) artist of all time. To be honest, I can’t actually tell what he’s saying in most of his songs because he mumbles so much. But the reason I love his songs is because he is such a great composer. He does an amazing job of combining classical music with popular music and creating his own arrangements for classical pieces. His favorite composer is Chopin, so he tends to use Chopin nocturnes and waltzes as the bases for his songs. (In fact, he loves Chopin so much that he even named one of his songs “Nocturne.”)
On top of composing and producing his own music, Jay Chou is also an actor and director. One of his films, “Secret,” included a piano battle, which eventually turned into a duet. The phrase “piano battle” comes from the story of the main character (Jay) having to battle the piano prince (Yuhao) to prove his worth at his new school. Of course, the music from the entire battle scene was arranged by Jay. During Yuhao’s second solo, he plays part of Chopin’s Waltz in C-sharp minor (the one that I am learning), and then transitions into an improvisation of the piece. The fast-paced improvisation contrasts nicely with the slower and smoother original Chopin waltz. Finally, Jay and Yuhao battle it out on the piano. They start out competing with each other for the melody, but then merge together to complete the piece. The view of the moving keys inside the piano makes the scene even more exciting to watch.
Check out the piano battle below:
(Howe-Yuhao (on the left), Other guy-Jay)
-Sherry
I really like how your blog is on Asian media as a whole. Mine is so restricted to K-Pop... Now I really want to try Jay Chou's music. I really liked one of his music videos that we showed in AMC, but I can't remember the name. I love the sound of modern music combined with classical music. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI second Chae Won! Even if my blog isn't on Kpop, I tend to have Kpoppy tunnel vision when it comes to Asian music. I did spend one night listening to Jay Chou's music, thinking it was pretty cool. Reading this, he sounds really awesome! Like GD x 100 (I don't even like GD all that much, I do not know why I keep referring to him). The piano battle is just...wow in general. I should try watching some Chinese films. I love all movies/dramas that are set in Asian schools. :D
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and exciting scene! I agree that the animated parts that take the viewer inside the pianos as the two players play together are extremely cool and effective.
ReplyDeleteI've already learned a lot about music I'd previously known nothing about from this blog!
My friend (who is kind of a piano nerd, I might affectionately add) showed me this video and it was love at first view. The combination of the camera angles and the music creates an exciting video. I had no idea that Jay had arranged it all, though! That is really impressive. Thanks for providing a more in-depth look at the video :)
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