The NCPA (国家大剧院) has accepted more than four million visitors with a series of 284 exhibitions covering oil paintings, music instruments, intangible cultural heritage and more. The NCPA provides you with performances and shows every day. Whenever you see a sunrise or sunset the curtain her never falls down.

Shape of Music — A Cross-Sense Experience is an art exhibition jointly launched by the NCPA and the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Visual artists will create animated (动画的) works based on the feelings brought by different music pieces.

The ballet The Nutcracker is produced by the Harbin Ballet. Zhang Dandan, the famous ballet artist the head and artistic director of the Harbin Ballet, and the chief director, together with the international choreographer Peter Quanz and many other top domestic and foreign artists, create a large-scale ballet. The ballet has now had its first public performance at the Harbin Grand Theater and has achieved complete success.

It is the first exhibition of new oil paintings by Xu Li in recent years, which gives shape to natural mountains and rivers throughout the country. He continuously pours out his appreciation and perception of the beautiful China

About 100 traditional Chinese paintings and oil paintings are displayed under three themes — “Ancient Tone &New Tune”, “Cultural Inheritance” and “Review for More Knowledge” at the exhibition to introduce, present and spread the opera culture in the form of paintings, promoting the expression of the opera culture through the re-creation of painting art.

9:30AM-18:00PM (CST) for days without performances

Most students in America like popular music. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to the music before class, after class and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.

Adult drivers listen to the music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about the sports, the weather and the life of American people. Most of the radio programmes are music.

Popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people will buy his or her CDs or tapes. Some of the money from them goes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, most of the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.

There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk music which tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. It was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows which they were watching. Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.

Music is universal. Take a moment to think about what music you like as you read our beginner’s guide to the history of music.

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages, which ranges from the 6th century to the 16th century, featured medieval (中世纪的) music. During this time, there were two general types of music styles­-the monophonic and the polyphonic. The main forms of music included Gregorian chanting and plainchant.

Classical Period

The music forms and styles of the Classical period, which ranges from 1750 to 1820, are characterized by simpler melodies (旋律) and forms like the sonatas. During this time, the middle class had more access to music. So composers began to create music that was easier to understand. Most especially, Mozart wrote his first symphony and Beethoven was born during this period.

Romantic Period

Historiographers define the Romantic music period to be from 1800 to 1900. Music forms of the Romantic period used music to tell a story or express an idea. Various instruments including wind instruments were used. Instruments that were invented or improved during this time included the flute and the saxophone.

The 20th Century

Music during the 20th century brought about many innovations on how music was performed and appreciated. Artists were more willing to experiment with new music forms and used technology to improve their compositions. The 20th century music has various styles.