Programme Notes
chinese folk songs
dhyana
five maskers
the future of fire
harmony
the immortal
song of the ch'in
spirit of chimes
su
taiping drum
wild grass
words of the sun
wu kui
Wu Ji
Folk songs mirror people's daily lives, their thoughts and sentiments, local customs and manners. In China, folk music and songs have traditionally crisscrossed the established boundaries between high and low culture. Folk songs were historically valued by China's officialdom as expressions of regional culture and transmitters of timeless value. Early dynasties promoted the collection and study of such songs. The Book of Songs, a Confucian classic dating back to ancient times, is a comprehensive anthology of songs and poems that has profoundly influenced Chinese literature for more than 2000 years.
There are three main forms of Chinese folk songs: shan ge, or mountain songs, are sung in the open air, often with long trills that can carry over great distances; hao zi, or working songs, are simple tunes with strong rhythms sung by workmen to accompany their labour; xiao diao, more structured and sophisticated, are arranged and performed by professional and semi-professional musicians for entertainment.
The eight Chinese folk songs arranged for string quartet (or string orchestra) are from different regions in various styles. The first, Lan Hua Hua (Shaanxi) tells the story of a country girl who escapes from a forced marriage to a rich family and flees to her lover.
In Driving the Mule (Shaanxi) a young girl searches for her boyfriend among a team of mule drivers passing by; the melody is typical of the Shaanxi style with many fourth and minor seventh intervals.
The Flowing Stream (Yunnan) is a love song; seeing the moon above and the flowing waters below, a young girl's thoughts turn to her lover. "The rising moon is bright, my sweetheart is in the deep mountain, he is like the moon walking in the sky. My sweetheart! The flowing stream around the mountain is clear. The moon is shining over the hillside, looking at the moon and thinking of my sweetheart, the breezes are sweeping past the hillside. My sweetheart! Don't you hear my cry?"
Jasmine Flower (Jiangsu) is popular in China and abroad. "Jasmine flower, such a beautiful flower, her sweet scent overwhelms all others in the garden. I want to pluck her for myself, but I am afraid of the garden's keeper. Jasmine flower, such a beautiful flower, she is as white as snow when she is blooming. I want to pluck her for myself, but I am afraid of gossips around. Jasmine flower, such a beautiful flower, her looks surpass all others in the garden. I want to pluck her for myself, but I am afraid that she won't bloom in the year to come."
In A Horseherd's Mountain Song (Yunnan) a horseherd sings about the mundane occurrences of daily life - horses needing grass to feed, and the grass needing the morning dew to grow.
When Will the Acacia Bloom? (Sichuan) tells of a young girl awaiting her lover under the Acacia tree; when asked by her mother what she is doing, she is embarrassed and replies that she is waiting for the Acacia flowers to bloom.
The tune of A Single Bamboo Can Easily Bend (Hunan) is typical of the Hunan folk style; the words imply that unity is strength.
In the sentimental Leaving Home (Shanxi), a wife bids farewell to her husband who is going westward to seek his livelihood.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
First performance: Pacific Music Festival, Sapporo, Japan, July 7, 1990
Dhyana was composed in 1989 and completed in March 1990. The composition won the 5th International composition Competition in D'Avray, France, on February 14, 1991. Its inspiration comes from the Buddhist concept of "cultivation of thought" - "dhyana" is the perfect absorption of thought into one object of meditation; the process of gathering scattered thoughts and focusing them to arrive at enlightenment. The overall design of the composition is based on the concept of "knowing with clear mind", of coming from existence into nothingness. The musical structure goes from complex to simple in pitch, from dense to relaxed in rhythm, from tight to open in range, from colourful to monochrome in timbre, from foreground to background in sonority, which expresses the change from worldliness to serenity and, finally, to purification.
The composer has realised this artistic vision by bringing the distinguishing features of various instruments into full play. For instance, the sound of bells, chimes, gong, and harmonic guqin (Chinese long zither), featured in Chinese percussion music, was created by playing inside the piano; the sound of temple blocks and the various sonorities made from different gestures on guqin were recreated by playing on string instruments; the reciting style originally from the vertical Chinese bamboo flute was translated on woodwind by using glissandos in microtones.
Dhyana is one of a series of chamber works by Zhou Long written for combinations of Chinese and Western instruments based on various Buddhist concepts. The composer's use of complex textures and polyphonic structures directs the performers to enter into the spirit of combining free flowing and densely concentrated thoughts.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
Commissioned and first performed by Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players, New York,
4 May 1995
Five Maskers, for brass quintet, was composed in 1995 on commission from the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players. The work is based on a folk dance from northeast China (Wu Kui), in which the dancers, usually hunters themselves, wear the masks of five animals - tiger, leopard, bear, deer, and roe deer - and express their joy in work and life. Capturing the original style of this dance, Five Maskers opens with animated rhythmic patterns exploiting the full range of the instruments; the contrasting middle section is slower, free-flowing, and lyrical; the conclusion returns to the fierce, exultant rhythms and motifs of the beginning.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
The Future of Fire (2001 rev. 2003)
Commissioned by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. First performance: Asian & Pan Pacific Composers Series, October 19, 2001, Tokyo City Opera Concert Hall, Tokyo Philharmonic, Kazumasa Watanabe, conductor, The Little Singers of Tokyo Children's Chorus
During the Cultural Revolution, I was sent to a rural state farm in northeast China, far from my home in Beijing. I was sixteen years old and stayed there, working on the farm, for 5 years. The land in this part of China is flat, dry plains; it is very cold in winter and hot in summer. In spring, the farmers would set fire to the dead plains grass to burn it off and make the land ready for planting. Sometimes these fires would go out of control, and the dry wind would whip them into a ferocious blaze. These roaring winds and fierce fires made a profound impression on me that I remember to this day.
After the Cultural Revolution, when I returned to Beijing, I came across this poem, written in the new spirit of free expression, that captured my feelings:
A little spark,
Starts a new world.
What a raging fire
The wilderness becomes a sea of flames!
Sparks are dancing and circling,
Columns of flames are flying to the heaven!
As a golden deer,
The flames run faster than the wind!
In the sunrays the soaring mist,
As like layers and layers of colorful clouds!
Wildly the flames are laughing and running,
Breaking through the brambles and the thorns!
The fire is marching forward,
Fertilizing the land!
Quickly sharpening our ploughs,
To open up a new era on the land!
The Future of Fire is a brief but powerful work. The vibrant orchestration creates a feeling of explosive energy from beginning to end with intense bursts from a battery of percussion. The melodic material is taken from a popular and touching love song from Shannxi province in northwestern China which is coupled with rhythmic motives in both the orchestra and chorus. Folk melodies from this region use intervals of a minor seventh - these angular leaps are suited to the dynamic spirit of this work. The chorus sings a vocalise based on repeated syllables which are found in Chinese folk songs, as well as many folk songs from around the world.
I have long wanted to write a symphonic poem about fire dedicated to the powerful energy of the younger generation and the passionate hope for peace in the new millennium. Children are our future, the future of the fire.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
Commissioned by the West Cork Chamber Music Festival and first performed by the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet on 6 July 2002
In Chinese characters, the word harmony is composed of two parts: the first comes from the ancient symbol for grain or a grain-plant; the second comes from the symbol for mouth. Together they conceptualize the idea that grain is pleasing to the mouth and essential to the body, producing a natural harmony. The combination of these characters also implies increased awareness on a physical, mental, and spiritual level. I believe that when one's personal awareness of these areas is cultivated first from within, it then will reflect out in our relationships with all people, the planet, and the universe. Ancient Chinese philosophy teaches that through proper behavior - exercise, diet, breathing, meditation, and positive mental attitude - we can acquire physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. This can be summarized in the three harmonic principals: Peace - Light - Love.
Harmony for string quartet consists of three movements. The first movement starts with a vigorous five-note chromatic motif, followed by a peaceful harmonic section that gradually develops into a multi-layered chant-like theme. This theme becomes more energetic and rhythmic, moving towards a climax that resolves peacefully. The second movement is slow and meditative with interweaving tonal melodies. The third movement returns to the opening chromatic motif, slightly altered and played prestissimo. This motif is contrasted with a more peaceful melody based on the traditional Shanxi folk song, "Leaving Home". Gradually, the folk song melody merges with the rhythmic energy of the chromatic motif bringing the quartet to a vibrant, prestissimo conclusion.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
Commissioned by the BBC World Service and first performed at the BBC Proms by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, on 20 July, 2004, at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
The Immortal for orchestra pays tribute to the influence of Chinese artists and intellectuals in the twentieth century. Having grown up in an artistic family during the time of the Cultural Revolution, I know from personal experience the struggles and hardships that past generations have endured to remain true to these eternal ideals. These memories remain with me to this day and through the abstract language of music I am recognizing and portraying their enduring spirit. Opening with a powerful and rhythmic introduction, the music changes abruptly into sustained high pitched glissandos that represent the desire for hope. Other musical elements used in this work -- lyrical melodies, expressive glissandi in various solo motifs, and, in particular, the undercurrent of tranquillity and meditation in the work represent various aspects of the elite, "scholarly" Chinese musical tradition, which can be found in the reciting-singing idiom of Beijing Opera, the rhythmic gestures of Chinese percussion ensembles, and the solo music of the ancient ch'in. As the work progresses, the repetition of the glissando motif becomes more powerful and builds to a climactic moment. The music then returns to a quiet section that once again increases in intensity and leads to the final climax. In the coda, a strong seven-note motif alternates with lyrical glissando passages becoming more forceful with each repetition - symbolizing the heavy impact of destiny.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
First performance: UC Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players, 18 March 1985
Composed in 1982, Song of the Ch'in for string quartet won the first prize in the Chinese National Composition Competition in 1985. This work from Zhou's earlier period was inspired and influenced by the music of his mentor, Professor Chou Wen-chung, a pioneer in Chinese contemporary music. Deeply immersed in Chinese traditional culture, Dr. Chou was the first to apply the elements of ancient Chinese ch'in music into his compositions written for western instruments, successfully bridging East and West.
The ch'in is a traditional Chinese seven-stringed, plucked zither, which was associated with sages and scholars. The sophisticated technique of ch'in playing, exemplified in the earliest manuscripts from the Tang dynasty (618-906 A.D.), involves various ways of plucking the strings, as well as range, timbre, and the use of ornaments. In this composition for string quartet, Zhou captures the essence of these special musical gestures frequently found in ch'in music. The piece is based on a poem titled "Old Fisherman" by Liu Tsung-yuan (773-819 A.D.), who was a government official and outstanding thinker and writer during the middle of the Tang dynasty. He was removed from his post for advocating reform, but he never became despondent. He travelled to many mountains and valleys in south-western China and created many profound and beautiful works. In the "Old Fisherman", he wrote: "The old fisherman moors at night by western cliffs; at dawn, draws water from the clear Hsiang, lights a fire with southern bamboo. Mists melt in the morning sun, and the man is gone; only the song reverberates in the green of the hills and waters. Look back, the horizon seems to fall into the stream; and clouds float aimlessly over the cliffs."
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
Commissioned by the Peabody Trio
Spirit of Chimes was inspired by the sounds of some of the earliest surviving musical instruments from ancient China: bells, chime stones, and Jiahu bone flutes (ca. 7000 B.C.) - also the world's oldest extant playable instruments. Although no examples of early Chinese music before the Tang dynasty have survived to modern times, my fascination with the acoustic characteristics of these ancient instruments fired my imagination. In this piano trio, I have translated the real sound of these instruments and combined them with my own impressions; and I hope that my music can give new life to these ancient chimes.
A vast expanse of the ancient world...
The music opens with echoes of various chime stones and chime-bells on the piano. In the cello, harmonics and sustained long notes in the low range echo the innocent, floating, melodic motif played in harmonics on the violin. Together they form a wide-open soundscape with the suspended tone of Jiahu bone flutes played in harmonics on violin and cello. The tinkling sound of the chime stones now enters as the middle layer. Slowly, the music evolves from free tempo to a metered section, and its lively beat hints at dancing. A simple and peaceful pentatonic melody in the ancient style now emerges in the full ensemble. A few measures later, the cello sings this melody in its high register. The music becomes a bit more active, but before long, the reappearance of harmonics and glissandos in the cello, echoed by the violin, brings a quiet closure to this delicate opening part.
The second part is marked by a faster tempo and the gradual expansion of the two rhythmic motifs, which lead to several climaxes. A set of staccato notes played on the cello and violin eventually develop into triplets on piano, forming the rhythmic background for the reoccurrence of the ancient-style melody of the opening part. Another rhythmic motif played on piano interacts with the first motif.
A cadenza for the cello dominates the last part of the piece. Next, we hear a partial recapitulation of the opening part. The melodic motto of the Jiahu bone flutes - with intervals of a quasi minor third, so light, so mysterious - is once again echoed on the cello.
The spirit of the ancient chimes lingers on eternally.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
First performance: Barbara Siesel and Victoria Drake, New York, 1991
The Chinese character su has the meaning of tracing back to the source or recalling ancient times. My composition, Su, was inspired by the distinctive qualities of the ancient Chinese q'in, a seven-string plucking instrument similar to the zither. The oldest extant music for this instrument, Jie Shi Diao - You Lan (Secluded Orchid in the Mode of Jie Shi), exists in a manuscript dating from the Six Dynasties period (497-590 AD), though the work itself is much older. According to legend, it was composed by Confucius (ca 551-479 BC) and depicts his feelings of isolation as a scholar and philosopher pursuing a higher level of understanding. He compares himself to a secluded orchid, wonderful and rare, existing unrecognized in ordinary society. The q'in became the favored instrument of the scholar/poets and is still considered the traditional symbol of Chinese high culture.
Su for flute and harp captures the essence of music written for the q'in which is characterized by scales, harmonics, multi-fingered plucking, and rapid glissandos (simulating thunder). Harmonics are particularly important in this music - the purity of the sound signifying a clear and noble soul. Traditionally, the q'in was paired with the xiao, a vertical bamboo flute - both are delicate and elegant instruments yet are capable of a wide range of expression. Transferring the musical characteristics of these two ancient instruments to the western flute and harp expands the tonal range and dynamic contrasts making the music more dramatic.
The harp imitates the q'in through the use of bent tones, effects created with the tuning key on the strings, pizzicatos with different sound qualities, pedal trills, glissandos, and harmonics. The flute part is equally virtuosic with harmonics and bent tones, as well as flutter tonguing, trills, and other special effects.
This duet was originally composed in 1984 for flute and q'in at the request of the contemporary q'in scholar Wu Wenguang. It was reconceived as a duo for flute and harp in 1990 (fingering by Barbara Siesel and Victoria Drake).
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
First performance: Radio Beijing, 1983
The Taiping drum (also called dan gu) is a percussion instrument that originated in north-east China in the Tang dynasty. Made from a single membrane (16" x 20") in a round fan shape, the drum is held in the left hand with iron rings linked under the handle, while the right hand beats it with a piece of rattan. Originally used by shamans in hunting and sacrificial rites, "Taiping Drum" became the name of a popular form of song and dance among the Han people, as well as the Mongolian and Man ethnic groups today. While playing the drum, the performer dances in rhythmic patterns.
In Taiping Drum, for violin and piano, Zhou Long has drawn on pentatonic folk tune material found in "Er Ren Tai", a form of duo singing and dancing popular in north-east China. The music is in a rondo form. The piece opens with a strong piano introduction, imitating the drum beating in a free tempo; the violin solo imitates rhythmic drum-beats with strong pizzicato chords. The first episode is formed by a lyrical melody flowing on the top of moving arpeggios. The second episode brings the two themes together on the violin and the piano, with both playing in octaves. While the first theme returns, the violin plays intensive double stops and chords, until the music reaches its climactic conclusion.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
Commissioned and first performed by the Inter Artes, London, April 1993
Wild Grass for unaccompanied cello (or viola) was composed in 1993. The text - the foreword to "Wild Grass" by Lu Hsun (1881-1936) - is cued to the music and may be recited concurrently. This is an evocative and virtuosic work using the instrument's full range and expressive capabilities. Moving freely between eerie harmonics, lyrical melodic sections, and fierce rhythmic passages, Zhou¿s piece captures the exultant quality of the poem, with its refrain: "But I am not worried; I am glad. I shall laugh aloud and sing." (English translation by Feng Yu-sheng)
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
First Performance: Chanticleer, San Francisco, 11-13 April 1997
Words of the Sun, a poignant evocation of morning with its air of expectation slightly tinged with melancholy, sets a poem by the respected Chinese poet Ai Qing (1910-1996). Described by Newsweek as "the prince of Chinese poets", Ai devoted his literary career to praising China's communist revolution. He joined China's communist party in 1945, but was victimised in the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957 and later during the Cultural Revolution. With the return to power of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978, Ai was allowed to publish his work after twenty-one years of silence. In 1985, he was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by then French president François Mitterrand. Ai's collected works include at least 20 long lyrical and narrative poems, 1000 shorter poems, and nearly 200 essays on the arts.
Zhou Long comments, "I met Ai Qing in 1979 just after his return to Beijing, while I was a second-year student at the Central Conservatory. He autographed a recently published little book, which included Words of the Sun, written in 1942. I was immediately attracted to this poem, expressing the thoughts of a young intellectual during the dark period of the Anti-Japanese war. I first composed this piece for tenor and piano, using the original Chinese text. The Central Broadcasting Corporation of China commissioned the choral version for a recording by the Central Philharmonic Chorus of China. This English version was written at the request of the American vocal ensemble Chanticleer."
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
First performance: Stephanie Varozza, UC Berkeley, March 18, 1985
Wu Kui is a folk dance from north-east China. Wearing the masks of five animals - tiger, leopard, bear, deer, and roe deer - the dancers, usually hunters themselves, express their joy in work and life. Capturing the original style of this dance, this solo piano piece opens with animated rhythmic patterns, moves into a slower, free-flowing and lyrical middle section, and concludes with a return to the fierce exultant rhythms and motifs of the beginning.
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
Version for piano, zheng, and percussion
Premiere: Music from China, Merkin Concert Hall, October 1991
Version for piano and percussion (1 or 2 players)
Premiere: Hammers and Sticks, Weill Recital Hall, April 2004
The title of this work, Wu Ji, is derived from two concepts found in ancient Chinese philosophy. In Chinese, "Wu" means "nothing" or "the lack of..."; "Ji" means "polarity" or "the extremity." Wu Ji means, literally, "the lack of polarities" or, more appropriately, "beyond the extremity." The use of the word "extremity" here refers to "infinity," which is beyond time and space and whose presence precedes that of anything in the universe. The music itself combines the wide range of sounds available on the piano with a variety of sound effects in the percussion to create a tonal picture of the world of "Wu Ji".
© Zhou Long
reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
back to top
|
VIEW BASKET
