This concerto was composed in 2003 by Prof. Xu Chang Jun (徐昌俊) from Central Conservatory of Music in China. It was written for the yangqin, accompanied by the string ensemble with 6 violin I, 4 violin II, 3 viola, 3 cello and 2 bass. But what I have is the reduced score accompanied by the piano.
It was after I had gone for yq lessons for this piece did I realize that it was actually infused with lots of elements found in Chinese opera music, especially in terms of its character. Chinese opera can generally be divided into "civil" pieces characterized by singing, and "martial" ones featuring acrobatics and stunts. This concerto belonged to the latter, hence explaining its percussive and virtuosic nature. 凤点头 was actually the name of a particular type of drumming pattern often found in opera music, therefore if we were to listen carefully, we could actually pick out these patterns that were embellished inside the music.
I’ll be examining in my following postings, certain aspects of this piece that differentiates it from the usual Chinese classical piece that we often hear.
At first listening, this piece does not sound exactly Chinese; this was probably due to some 20th Century Western compositional techniques/ elements that were incorporated together with Chinese elements, especially in terms of harmony and rhythms. This concerto has often been acclaimed as a mix of the East and West from what I have heard which I hope to examine why is it so and also the contributing factors that bind the piece together.
The element of contrast is also quite prominent in this piece, hence I would also be delving into this area.
I have uploaded a very low resolution video clip for this concerto (performed by me during a practice session before the finals.. haha), it may take quite some time to load. The sound quality is also not very good. If any of you prefers a clearer version pls let me know so I can lend the vcd to you :D
This clip can be accessed via http://sg.geocities.com/yickjr/
