By 1976 the Cultural Revolution in China had finally reached its
timely demise. Mao's infamous successors, The Gang of Four, no longer
ranked as the high chiefs of Chinese rule. In fact, they had been
incarcerated. China had reached its boiling point and change peered
right around the corner.
Where were the arts headed in China? Who was to play the role of
reviving Western Culture? Would the celebratory torch of humanity
be passed from West to East?
After twenty - three years, The Canadian Brass revisit China. Undoubtedly,
a less high profile tour than their previous Chinese tour - this
time they're not giving the inaugural performance of Western music
by a Western group since the Cultural Revolution - the remaining
original members, tubist, Charles Daellenbach and trombonist, Eugene
Watts share their insights of past and present China.
CB: China was our first tour that created
international interest. It was such a hotspot. Everyone was talking
about the Cultural Revolution so the idea of performing in China
was a very mysterious and volatile idea.
IW: How did this tour materialize? CD: The Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre
Trudeau, was an interesting fellow. He was an art lover and people
lover. He had people's best interest at heart for whatever he was
involved in. A kind of old style politician. He wanted to form a
diplomatic relationship between China and Canada. Apparently that
was thirty years ago this fall. One of the first results was a cultural
exchange. The idea of the cultural exchange was to send a huge group
to China, such as the Toronto Symphony or National Ballet and the
revolutionary Chinese Opera, the Girl with the White Hair, would
come to Toronto. The first part of the tour was in total jeopardy
because the Chinese suddenly realized they had no experience in
touring a group of 150 people. A very fast thinking Cultural attache
at the embassy in Beijing suggested we do an experimental first
tour with a smaller group. They warmed up to the idea and the tour
was on its way.
IW: Why were you guys chosen? CD: At that time we were very well known
in Canada. Canada still had live radio when we started. We were
known coast to coast before touring out of Canada. EW: We didn't depend on a good hall, we
didn't need . microphone. It really appealed to the Chinese In fact,
after every concert the political leaders we would meet responded,
"... ah, so portable."
IW: How do you interpret "so portable"? EW: From rice patty to rice patty we could
play all over China.
IW: What was your initial feeling
about China? CB: It was amazing. At the time, Americans
could not come to China. There was no relationship with America
so the American correspondent was out of Toronto. He was feeding
the New York Times.
IW: How were you able to cross these
barriers? CD: Clean police records and no knowledge
of politics. EW: We developed a show where people who
had seen the show felt confident people would like our concert.
That sent us a lot of places. We had a desire to communicate, not
sit, play, and leave. We wanted to feel the energy and response
of the audience. If we played a concert and felt nothing from the
audience we would feel very frustrated, That was our drive. It was
our reason to work and practice so hard.
IW: What were your audiences like
in 1977 China? CD: They were hand invited. It was not
a paying audience. It was stacked, our dress rehearsals became concerts.
IW: Were they Government Officials? CB: Yes, and workers who performed well.
They were rewarded with tickets to our concerts. There was a lot
of scrutiny. Our program was put to scrutiny. Ragtime was knocked
off because its origins were too decadent. The public would not
understand.
IW: What was on the program? CB: Ragtime. We said one piece was a Canadian
piece. It was a minstrel piece. We would run around on stage, standing
on chairs. It was the Slim Trombone. It was beautiful. When the
Chinese audience realized we were up to something beyond music,
they started to applaud. The applause was there for the whole piece.
It would go up and down depending on the intensity of the piece.
It was like an applause track with music. It was really a wonderful
experience. It was almost slapstick.. CB: A high level delegation came to Ottawa
about three years later. We went up to play. The event was televised
to an international audience. When meeting the official he pretended
to play Flight of the Bumblebee. Before that he had never heard
a tuba player play anything but "oomp - pahs". They couldn't believe
a tuba could play that fast.
IW: Can you tell your Jung Xing story? CD: This was documented in the New Yorker.
The story is about Mao's Wife, Jung Xing. She heard something questionable
to her ears and inquired around to decide it was the tuba player.
He was taken out of the orchestra and everybody followed suit. All
the tuba players were sent to the fields. The interesting thing
about the way it worked in China was that if something was seen
to happen in one place, then everybody quickly followed suit. When
the tuba player was dismissed from the orchestra, all were dismissed
throughout the country. They were out doing other tasks, nothing
to do with tuba playing. We met some of these guys and they were
so happy. With the smashing of the "Gang of Four", they were back
in the Orchestra. They were back from the fields. EW: It turned out that it was actually
the Bass trombonist but the conductor felt the tuba player was more
dispensable so he said it was the tuba player.
IW: It sounds like there have been
a lot of changes since the last time you were here? EW: I guess so. Although when we were
first here, it was the beginning of the change you see now. We felt
something was happening when we came. Even in those days it seemed
like more freedom than you expected. Even though there was a lot
of poverty everyone did have a job. Everyone seemed to be busy and
active. We were really impressed.
We came at the beginning of a new era. It was after the smashing
of the Gang of Four. We heard this line every where we went. They
were very proud of this. They made it clear to everyone, The Gang
of Four was no longer in control. CD: We experienced a huge political event
in Wuhan. Deng Xiao Ping's family members attended our concert.
The correspondent who had spent the entire tour with us was so excited.
He saw Deng's family members at our concert as a signal to the people.
Also, there was a near riot when we were there because people showed
up when they found out there was a Western attraction in town and
wanted to buy tickets. After ten years of no concerts, they finally
wanted to see one and there were no tickets for sale. The police
and Military were called.
They recorded our concerts and the music was played for years afterwards.
It was the only thing different than what they had normally heard
before that time. Many people throughout China started to know of
us. Two years later someone we knew went to China and told us our
music was being played on the trains. EW: They mainly told us "the Revolution
was over and now it was time for China to preserve the best of the
past and take the best of the West, to use that and grow." It seems
this obvious change we see now, that drive for freedom, started
then.
IW: Is that where you see China headed
in the future? CD: I think China will have anything they
want. It's really wonderful to observe the freshness and enthusiasm.
Everyone looks like they're on a path. They're really out there
doing things. EW: I think the food is better. It gives
people a different kind of energy when they're not eating so much
processed food. I'm serious, look at a normal North American diet.
