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Asian Harmonica History Harmonica music started to develop in Hong Kong in 1930s. Individual tremolo harmonica players from China moved to Hong Kong to set up different harmonica organizations such as The Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra (中華基督教青年會口琴樂隊) and China Harmonica Society (中國口琴社). Heart String Harmonica Society was another organization set up by the then sole agency of Hohner in Hong Kong, W.S. Shirly & Co. In the 1950s, other than tremolo harmonica, chromatic harmonica became popular in Hong Kong. Prominent harmonica players Larry Adler and John Sebastian were invited to perform in Hong Kong. Local players such as Lau Mok (劉牧) and Fung On (馮安) were also devoted to the promotion of chromatic harmonica. In the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra, Fung On gradually replaced tremolo and diatonic harmonicas with chromatic harmonica. The symphonic orchestration of the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra started in the 1960s. The goals were to enhance the tone color and the volume and to perform pieces composed for philharmonic orchestra. In the mid-60s, the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra had developed into an orchestra of about 100 members. Aimed at imitating the symphonic orchestration of western orchestra, a number of traditional instruments in a western orchestra was replaced by various types of harmonica: Violin and viola were replaced by 12-hole and 16-hole chromonicas; cello by chord harmonica, contra bass and octave bass; double bass by octave bass; flute by pipe soprano; clarinet by pipe alto; trumpet by horn soprano; trombone by horn alto; oboe by melodica soprano; English horn by melodica alto; French horn by melodica professional. Simultaneously, double bass, accordion, piano, and percussion like timpani and xylophone were also used. The 1970s was regarded as the flourishing period in the development of harmonica music in Hong Kong. Haletone Harmonica Orchestra was set up at Wong Tai Sin Community Centre. Fung On and others continued to teach harmonica and set up harmonica orchestra in local secondary schools such as Hotung Secondary School, King’s College, Kiangsu-Chekiang College, Queen’s College, St. Paul’s College, St. Paul’s Co-educational College. In the 1980s, the number of harmonica learners decreased steadily. Harmonica music in Hong Kong did not grow notably. In the 1990s, the development of harmonica music flourished again. Harmonica players in Hong Kong began to participate in international harmonica competitions, including World Harmonica Festival in Germany and Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in different Asian cities. In the 2000s, the Hong Kong Harmonica Association (H.K.H.A.) (香港口琴協會) was established. The arrangement of its orchestras – the H.K.H.A. Harmonica Orchestra and the H.K.H.A. St. James’ Settlement Junior Harmonica Orchestra – largely follows that of the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra. It is evident that over the last forty years, the symphonic orchestration of harmonica music remained, in principal, the same. Put differently, the influence of Fung On in the symphonic orchestration of harmonica music in Hong Kong has sustained for nearly half a decade. Overall, Hong Kong can be seen as the forerunner of the formation of symphonic orchestration of harmonica music around the world. In the closing ceremony of the World Harmonica Festival in Germany in 2005, a European adjudicator told Dr. Ho Pak Cheong (何百昌醫生), the founding president of the H.K.H.A., that the Hong Kong delegation has brought a new world to harmonica. In the Festival, the delegation was awarded the champion in the categories of Orchestra and School Orchestra; the distinctive characters of the H.K.H.A. harmonica orchestras seem to be recognized by overseas renowned harmonica players. In 1898, the harmonica was brought to Japan; there, the Japanese were more interested in the sound of Tremolo; however after about 30 years, they became dissatisfied with the richter-based layout of the tremolo harmonica, and thus developed the scale tuning, as well as the semitone harmonicas, in order to be able to perform Japanese folk songs. During sometime in 1924 and 1933, it was brought to other places in East Asia. The history of the harmonica in Taiwan began sometime around 1945; due to the influence of numerous harmonica experts, as well as versatility and cheap prices of the harmonica. It became one of the standard instruments on the island, being treated as a serious instrument during its peak at the 1980s — more so than Europe and America, where it was often associated as a blues-only instrument in most cases. However, as the western lifestyle began to spread, as well as an increase in living standards, many instruments that were once too expensive to buy can be bought by the Taiwanese. Additionally due to many schools of methodologies on the harmonica, the harmonica as an instrument almost faded to obscurity in the 90s. In order to raise the appeal of the harmonica back to it what it once was, numerous harmonica lovers in Taiwan began to promote the harmonica heavily, starting with the introduction of harmonicas and methodology that are popular in the Western world (eg. Chromatic and Diatonic harmonicas), as well as participating in numerous international competitions. In 1993, the Yellowstone Orchestra won the first gold in an international harmonica competition. However, to the disappointment of many harmonica players, the resources for education are severely lacking, and many materials are not much different from those that were created 20 years ago. |
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