Chen's string orchestra setting springs from the first movement of her 1982 quartet, and becomes a shimmering, sparkling amalgam of folk singing from her native China. Indeed, a singing viola cadenza opens the work, later echoed by violin, all leading to a brilliant finale. A YouTube excerpt is available from a performance at the Beijing Modern Music Festival.
Chen's string orchestra setting springs from the first movement of her 1982 quartet, and becomes a shimmering, sparkling amalgam of folk singing from her native China. Indeed, a singing viola cadenza opens the work, later echoed by violin, all leading to a brilliant finale. A YouTube excerpt is available from a performance at the Beijing Modern Music Festival.
Commissioned by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra for its 1994-95 season opening, "Shuo" is in one movement, written for string orchestra. While representing the first day of every month in the lunar calendar, the word "shuo" in Chinese means "initiate." In the string orchestra piece "Shuo", I applied initial materials taken from Chinese folk music, in terms of tunes and mountain song singing gestures, and developed them for string instruments properly. The pentatonic lines are woven vividly in different layers, to paint a delicate landscape. The work is recorded in the album "Sparkle: Chamber Music of Chen Yi," on CRI, released in 1999.
Chen's string orchestra setting springs from the first movement of her 1982 quartet, and becomes a shimmering, sparkling amalgam of folk singing from her native China. Indeed, a singing viola cadenza opens the work, later echoed by violin, all leading to a brilliant finale. A YouTube excerpt is available from a performance at the Beijing Modern Music Festival.
Chen's string orchestra setting springs from the first movement of her 1982 quartet, and becomes a shimmering, sparkling amalgam of folk singing from her native China. Indeed, a singing viola cadenza opens the work, later echoed by violin, all leading to a brilliant finale. A YouTube excerpt is available from a performance at the Beijing Modern Music Festival.
