Three Dances From China South

Description

Dizi, Piccolo, Zheng, Erhu — Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University, the two-movement trio Tibetan Tunes was written for the New Pacific Trio (Igor Veligan, violin, Nina Flyer, cello, and Sonia Leong, piano). It was premiered at the Conservatory of Music at University of the Pacific on Jan. 27, 2007 in Stockton, California.The first movement is inspired by the Tibetan folk tune “Du Mu” as played on a recorder (Xiongling). This music presents the rich gestures of Du Mu (the name of a god in Tibetan Buddhism) in a serene mood.“Dui Xie” is a kind of Tibetan folk ensemble music using the same tune in the introduction and coda, played with the plucked instrument Zhamunie, the bamboo flute, and the fiddle Erhu, often performed with singing and tap dancing. The pitch materials of this movement are drawn from folk ensemble music and the lyrical Tibetan folk song “Amaliehuo.” On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, the ensemble Music From China commissioned Chen Yi for a new work, which became Three Dances from China South, scored for Chinese instruments. Its three descriptive movements (Lions Playing Ball, Bamboo Dance, Lusheng Dance) are each inspired by folk dances from the southeastern provinces of China. Lions Playing Ball is drawn from a folk tune played for the dance of the same title. The movement includes several variations on a theme, a method inspired by the rhythmic patterns used in traditional ensembles playing. Bamboo Dance is an age-old folk dance performed for ritual ceremony and harvest celebration. Pairs hold long bamboo poles and clap them loudly, while dancers dance between poles in varied patters. Lusheng Dance is a folk dance of the Dong people in Guangxi province. Overlaying the rhythmic patters, the leading erhu and flute imitate a two-voice folk song of the Zhuang people.