SKU: PR.114419280

ISBN 9781491132357. UPC: 680160676125.

Inspired by Chinese tradition, this concerto-like dance suite includes: 1. Lion Dance, 2. YangKo, and 3. Muqam. Each movement draws from melodies and rhythms characteristic of various regions of China many centuries ago. CHINESE FOLK DANCE SUITE is available for violin with full orchestra, or as a recital work with piano.
Supported by a major commissioning award from the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress, Chinese Folk Dance Suite is written for solo violin and orchestra; it was premiered by The Women’s Philharmonic with violin soloist Terrie Baune, conducted by Apo Hsu, on March 10, 2001, at Yerba Buena Center For the Arts Theater in San Francisco.Inspired by various Chinese traditional folk dances, the suite has three movements:I. Lion Dance. Traditionally, people dance with richly decorated hand-made lions, accompanied by percussion ensemble, to celebrate happy occasions and major festivals throughout the country. In this composition, I use Chinese drum and other percussion instruments in the background, to form a dynamic and rhythmic texture responding to the solo part, which imitates the tunes played on the suona (traditional Chinese trumpet). The pitch materials came from the traditional Guangdong tune “Dragon Boat Racing,” and the Chaozhou tune “Lion Playing Ball.”II. YangKo. Originating in northern China, this is a major folk dance form in mass performance popularized in the country. In YangKo performance, people play rhythmic patterns on the drums hung around their waists while singing and dancing. In the second movement, I imagined a warm scene of YangKo dancing in distance. The solo violin plays a sweet and gracious melodic line while all members of the orchestra sing non-pitched syllables in different layers as the soft background, to imitate the percussion sound which produces the ever-going pulse.III. Muqam. This large-scale music and dance form, from the Uygur nationality in Xinjiang province, originated in the 15th century. My third movement use a 7/8 meter and the melodic style of Muqam music. The fiery dancing gesture culminates in the sustained climax section at the end of the work, after a colorful violin cadenza in both improvisational singing style and polyphonic writing with woven lines.

SKU: BT.MUSM570366552

English.

Aurea Luce was written at the request of Madeleine Mitchell and Geoff Poole by way ofcelebrating my 50th birthday at a concert in my home town of Shaftesbury, Dorset. The work is based on a plainsong melody sung as a hymn for the Feast of St. Peter s Chair in Rome, reflecting the dedication of the church in which the premiere took place. I started writing the work on International Women s Day 2015 and it was serendipitous that thehymn s text is ascribed very unusually to a 5th century female author, Elpis (reputedly the first wife of the philosopher Boethius). The title translates as ..with golden light.. and in context within the verse it reads as: Aurea luce et decore roseo,lux lucis, omne perfudisti seculum, decoran caelos inclito martyrio hac sacra die, quae dat reis veniam (The Poissy Antiphonal, fol. 412v) (The beauteous light of Eternity hath ooded with blissful res this golden day which crowns the Prince of the Apostles, and gives unto the guilty a free way to heaven). Duration: c. 9 minutes.