CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Wu Man and Bay Area Shawm Band

Zankel Hall
Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 8:30 PM

Wu Man, Pipa
Bay Area Shawm Band
·· Wanpeng Guo, Sheng
·· Xian Lu, Dizi
·· Hong Wang, Guanzi and Percussion
·· Zhang Yu, Souna

Internationally renowned pipa virtuoso Wu Man is joined by a traditional Chinese shawm band to perform the raucous, earthy sounds of Chinese village ceremonial music.

Sponsored by American International Group, Inc.

Program Notes:

By Cynthia Rogers

Sounds of Classical Pipa
I. “Flute and Drum Music at Sunset” (Traditional)
A hand-written score for this pipa piece first appeared in 1875 as a work with seven untitled sections. It was later discovered with subtitles among Chen Zijing’s hand-written collection of pipa music in 1898. This composition is of the civil (lyrical) style of pipa music. The present score is from Li Fangyuan’s New Collections 1895 and contains eight sections:

1. The Sound of Bells and Drums from a Distant Temple Along the River
2. Moon on the Eastern Mountain
3. Breeze over the Quiet Water
4. Shadows of Flowers
5. Clouds and Water Far Away Become as One
6. A Fishman’s Song in the Evening
7. Waves Lapping at the Shore
8. The Returning Boat

II. “Ambush from Ten Sides” (Traditional)
Perhaps the best known of all traditional pipa works, this is a grand opus of the martial school of pipa music. Structured in the traditional storytelling form, “Shi Mian Mai Fu” (Ambush from Ten Sides) portrays the epic battle between the kingdoms of Han (led by Liu Bang) and the warlord of Chu (Xiang Yu) in 202 BC. The Han army ambushed the Chu army on ten sides and finally defeated the powerful Chu (Xiang Yu committed suicide), leading to the establishment of the Han Dynasty. The music describes how the armies set up camp, affected the ambush, and fought fiercely. The listener can hear the war drums, booming guns, soldiers, horses, and the victors returning to camp in triumph at the end of the battle. Variations on a theme make use of tonal colors and timbres created by various fingering techniques to evoke a range of moods.

Suite of Folk-Color
III. “Hundred Birds Singing to the Phoenix” (Traditional)
This traditional shawm band folk tune is popular in the Sangdong, Henan, and Hebei provinces of northern China and is unique because of the tonal imitation of birds singing, children crying, cocks crowing, and animals and insects singing. The title was first used when the music was presented at an official concert in Beijing in 1953; the music can still be heard today at village festivals and weddings.

IV. “The Flying Phoenix” (Traditional; arr. Hu Tianquang)
In 1956, sheng master Hu Tianquang arranged the piece for solo sheng based on a Shanxi folk tune “Bongzi.” “Bongzi” is a dramatic and colorful local opera that has become one of the most popular works for solo sheng today.

V. “Dance of the Yi” (Wang Huiran)
This popular arrangement is based on folk music of the Yi, a minority group of southwestern China. This piece requires the pipa player to employ a variety of virtuosic techniques including tremolos, strumming, sliding notes, and harmonics, and evokes scenes of intoxicating nights on the mountainside and the joyous gathering of dancing youths.

VI. “FESTA” (Yuanlin Chen)
The last movement of Primary Voice—a series of exotic, natural, and emotional pieces— uses a variety of ethnic instruments to produce unusual sounds and unique melodies that are full of mystery and deep emotion. The electronic sound enhances the tone color and imprints the imagination with primitive rites, tales, and legends. The music describes unadorned beauty and expresses man’s instinctive desire. It guides the audience back to ancient times and Far East locations and arouses images in the natural and human elements of forest, river, mountain, ocean, celebration, love, and joy.

Composer Yuanlin Chen received his master’s degree from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and established an impressive career in China before coming to the United States in 1991 to further his studies. Chen’s compositions include orchestral, choral, chamber, electronic music, vocal, and instrumental works, as well as scores written for television, movies, and dance, all of which have been performed worldwide at major concerts and venues.

New Voice of Pipa
VII. “Sliloquio Serrano—for solo pipa” (Gabriela L. Frank)
Written for pipa virtuoso Wu Man in 2007, “Soliloquio Serrano” is inspired by harawi, a melancholy song style from the Peruvian Andean mountain culture. Very loosely adapted from the slow movement of Ms. Frank’s Sonata Andina for solo piano, this new version capitalizes on the haunting glissandi, delicate timbres, and virtuosic plucked passagework on the pipa. Gabriela Lena Frank has been hailed as representing the next generation of American composers and is most recognized for her incorporation of Latino / Latin American culture into Western classical forms. Her work has been elected to Chamber Music America’s list of “Top 101 Great American Ensemble Works,” and is widely performed by major artists. Ms. Frank has been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the Marilyn Horne Foundation, Aspen Summer Music Festival, the Kronos Quartet, Chanticleer vocal ensemble, Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, Seattle Symphony, and many others.
VIII. “Collage” (Wu Man)
Performed in the martial style, “Collage” is a structured improvisational piece inspired by the classic solo pipa repertoire. Martial style is very dramatic and imitative, and is recognizable by the quick and ferocious way in which the strings are strummed, making the pipa sound more like an electric guitar and less like an ancestor of the lute. Another piece written in this style is “Ambush from Ten Sides,” heard earlier in tonight’s program.

Life in the Country
IX. “Squabbling Ducks” (Traditional; arr. An Zhishun)
Xi’an was a capital city of China during the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang period (618–907), “Xi’an Drum Music” was known simply as a musical ensemble which existed in the Tang Court. The music combines complex structure with large, rich content. Some ensembles use strings and wind accompaniment while others use drums and percussion. Tonight’s piece, arranged by Chinese percussion master Mr. An Zhishun, draws from drums and percussion to imitate ducks walking, singing, and squabbling.

X. “Celebrating Harvest” (Traditional; arr. Wei Xianzhong)
Traditionally, the dizi is accompanied by wind instruments (such as sheng, souna, and guanzi), but during 1960s and 1970s a dozen arrangements and compositions for dizi solo works were written and became popular in China. This piece, composed in the 1970s, draws inspiration from the folk tunes from northern China and uses the dizi as a solo voice in the company of strings and winds.

XI. “Three Variations of Yang Guan” (Traditional)
Originally for qin (a seven string zither) and vocal solo, this piece was written by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei (701–761) and first appeared in the Qin Music Collection in 1491. The transcription you will hear tonight is a trio version for three wind instruments: guanzi, sheng, and xiao.

XII. “Dancing of the Golden Dragon” (Nie Er)
In 1934, composer Nie Er arranged this piece for a traditional Chinese ensemble based on a popular folk tune called “Reverse Eight Beats” or “Old Six Beats” from the Jiangnan (Shanghai) region. That same year he conducted the premiere, recorded the work, and gave the piece a new title. This work has become one of the most important pieces of Chinese ensemble music.

Nie Er was born in Yunan and is among the best known Chinese composers writing works for opera, theater, and film. In the early 1930s he wrote “March of the Volunteers” as part of a film score, which went on to become the Chinese national anthem. Nie Er’s life was cut short at the age of 23 when he died in a tragic swimming accident in Japan.

THE INSTRUMENTS

Pipa: Often referred to as a Chinese lute, it is played with forward and backward plucking motions that sound like “pi” and “pa” to fanciful ears. The pipa, with its four strings, 26 frets, and six ledges, elicits a rich, tonal quality and a resonant timbre which gives its music expressiveness and beauty that are lasting and endearing.

Suona: An oboe-like wind instrument made of a conical, wooden body that flares out at the base, it has a curved, tapered tube which connects the small double reeds to the rest of the instrument and has a detachable metal bell at its end. Developed from Central Asian instruments, the souna makes an unmistakably loud and high-pitched sound which has been a standard in folk music of northern China for many centuries.

Sheng: This is a “mouth organ” comprised of 17, 21, 24, or 30 vertical pipes (depending on the maker, model, and regional culture), each with an independent reed at the base. The musician blows into an open chamber while covering the pipe openings, usually with the fingers, to create the desired key; when this is done, the entire length of the pipe resonates with the reed’s frequency to create a warm, lyrical sound.

Guanzi: Constructed in a style similar to a modern-day recorder, the guanzi is a short, cylindrical tube made from bamboo with seven finger holes on the top and one thumb hole on the back which produces a clarinet-like sound. The guanzi was originally used in operas to evoke a mood of sadness, or, when combined with percussion instruments, to create an appropriate frame for military scenes.

Dizi: Comparable to the flute, the dizi has a mouthpiece and finger holes as well as a third opening located between the mouthpiece and first finger hole, which is covered by a tissue-like shaving of reed (called a dimo) made taut and glued over this opening. In securing the dimo, fine wrinkles are created in the center of the reed which produces a brighter and louder resonance giving the final tone a buzzing, nasal quality.

—“At A Glance,” “Program Notes,” and “Instruments” by Wu Man and Ashley Edinger

Wu Man, Pipa
Wu Man, internationally renowned pipa virtuoso, is recognized as an outstanding exponent of the traditional repertoire for the pipa (a lute-like Chinese instrument with a history of more than 2,000 years), as well as a leading interpreter of contemporary pipa music by today’s most prominent composers.

Wu Man continually collaborates with some of the most distinguished musicians and conductors performing today. She has performed as soloist with many of the world’s major orchestras, and her touring has taken her to the major music halls of the world. She is a principal member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, and often performs and records with the groundbreaking Kronos Quartet.

Highlights of Wu Man’s 2007–08 season include performances of Lou Harrison’s Pipa Concerto with the Kansas City Symphony, and concerts throughout the US with the Kronos Quartet. Her recitals throughout the country include the multimedia work Ancient Dances by Chen Yi, which she premiered in 2005, and music from her album Wu Man and Friends, which she performs with folk musicians from Uganda, Ukraine, and the southern Appalachian mountains. Abroad, Wu Man performs at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, and in recital at the Miho Museum in Japan. Her tours in China and Japan with the Silk Road Ensemble include a performance at the Special Olympics in Shanghai, and in the summer of 2008 she will perform at the Barbican in London with the Kronos Quartet. Upcoming recordings include Terry Riley’s Cusp of Magic with the Kronos Quartet on Nonesuch, Lou Harrison’s Pipa Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on CSO Resound, and an album with the Silk Road Ensemble on Sony/BMG.

Born in Hangzhou, China, Wu Man studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she became the first recipient of a master’s degree in pipa. She was selected as a Bunting Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard University, and was selected by Yo-Yo Ma as the winner of the City of Toronto Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize in music and communication. For more information please visit wumanpipa.org.

Bay Area Shawm Band
·· Wanpeng Guo, Sheng
·· Xian Lu, Dizi
·· Hong Wang, Guanzi and Percussion
·· Zhang Yu, Souna
Wanpeng Guo (sheng) studied the sheng, souna, guanzi, and dizi in the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, specializing in the sheng. He was the Principal Sheng Player in the Central National Orchestra, received honors for being a First Class Performer by Cultural Department of China, and has toured throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and Korea. Currently, he is a member of Melody of China, a San Francisco–based Chinese ensemble, and appears as a guest musician with other performing arts groups in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Xian Lu (dizi) began studying the flute as a child and has participated in numerous competitions and festivals. He won first prize in the Wind Instruments category at the First Chinese Folk Music Instrument Competition, bringing him critical acclaim both locally and abroad. Most recently, Mr. Lu served as Guest Professor of Wind Instruments at Laney College in Oakland, California.

Hong Wang (guanzi) is currently serving as artistic director of the Melody of China ensemble, and has toured internationally as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator. He has performed in many international music festivals in the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, and the United States. He has participated in works by Meredith Monk and Tan Dun, and with musicians Max Roach, David Murray, Jon Jang, Anthony Brown, Carl Stone, Wei Wu, Li Bo, and Gene Coleman.

Zhang Yu (suona), a member of the China Musician Association and an examiner on the Chinese National Music Performing Examination Committee, graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. From 1986 to 1999, he was a member of the suona section and a soloist in the Central National Orchestra, one of the top orchestras in China. Zhang also released a CD and has published a number of research papers.

World Music Institute (WMI) is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the presentation and documentation of traditional and contemporary music and dance from around the world. Since its founding in 1985, World Music Institute (WMI) has built the most comprehensive concert series of music and dance in the United States. Recognized as North America’s premier presenter of traditional world music and dance, WMI has featured more than 1,100 ensemble and soloists from over 100 countries and ethnic minorities. In addition to its concert series in New York, WMI organizes several tours each year, produces recordings, and maintains an extensive catalog of recordings, videos, and books of traditional music available at our office or online at worldmusicinstitute.org.