Wu Yu

Description

Flute, Oboe, Clarinet in Bb, Violin, Viola, Violoncello, Contrabass — Commissioned by Boston Musica Viva with funds provided by Catherine and Paul Buttenwieser, premiered on March 15, 2002, in Boston, directed by Richard Pittman, Wu Yu is composed for flute, clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), bassoon, violin, cello and percussion (vibraphone, bongo, Japanese high woodblock, cymbal, 2 Chinese gongs, tom-tom and bass drum), in two movements.xa0xa0 Wu Yu was a ritual dance in ancient China, which includes song and dance performed with ox tails in hands.xa0 It’s a ceremony of praying to the deity for rain.xa0 In the first movement of my composition Wu Yu, I use the flute, clarinet and bassoon to play in heterophonic style, imitating the tunes played by a group of suona players in a village ceremony (the blowing instrument “suona” is a shawm, made with wood), while using other instruments to create sheng-like sustained chords (the Chinese traditional instrument “sheng” is a free-reed mouth-organ, made with a gourd).xa0 The music starts slowly, and gets faster and faster towards the coda.xa0 In the second movement, I imitate a whole group of Chinese traditional percussion instruments played in the folk ensemble music Shifan Gong-and-drum in Southeast China, which is often used in ceremonies and village gatherings.xa0 The music is brought to a climax at the end of the work.xa0 The whole piece lasts about 14 minutes.—Chen Yi