Chamber Music violin,
piano
SKU:
PR.114419280
Composed
by Chen Yi. Arranged by
Wong Tak Chiu.
Performance Score. 32+12
pages. Duration 20
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-41928.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.114419280).
ISBN
9781491132357. UPC:
680160676125.
Inspi
red 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.â€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.
