Chinese Zodiac Suite

Description

Flute, Harp, Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello — I. RATThe rat is an un-nice animal that scurries around in the dark at night. Nobody wants them in the house. You can hear it scratching behind the walls as he scavenges for food and makes more little rats.II. OXThe ox lumbers on in drudgery, pulling its heavy load.III. TIGEREvery tiger was once a kitten. The children’s song that is quoted is used by Chinese children to learn about tigers.IV. RABBITThe rabbit hops around and makes more little rabbits that hop about.V. DRAGONThe dragon can be a fierce and fiery animal, filled with unrelenting energy.VI. SNAKEThe snake slides and glides and hisses when displeased.VII. HORSEThe horse gallops along and is represented by a famous musicmoment suggested by Dr. Qiu Jin herself.VIII. SHEEPSheep graze peacefully, until he is asked if he has any wool.IX. MONKEYThe monkey leaps and swings through the trees.The flute plays the folksong “Song of the Clown”to introduce the monkeyX. ROOSTERThe rooster is boss of the barnyard. He signals the morning and struts proudly. The flute introduces him with the folksongThe Sun Came up HappyXI. DOGThe dog snoozes and then suddenly, hearing a noise at the door, wakes up, jumps up and starts barking.XII. PIGThe pig is so sad. His life’s only purpose is to be someone’sdinner! He is introduced by the flute playing thefolksong Chasing the Wild Hog. The Chinese Zodiac Suite is the culmination of a three-year project to honor the partnership of Old Dominion University with Minzu University of Beijing, a cooperative effort to bridge the cultures of both sides. In his new composition, Hailstork uses Western musical language to depict the 12 animal signs of the zodiac from Eastern folklore. The suite was performed by the Minzu University student orchestra at a meeting with the Board of Directors of the Confucius Institute at Old Dominion University (CIODU) in Beijing. Executive director of the CIODU, Dr. Qiu Jin Hailstork, prefaced the performance with, “You can hear the sounds of rats scratching behind the walls; cows working hard in the fields; rabbits jumping up and down; a snake slithering through the grass; galloping horses and grazing sheep; a monkey swinging through the trees; the rooster, boss of the barnyard, crowing; the sleeping dog who wakes up and starts barking; and the poor pig, so sad because his life's only purpose is to be someone's dinner!”