Ocarina Performance: Falling Snow

Acknowledgment: all copyrights of the video and photos reserved to Central China Normal University (CCNU)

An ocarina (Chinese: 陶笛, Pinyin: táo dí) is a wind instrument with a history of over 7,000 years. Although being named relatively late in the nineteenth century, people believed that the hunting stones might have inspired the invention of this instrument. When ancient people threw stones to hunt for prey, air passing through cavities in stones could produce some whistle sounds. Over time, people began to play with these stones and create whistles with different tones.

In China, this type of instrument was called Xun (Chinese: 埙, Pinyin: xūn). The earliest pottery of Xun unearthed at the Hemudu Cultural Site in East China, was more than 7,000 years old. For over 4,500 years, a similar instrument was also crafted and played by the people of Central America from Mexico through the Andes. In the 16th century, this instrument was introduced to Europe which inspired the nineteenth-century Italian musician Giuseppe Donati. He created the first European version and named it as “Ocarina”, meaning "little goose."

(Pottery Xun, unearthed at the Hemudu Cultural Site. Image sourced from https://zjnews.zjol.com.cn/zjnews/nbnews/201806/t20180614_7541188.shtml)

An ocarina consists of one or more enclosed and rounded chambers. When air vibrates within the enclosure and exits through a hole near the mouthpiece, sound is produced. The pitch is determined by the size of the chamber as well as the size and depth of the finger holes. Ocarinas vary in size, shape, and the number of resonating chambers and finger holes. Many ocarinas have one to three finger holes while some have six or more.

"Falling Snow" is a popular Japanese love song composed by Yoshiki Matsumoto, sung by Mika Nakashima, and with lyrics by Satomi. It paints a romantic picture of two lovers enjoying a beautiful scenery of falling snowflakes on a cold winter night whilst wishing for a better life. This beautiful piece with a touch of melancholy quickly became popular all over the world. Since its release in 2003, this piece has been adapted into different renditions in different languages.

The Performer

Zhao Hongxiao teaches at the College of Music at Central China Normal University. He is also Vice President of the China Ocarina Art Committee and Director of the China Ocarina Art Research Institute. In addition to ocarinas, he plays the cucurbit flute and bawu, a Chinese wind reed instrument. He also composes music and creates musical instruments. Zhao Hongxiao is dedicated to music education in impoverished and remote mountainous areas in China. For 18 years, he has organized and funded the "Hongxiao Music Education Troupe" to teach music courses and donate musical instruments and equipment to schools in these areas.