Duets

Published: Jan. 28, 2014, 12:51 a.m.

This installment formally introduces duets in Antique Pop. Most of these songs take on a style very similar to Chinese folk music, usually set in very simple melodies and presented as dialogues between a man and a woman. There are exceptions, with voices in polyphonic composition, and they evince great affinity to early Hollywood musicals. The opening music for this installment is a section taken from 'New Year Celebration/賀新年', with Zhang Fan/張帆. It is interesting to note that the music transitions into the 'Jingle Bells' melody, probably because in the Chinese perception, Christmas was more or less the equivalent to their tradition new year, for otherwise, 'Auld Lang Syne' would have been a more appropriate choice.