This quiet and languid dance has the flavor of the Orient, with open melodic fifths in the left hand in basic quarter and eighth note rhythms. Written in C major, 4/4 time, with a lot of accidentals and movement over the keyboard. / Piano
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.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.
SKU: PR.11441684S
UPC: 680160625253. 9 x 12 inches.
On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, the ensemble Music From China commissioned Chen Yi for a new work, which became Three Dances from China South, scored for Chinese instruments. Its three descriptive movements (Lions Playing Ball, Bamboo Dance, Lusheng Dance) are each inspired by folk dances from the southeastern provinces of China.My chamber ensemble work Three Dances From China South is commissioned by Music From China tocelebrate its 30th anniversary, and scored for Chinese traditional instruments dizi, erhu, pipa, and zheng. The commission has been made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical CommissioningProgram, with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund.  The world premiere is given at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in New York City, on November 21, 2014.  My Three Dances From China South is dedicated to Susan Cheng, the founder and Executive Director of Music From China, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of MFC. There are three movements in my Three Dances From China South for dizi, erhu, pipa, and zheng.  Thematerial in the first movement Lions Playing Ball is drawn from a folk tune played in the accompanyingensemble for the folk dance under the same title in Chaozhou region in Guangdong province.  The image of the folk dance is vivid and entertaining.  The movement includes several variations on the theme.  The variation methods are inspired by the various rhythmic patterns used in the traditional ensemble playing. The melodic material features a special mode with a tritone interval taken from the folk tune.  There are also lyrical sections with polyphonic layers in the variations.The music in the second movement is inspired by the folk Bamboo Dance, which is popular in Li minoritypeople from Hainan Island in the south.  The aged old folk dance is for ritual ceremony and harvest celebration in the history, in which there are pairs of people holding the ends of the long bamboo rods and clapping them loudly in stable pulse, for groups of dancers to dance between the bamboo shapes on the floor, in musical rhythms and ensemble patterns.  A musical motive with a jumping interval and articulation is used throughout the movement.The third movement is called Lusheng Dance.  I have witnessed the folk dance performance of the Dong minority people in Guangxi province in the 1980’s.  The exciting scene inspired me to imitate the large lusheng ensemble playing style in my ensemble of four Chinese instrumental musicians without using the sheng (a wind instrument with metal pipes that is popular in concert music, and similar to the folk lusheng).  On top of the rhythmic patterns, I imitated a two--voice folk song of Zhuang minority people in the same province.  The melody is played by the leading erhu and dizi.—Chen Yi.
