How to finalize the theme song "Ten Thousand Snowflakes" without using the children's voices of stars?

At the beginning of Snowflake, hundreds of children danced and played freely in the Bird's Nest with props lights shaped like doves of peace. A song of Snowflake sung by children was melodious, clear and naive.

Just like the whole opening ceremony, this unforgettable theme song has the same "romantic ethereal spirit". The Birth of Snowflakes tells a story about China's cultural self-confidence.

After several rounds of discussion, 1 was selected from 40.

Last March, Zhao Lin, the music director of the opening ceremony, sent an invitation to more than 30 composers. "This should be a work that can impress the audience and has a certain popularity." Zhao Lin conveyed the idea of director Zhang Yimou, and gave three key words: "a snowflake", "human beings share the same fate" and "the world is one". The music style is as long as possible and has a sense of rhythm.

After more than a month, I handed in nearly 40 songs. In order to ensure the fairness and comprehensiveness of the evaluation opinions, the directors of the opening ceremony, Zhang Yimou and Zhao Lin, first invited the directors' group and all the staff involved in the early creation to form a evaluation team. After listening to all the samples, they voted 12. Next, Zhao Jiping, Zhang Heping, Ye Xiaogang, Tan Dun, Chen Qigang, Zhang Qianyi and Zhang Yadong formed an expert group, sorted the works of 12, and then selected five pieces. "Everyone sincerely exchanged their views." What impressed Zhao Lin was that Chen Qigang, who was the music director of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, carefully wrote down his views on each piece of music with pen and paper, which are a little rare now.

Since then, after a small-scale discussion, four songs that meet the expression of the program have finally been reported, and two rounds of targeted discussions have been launched again. During the period when composers constantly polished their works according to suggestions, "the expression of songs has changed." At first, we thought about letting big-name stars sing, and we also thought about having some contact with you in 2008. " You and Me was sung by Liu Huan and sarah brightman. Do you want to change it to a combination of China female singers and foreign male singers this time? "However, Zhao Lin increasingly feel this road impassability. "The' people's nature' of the opening ceremony is constantly increasing." The creative team has repeatedly tried to figure out the profound meaning of the theme slogan "Together for the future" of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, but isn't the "future" pinned on children? Throughout the opening ceremony, children appeared more and more frequently, so can the theme song be sung by children?

Don't use stars, use the clear songs of children.

The heavy responsibility falls on the shoulders of Beijing Philharmonic Choir. Among music lovers, it is usually called "Yang Hongnian Choir". Founded in 1983 by Yang Hongnian, a famous conductor and educator, this choir is not only the benchmark of children's chorus in China, but also has an indissoluble bond with the Olympic Games: in 1993 and 200 1 year, the choir helped Beijing to bid for the Olympic Games and showed the elegance of Chinese children to the world with songs. In 2008, the choir sang "Ode to the Olympics" for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games without accompaniment.

Last year, in June 5438+10, the choir was invited to perform at the opening ceremony. "This part of the content has been dynamically adjusted." Yang Li, head of the choir and permanent conductor, recalled that from June+10/October in 5438, the first batch of 40 people were selected, then 80 people were selected, and then nearly 140 people were selected, and the rehearsal became more and more difficult.

"The director group wants to show more innocence in the performance. Younger children are obviously more suitable, but their understanding ability and song completion ability are not mature enough. " Yang Li said. It is a difficult standard to take into account the child's appearance temperament and singing level when selecting. At present, the ages of these selected children range from 7 to 12. According to the normal planning of the choir, they originally belonged to different stages and "grades". Considering the confidentiality, children can only get the music score during rehearsal and return it after class, which means that they must concentrate on it in a very short time and quickly run in to form a harmonious and unified singing voice. While practicing singing hard, children should also learn the dance moves in the performance. "This is really a big challenge for the glee club."

Zhang Yimou pushed it again to get the current version.

Interestingly, Snowflake, which was officially confirmed as the theme song in June+10 last year, was the earliest song sample received by Zhao Lin. According to the order of receipt, the number is 1.

"Among so many works, it is very distinctive and fresh, and the rhythm takes three times as long, which is rare in various large-scale activities." Zhao Lin said. He told Zhang Shuai, the songwriter and professor of the Central Conservatory of Music, his real thoughts: "This song is very interesting, but it is also a bit risky."

Zhang Shuai didn't mean to. There is a melody in his mind that has been treasured for nearly 20 years, and he can't find the right time to use it. This time, inspiration naturally found a way out. This piece of music was used in the main song. After several rounds of evaluation and screening, the title song received rave reviews. In contrast, the chorus is much more bumpy.

"Originally, I wrote a minor. After a period of promotion, the general director still hopes to have a simpler, more atmospheric and more communicative work. " About last summer, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Shuai had a face-to-face talk, hoping that he could "make another chorus and be reborn, because it is particularly important to have so many melodies in a composer's life." For the special and important occasion of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, Zhang Yimou believes that "it is worthwhile to work harder and think subversive."

"Our team has devoted all its energy and the whole person has been hollowed out." Farewell to Zhang Yimou, inevitably lost Zhang Shuai didn't take the bus. He walked for more than an hour in midsummer weather. As he walked, he thought and made up his mind to push himself again: "The general director gave me a great push in creation. Without this revision, the melody would certainly not be as concise as it is now. In the long run, future versions will be easier to spread. "

Since then, "Snowflake" has been promoted many times. The original female voice caused the duet between boys and girls to be changed into children's chorus. Until the end of last year, the details were still being polished. Zhang Shuai made a rough count and changed at least a dozen drafts. Some regrets are inevitable. For example, four singers, Zhang Sunyou, Wu Jiali, Zhao Yue and Sun Bolun, all participated in the demo recording and early creation of this work, but only Zhang Sunyou accompanied him to the end.

"We modified this song to the extreme." Zhao Lin said. Snowflake, presented at the end of the opening ceremony, is catchy, with six Chinese lyrics and six English lyrics, which are simple and clear, with far-reaching implications and quite a taste of "simple road". "The less simple things, the more skills are tested; The more lively things are, the less likely they are to make mistakes. " Zhao Lin can foresee that there may be different voices about Snowflake, but he always hopes to surpass everyone's inherent expectations. "As long as you keep it right, there will definitely be no problem, but as long as you keep it right, you can't innovate. Innovation is to break through those levels that we have been good at and will definitely not make mistakes. "

Process editor Li