Tea Music 2_9: The Jasmine Flower 茶韵时光：茉莉花

The Jasmine Flower
Chen Xinruo
Loved throughout the world, The Jasmine Flower has become a veritable musical symbol of China. Known as Mo Li Hua in Chinese, the melody was first documented during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1736–96). Westerners came to know the melody through its use in Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot but in truth, "The Jasmine Flower" had left China nearly a century earlier when it appeared in the English explorer and mathematician Sir John Barrow's book Travels to China (1804) under the name “Moo-Lee-Hwa." Puccini's own version comes from a work by the Belgian J.A. van Aalst simply titled Chinese Music, published in Shanghai in 1884. As with all the works on our program, "The Jasmine Flower" has appeared in hundreds of arrangements through the years, most recently its was adapted by Tan Dun to be played during the medal ceremonies at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Oh what a beautiful jasmine flower
Oh what a beautiful jasmine flower
Sweet-smelling, beautiful, your buds ready to blossom
Fragrant and white, everyone praises you
Let me pluck you down
And give you to my love
Jasmine flower, oh jasmine flower

茉莉花
改编：[中] 陈欣若
这缕幽雅的乐声，从大提琴的弓弦芬芳四溢地飘来，挥袖间吹开了雪白秀妍的满园茉莉。那些栖息在钢琴黑白键上的玉色花朵，温柔颔首，将这一怀春风无限的嫩绿江南，微微绽出欲语还休的一抹惆怅。“好一朵美丽的茉莉花，芬芳美丽满枝芽，又香又白人人夸”，这一段软语呢哝的风致，从一百多年前扬州清曲曲牌“鲜花调”中寻幽，从乾隆年间墨色线装的《缀白裘》戏曲集中探芳，从18世纪初普契尼《图兰朵》冷艳的唇吻间吐露，穿越茫茫年代和无边疆野，将中国音乐的芬芳气质洒满世界。

【宋】朱熹《春日》

胜日寻芳泗水滨，无边光景一时新。
等闲识得东风面，万紫千红总是春。