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“...The Instrument
Descending from Middle Eastern and Central Asian lutes but distinct, both the four-and-five-stiinged
pipa arrived in China some 1,600 years ago. Transformed and musically expanded, they flourished
during the Tang Dynasty (618- 907 CE), and were exported eastwards to become the pip’a in Korea
and biwa in Japan. Yet, while the four-string pipa continues to thrive, the five-string pipa mysteriously
fell out of favour around the eighth century and its unique capabilities and repertory were lost. For
Cheng Yu, however, the instrument was not lost but waiting to be found. In 2003, she set out to recreate
die five-stringed pipa and bring it back to life. In so doing, she faced a number of choices: should she
make a faithful recreation of the Tang instrument, perhaps also reconstructing surviving scores? Or,
should she update the pipa - as indeed the four-stringed pipa has been over the years - to reflect both
changes in technology and the different contemporary socio-cultural p...”
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“...many modes, and used more
heptatonicism. The mark of a great pipa player was the ability to perform in till known modes. Wind
Chimes comprises 12 continuous sections, each exploring a different mode. The harmony is modern,
since the guitar and pipa explore different modes, coming together at the beginning, middle and end
of the piece’.
3. ‘The Moment’ (pipa and Korean taegum Hute) by Gyewon Byeon (2004)
Gyewon comments: The moment has arrived lor East to meet West, tradition to meet modernity,
China to meet Korea, tvind to meet string, new to meet old. The Moment is a dynamic meeting place
for a Korean wind instrument and a Chinese string instrument, one ancient and one newly
reconstructed. It is also a dynamic meeting of one British-based Chinese pipa player and one Korean
composer trained both in the East and the West. Several opposites meet in The Moment. In this
version of the piece, the core instruments are joined by a quartet of Korean kayagum zithers.
4. ‘Dance of the Yi People’ (pipa...”
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“...Cergy-Pontoise National
Conservatoire. The French State. Radio France and numerous festivals and ensembles have
commissioned works from her, and her compositions have been played on radio and at festivals in
China, Japan, Europe, die United States and Canada. Concerts of her music have been held in France
and Italy. Her prizes include the Best Chinese Recording Award for her trio Vallee Vide (1984) and
First Prize, Paris Conservatoire, for her work Huntun.
Stephen Dydo is a composer and classical guitarist with an international reputation. His interest in
Chinese music goes back to the 1970s, when he studied widi Chou Wen-chung at Columbia
University. He has studied guqin withJung-ping Yuan and guzheng with Hou Guizhe and Wu Shi-ya.
He has performed guqin in solo concerts at the China Institute, Lotus Music and Dance, and the...”
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“...Staten Island Botanical Garden in New York; he was also a featured soloist at die Second Annual
Jiangsu Qin Conference in 2002, held in Suzhou, China. He has appeared as a guitarist and
conductor with groups including the Gregg Smith Singers, Group for Contemporary Music, Lenox
Arts Center, New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, Composers’ Conference and the Composers’
Ensemble. He regularly performs in the flute and guitar duo Serenade with Susan Altabet. His
compositions include vocal and choral works, as well as various combinations of instrumental and
electronic media. His awards have included the Beams Prize, a BMI award, a Fulbright fellowship,
and Meet the Composer. Among the organizations who have performed his works are New Calliope
Singers, Group for Contemporary Music, Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, New Jersey
Percussion Ensemble, Composers’ Conference, Composers’ Ensemble, Lenox Arts Center, League of
Composers ISCM, and Stichting Combinatie van Utrechtse Muziekbelangen...”
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“...The Musicians
Cheng Yu is an internationally renowned pipa lute virtuoso and scholar. She holds BMus, MMus and
PhD degrees from China and the University of London. She is the founder of the UK Chinese Music
Ensemble and London Youlan Qin (seven-stringed zither) Society. Born in Beijing, Cheng Yu grew up
in die Gobi desert in Gansu, Northwest China where her family was exiled during the Cultural
Revoludon. She studied the Pudong pipa style from her father from the age of seven and the Pinghu
style from experts; she also studied guqin in the Xi’an Conservatory of Music and graduated with
distinction in 1987. After winning the ‘Outstanding Pipa Player’ award in China in the same year she
was selected as soloist for the prestigious China Central Orchestra of Chinese Music in Beijing. Since
1990, she has been based in London and currendy researches and teaches the pipa and guqin at
SOAS, University of London. In addition to mastering and performing traditional music, Cheng Yu
seeks to develop...”
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“...Music, the Arts and Humanities Research
Council (AHRC) and the Arts Council of England. Thanks are due in particular to the AHRC Centre
for Cross-Cultural Music and Dance Performance for support. I am also grateful for support from
SOAS, Asia Music Circuit, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for the premieres of the
compositions. I would like to thank my father Cheng Junming, the pipa maker Tang Zhiping, the
scholar and qin master Li Xiangting, pipa master Lin Shicheng and the many others in China who
gave valuable advice, and to the composers and musicians for their effort and hard work, in particular
Stephen Dydo and Jan Hendrickse....”
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