A Breakthrough in Traditional Music? The Future of Naamyam: Naamyam Creative Research

Essay / Criticism

Joyce Hey Ying Yeung
Loyal fan of Coca-Cola, cofounder of jisaam.books.

One of the few southern narrative singing traditions that uses Cantonese as a medium of performance, Naamyam was once very popular in Hong Kong in the last century, when Naamyam masters could be found in most teahouses, opium dens and brothels, singing and playing with instruments such as the guzheng and yehu. Since the 1970s, Naamyam has been in danger of becoming obsolete. Traditional Naamyam performed by blind musicians no longer exist, and the Naamyam we hear nowadays is performed by celebrity Cantonese Opera singers. With the aim of further exploring the beauty of Naamyam, the workshop「南韻飄蕩──南音新創作展演」organised by Caravanserais in August 2021 represented the progress of the ‘Naamyam Creative Research’ project.

‘Why is Naamyam lost to us?’ Steve Hui, one of the project researchers, raised this question at the event. He believed that the main reason for the obsolescence of Naamyam was the art form’s lack of evolution, and that some creativity would be needed to revitalise Naamyam. In 2017, Hui was commissioned by Caravanserais to compose the piece Shadow of Wind with elements of Naamyam. The experience inspired Hui’s interest in the revitalisation of Naamyam, and partnering with the innovative Caravanserais, he kickstarted the ‘Naamyam Creative Research’ project. According to project manager Sharon Chan, by bringing together practitioners from different cultural disciplines, including Cantonese Opera singer Gregory Kwok (郭啟輝), researcher Jessica Fung (馮啟思), musician Keith Yeung (楊健平), artist Charles Kwong (鄺展維) and poet Keith Liu (池荒懸), to jointly create works of Naamyam, vitality from the various disciplines was injected into traditional Naamyam, thereby bringing new life to it.

Chan pointed out that when talking about Cantonese music, the audience would think of putting Cantonese words into music, as in verse and opera; such Cantonese music was mostly an extension of Western music culture, whereas Naamyam was a rare case of Cantonese music in the form of narrative singing which should be preserved. She went on to explain that Cantonese had a very unique pronunciation distinct from other languages. At the performance, poet Yam Gong (飲江) indicated that Cantonese pronunciations illustrated specific situations, while its intonations created undulating rhythms. Learning from the experience, fellow poet Keith Liu (池荒懸) realised that changes in tone and voice could create very different effects even when rendered in the same Cantonese language. Chan described Naamyam research as a good opportunity to understand Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong people.

Starting from 2019, the project participants attended a total of ten lectures and workshops, rediscovering Naamyam and creating new works of Naamyam in less than two years. Practitioners including Cantonese Opera scholar and screenwriter Dr. Au Man-fung Bernice (區文鳳博士), performer To Wing 杜泳（杜老爺）, Professor Yu Siu Wah (余少華教授), Ms. Shelly Chen (陳麗英小姐), Mr. Kong Chan (陳志江先生) were invited as speakers and tutors, to introduce the participants to the form, technique and knowledge of Naamyam. Steve Hui recalled how during the workshops the participants were able to adopt the compositional format of Naamyam and incorporate current themes and experiences, rendering the lyrics very close to life, and how he was inspired by that. Sharon Chan said the process through which the participants integrated their professional knowledge into Naamyam was the most important part of all, as it required the re-examination and study of the art form of Naamyam. The resulting new works were just the first creative step in their initiation to Naamyam. The goal would be for the project to become the starting point of the revitalisation of Naamyam. During the performance, someone from the audience asked, ‘Wouldn’t these new Naamyam sound too new?’ While many new attempts had been made, the audience doubted if the new Naamyam had not succeeded in preserving the tradition, but instead had lost its essence. Chan added that while there were many groups that re-enacted classic songs, working hard to preserve Naamyam, as an art form Naamyam should be constantly evolving, rather than being measured by an unchanging set of standards. ‘New creations are crucial for the so-called revitalisation and creation.’

The ancient Naamyam is still alive and well in the course of history, being passed down from generation to generation. Till today, there are still many singers performing the classic songs such as Song of the Exile (《客途秋恨》) and Farewell My Concubine (《霸王別姬》). The performance 「南韻飄蕩──南音新創作展演」was indeed eye-opening in its attempt to create an original Naamyam. Yet the work of conservation does not end here, as Chan said, these participants from different disciplines would continue to explore and pass on the art of Naamyam, bringing the public to discover from the new works the wisdom of our ancestors.

Cantonese Opera singer Gregory Kwok

Poet Keith Liu

Bamboo flute player Jessica Fung; erhu player Keith Yeung.

Original text: https://zihua.org.hk/magazine/issue-47/article/naamyam-interview/
Translation: Mary Lee Wan Ling 李挽靈

CARAVANSERAIS

A Breakthrough in Traditional Music? The Future of Naamyam: Naamyam Creative Research