China: Hymn To Confucius

Several music forms have been qualified as ‘Confucian’: court music, imperial ritual music, and melodies either attributed to, or said to have been played by Confucius (551-479 BC). Although it disappeared in continental China at the advent of the republic, the music of imperial rituals has endured thanks to numerous collection books, whose precision in both the description of the instruments and the notation of the melodies has allowed the ensemble ‘Fleur de Prunus’ to faithfully render the universe of the erudites. The instruments used include qin zithers, flutes and mouth organs, bells and drums.