Three Bagatelles From China West

Description

Violin, Piano — THREE BAGATELLES FROM CHINA WEST was originally composed as a flute and piano suite for the flutist Marya Martin. This new edition was created for violinist Patrick Yim, featuring the instrument on which I performed as concertmaster of the Beijing Opera Troupe Orchestra. The suite is based on several folk tunes: I. SHAN GE is inspired by the solo piece Shange Diao, traditionally played on a wind instrument called Lerong (vertical bamboo flute), and a musical pattern played by the Jingpo people on the small mouth wind instrument called Kouxian (mouth harp).II. NAI GUO HOU comes from a solo piece of the same name, traditionally played on the wind instrument Bawu (horizontal bamboo flute) and the pitch material sung in the folk song Ashima of the Yi people.III. DOU DUO is based on the folk song Dou Duo and the sound effects of the Lusheng (free-reed mouth-pipe organ) ensemble playing of the Miao people. In this violin transcription, the third movement’s solo part has been transposed to allow easier fingerings, meeting the needs of virtuoso performance. THREE BAGATELLES FROM CHINA WEST is a suite for violin and piano, based on folk songs and instrumental idioms from Chinese folk tradition. Growing up as a violinist, Chen Yi performed as concertmaster of the Beijing Opera and was well educated in both Western and Chinese music. Her violin writing is both idiomatic and challenging, exploring the sonic potential of the instrument and blending musical traditions of her two homes.

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