This new album features world premiere recordings of the music of Ye Xiaogang, one of China’s leading contemporary composers. The main work on the programme, the result of a commission by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, is a reworking of the score of his opera Song of Farewell, from which Ye has removed all the vocal parts. The result is a 40-minute work that is iridescent in its East/West blend of traditional instruments and exotic percussion set against a full symphonic sound.
Xiaogang YE (b. 1955)
Song of Farewell Without Words
Yuanchun Yu, Pipa Hongxuan Chen, Dizi
Tieshan Liu, Jinghu
Beijing Opera Percussion
Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra
Yang Yang
Xiaogang Ye has been awarded numerous prestigious honours and is regarded as one of China’s leading contemporary composers. His interest in mysterious and beautiful plants has led him to write many pieces inspired by subtropical flora – The Faint Gingko, the oldest tree species in the world, represents an expression of Ye’s care and concern for nature. Heard here in a version without words, Song of Farewell is an opera with exquisite textures, beautiful melodies and refined orchestration, forming a unique work that delves into desire, inspiration in artistic creativity, and death, with extraordinary symphonic originality.
II. Promise
Yang Yang studied conducting at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) under eminent conductor Yu Feng, president of the conservatory and vice president of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. In 2006, he became the first Chinese conductor to be awarded First Prize at the Dimitris Mitropoulos International Competition for Conducting in Greece. He is currently music director and chief conductor of the China National Opera House, artistic director and chief conductor of the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, and artistic director of the CCOM’s children’s symphony orchestra.
The Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra has established itself as one of China’s leading symphony orchestras, with a repertoire spanning concert, opera, ballet, chamber and film music. The orchestra has performed at numerous international music festivals, and toured 35 cities in 19 countries across Europe, Asia and South America, raising awareness of Chinese culture and the ‘Hangzhou sound’. It has also worked in partnership with the the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Philadelphia Orchestra and Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.
Seven Episodes for Lin’an
Twilight in Tibet • Tianjin Suite
Song • Shi • Liu • Gu
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Ollu • Malzew
– Fanfare
– International Record Review
– Fanfare
Wild Grass
Su (Tracing Back) • Pianogongs • Taiping Drum
Wild Grass • Taigu Rhyme • Monologue
Romance of Hsiao and Ch’ in • Chinese Ancient Dances
Beijing New Music Ensemble
– Fanfare