https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFrcKYA1EL4 

Tante is a combination of the Chinese traditional music and the western music. The song is a fast-paced wordless fusion song, and it uses various standard voices from Chinese opera along with imitations of traditional Chinese instruments. The song was sung by Gong Linna(龚琳娜), and it was composed by her husband, German composer Robert Zollitsch who is known in China as Lao Luo (老锣). The song is known for its weird tunes, varied rhythms, random lyric, and the “too much” facial expressions. It is worth noting that the singer changes her performing styles every time, depending on how she feels the song during the performance. 

I am an international student, and I transferred from a university in China two years ago. Now I am graduating in a week, and I have a complexed feeling to the end of my college life. The name of the song, Tante, pronounced “tǎntè” in Chinese pinyin, similarly means “perturbed” in English. I can feel the “perturbed” feeling in the song, and it reminds me of my unforgettable, awkward, anxious experience of studying abroad. In fact, my sense of “perturbed” was stronger before I came to America because I was worried about the inescapable “culture shock” that I need to overcome. However, after I came to this foreign country, I found that every individual has his own culture. If we can respect and communicate with each other, the different between others and me could be fun and creative, like the song, demonstrating the similarity and the difference of the Chinese music and the western music. 

The performer would like the audiences to feel her facial and body expression when listening to the song. I do not know how to classify this song because its lyric is a string of vocal with no standard, and it doesn’t have any meanings. (start)

Focus Areas  

1) Mood. The music could represent an anxious character. The character might feel uneasy. Personally, the instruments, the instantly changing voice, and the expressions of the singers make me feel that I am in a hard time of making decisions. In other words, the character might feel anxious in a dilemma. Listening to the song, I feel that my heart is jumping up and down and the heartbeats are turning faster. The feeling of the anxiety breaks out as the song continues, and it peaks at 03:37. 

 

2) Form.  

The song starts from 00:08 to 03:50: 

Intro (Instrument Only) 00:08 - 00:14

First Verse 00:14-00:28

Pre-Chorus 0:28 - 0:44

Second Verse 00:45 - 00:58

Pre-Chorus 00:58 - 01:16

Bridge (Instrument Only) 01:16 - 01:26

Pre-Chorus 01:26 - 01:40 

Bridge (Instrument Only) 01:40 - 01:50

Third Verse 01:50 - 02:10

Pre-chorus 02:10 - 02:30

Chorus 02:30 - 02:58

Pre-Chorus 02:58 - 03:30

Chorus: 03:30 - 3:43

Coda/Outro - 03:43 - 03:50

3) Instruments.

Sheng - aerophone

Flute - aerophone

Cello - Chordophone

Harp - Chordophone

 

4) Timbre. 

The rhythm of the four instruments changes instantly in the song. The timbre of all instruments played in the song is strong. Specifically, the tone of the Cello and the Harp are rich, strong, and powerful; the timbre of the Sheng is piercing and clear; and the timbre of the flute is light, bright, and soft. The flute plays an outstanding role in lighting the song up, especially in the chorus. The Cello and the Harp with the heavy timber work as a foundation of the song. 

 

5) Textural Layers. 

Most of the time, the musical textural layer of the song heterophonic because there is a simultaneous variation of a single melodic line. The Sheng, the flute, the cello, and the harp all have melody layers. Sometimes the song is monophonic because there is only the voice of the singer. 

6) Rhythm and Meter. 

The rhythm of the whole song is fast, but the rhythm of the chorus (ex. 02:30 - 02:58 and 03:30 - 03:40) is slower than most of the other parts, like the introduction and the verse. The rhythm of the song is not steady, and it changes with the voice. What’s more, the meter changes a lot of times in this song. The meter of the verse is a triple meter. As the song turn from the verse to the chorus, the meter changes into a duple meter and quadruple meter. 

7) Dynamics. 

The crescendo occurs during the instrumental introduction because there is a gradual increase in volume (ex. Pre-chorus 02:10 - 02:30). The dynamic of the opening/introduction is fortissimo, and it changes into mezzo forte when the song comes to the verse part. In the later verse and chorus, the dynamics flexibly change between mezzo piano and mezzo forte. For example: 

From 02:56 to 03:11, the music piece is mezzo piano; from 03:11 to 03:18, the music piece is forte; from 3:18 to 3:30, the music piece is mezzo forte. 

 

8) Favorite Thing.

The unique part of the song is its random lyric. When it was the first time for me to listen to this song, I thought that it was the weirdest song which I had ever listened to. For now, I believe that it is the most creative song because it has no lyrics. In this case, the singer can express her different feelings about the song and the audience would have more room for imagination. The song had become as famous as a virus once it was performed in 2010. Everyone could have their own definition of the string of vocal, so the music is literally for every audience. 

 

9) New Observations and Comparison.

I knew that the song had combined the western music and the Chinese music, but I did not know what specific instruments the song had. In addition to the three Chinese traditional instrument, the song also uses Cello, a western instrument. What’s more, the song is sung in the style of Peking Opera, and the singer demonstrates different roles of Peking Opera, including Dan and Sheng. The singer and her husband, the composer determine to combine the traditional opera and the folk music through the song. 

 

10) Self-Discovery.

To be honest, I hate and love this song at the same time. I hate it because it is so dynamic and that I cannot easily analyze it. Also, I love the song because it is not steady and everyone, including the audiences and the singers, are possible to a big room to have their imagination. The song has no lyrics, and its rhythms, dynamics, and layers keep changing in such a short time. Through the knowledge and the methods that I have learned from the class, I am more accessible to all of these creative elements of a song, such as dynamics, melodies, and beats. Thus, this song does not only deliver a complexed and flexible feeling, but also a chance to apply the methodology learned from the class. I am very grateful for this opportunity.