Phoenix Spreading Wingscomposed by DONG Hong-de, HU Tian-quan
This piece was specially composed for the 6th World Youth Festival Competition in 1956, and won the honour of the gold medal. Phoenix is said to be the king of birds, it spreads the wings and flies to the rainbow after raining. It symbolizes propitious, peace and friendship. This piece is not only a breakthrough of the sheng techniques, and is also proud to the contribution of the composer.
Hainan Island is in the south of China, it has the beautiful beach, and tall coconut palms. In dawn, if you are in the spring breeze, you will be infatuated with. The author feels the scene and composes this piece to express the mood.
A Peacock Displaying His Feathers composed by YAN Hay-den
The peacock is a sign of good luck and symbolizes happy life. The music is based on folk songs from the Shanxi province. It is divided into five parts. The first part is an introduction in the style of cadenza. The melody is undulating and lively, like a peacock opening his wings and trying to fly. The second part is slow and cantabile. Here the peacock opens slowly his feathers and displays a magnificent sight. The third part is a bouncing allegretto with a lot of chords and double tonguing, which signifies the peacock’s sporting session. The fourth part gets even faster, with triple tonguing and embellishments pushing the music to a climax. The fifth part is a recapitulation of the second part. It sounds as it the peacock was flying into the distant shy with the good wishes of the people.
Congratulating on the Harvestcomposed by XU Chao-ming, LU Zai-yi
This piece was composed in 1972. It describes the golden yellow harvest time in the southwest area of our country, taking the Zhuang nationality folk tonality as the foundation, and developing to a singing and praising melody. It shows that the people are full of excitement to express to the new life with deep love and eulogy.
Remembrance of the Windcomposed by CHEN Chung-sheng
Without using traditional melodies and rhythm, the whole piece is marked by almost ornamental playing throughout. In the second section the murmuring continual phrases are added; though there is stable rhythm, the use of syncopation makes it sound like extemporaneous. Also, the use of techniques like harmonic playing (singing another part simultaneously with the xiao part) and whistle playing makes the piece even more characteristic. The remembrance of the wind is abstract. Let the xiao, the breath, and the wind cry out the remembrance for our friends, our homes, and our stories deep down inside our hearts!
The piece is specialy composed for the performer’s album. The composer makes exploration in the special tone of the instrument hulusi and the performing techniques. It describes the loving atmosphere of the young men and women beside Erhai.
ZUO Yi-wei : Performed in March 2001; accompaniment: GU Guan-ren conducted the Shanghai East Radio Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra 7:53
There are four kinds of common tunes in Shandong Liuzi Opera which includes yue diao, ping diao, xia diao and er ba diao. This is a well-known wind and percussion music Kai Men of Heze and Jining area in southwest of Shandong province played on the tune of yue diao. The tone colour is thick and has fully displayed the WEI Yong-tang & YUAN Zi-wen : Performed on September 12, 1958 3:41
Yangguan in Three Tiersancient melody arranged by WANG Xiao-fei and MAO Kuang-ping
The poem “Seeing off Yuan Er”, written by WANG We in Tang Dynasty, was set to music and subsequently included in “Yizhou Grand Tunes”. The music received its present name because it is divided into three parts, all based on the same tune. It describes the sadness of separation, the sincere care for a friend about to leave and the reluctance to part.
JIN Shi-yi : Performed in 1993; zheng accompaniment: YANG Lin 6:27
《雲山如夢》 周成龙曲
乐曲透过对渊源深远、浩如烟海的中国古文化的追忆,而引起人们的无限遐想。
左翼伟:二○○一年三月演绎 4:21
Dreamy Cloud and Mountainsa composed by ZHOU Cheng-long
The tune arouses people’s profound thinking by recalling the traditional Chinese culture, which is as vast as ocean with long origin.
Making full use of the various techniques for special sound effects, this musical piece is designed to give full play to the expressive power of the ancient gudi by dramatizing the twilight hunting scene of the primitive past. With human voices added to it, it captures the thrills of hunting.
JIANG Guo-ji : Performed in October 1996; accompaniment: CHEN Jian-xun conducted the Chinese Orchestra of the Song and Dance Troupe of Zhejiang Province 7:02
Fernleaf Hedge Bamboo under the Moonlightcomposed by CHEN Tao arranged by WANG Zhi-wei
The minorities living in south-western China are renowned for their songs and dances. The composer based his music on the folk songs and tried to depict the fernleaf hedge bamboo, brushed by gentle breeze and bathing in silvery moonlight. Tai Youths are singing lightly and dancing graciously under the moonlight to court their beloved ones.
CHEN Tao : Performed in 1993; accompanied by the China Broadcast Chinese Orchestra 5:55
《瑯琊神韻》乃作者每年途經瑯琊山時,深深陶醉在山高林密的清幽美景中,由景生情,因而觸動靈思而作成此曲,把山區的神韻盡化為笛音,更寄託了自己對神州大地無限的嚮往。 Melody of Mount Lang Ya was that the composer passed through the Mount Lang Ya every year, he was always intoxicated deeply by the natural beauty of the mountain and the forest. The scenery moved him and brought him inspiration to compose this piece. Transforming the verve into the melody of dizi, he brought his great love of the country with it.
Wild Geese Landing on Smooth Sands Folk Tune, is a famous piece of traditional Cantonese music, also named as “”Victory Tune””. It sounds magnificent with flowing melodies, which makes it a good candidate for backing up the marching scenes of armies led by the general in Cantonese operas. What is interesting is that the original tune was a depressed one with words, but musicians added percussion to strengthen the rhythm, which dramatically uplifted the spirit of the music.