Three Songs from the Tang Dynasty (Soprano / Chamber ensemble)

Description

Scored for Soprano, Flute, Violin and Cello

Composer`s Notes

Three Songs from the Tang Dynasty

     These Three Songs are based on three ancient Chinese poems from the Tang Dynasty 唐朝, written by well known poets Li Bai 李白 (Self-abandonment 自遣), Cheung Chi 張繼 (A Night Mooring near Maple Bridge 楓橋夜泊), and Ta’o Chien 陶潛 (Flood 停雲). Sorrow is a predominant theme shared in these three poems. During the Tang Dynasty, devastation of many wars causes death and separation; it is common for poets to express feelings of loss and longing for loved ones through imaginaries of natural objects and moody landscapes.

All three poems observed the forces of nature closely: Self-abandonment suggests “timelessness” when one tries to forget his sorrow by drinking heavily; falling pedals and rising moon symbolize time soars unnoticed. A Night Mooring near Maple Bridge paints a bleak landscape that evokes solitude: against the backdrop of a cold mountain and moonless sky, a lonely fishing boat with dim light moving slowly across shadowy waters, all left are the sounds of the crows and the bells from a distant temple. Flood depicts the eagerness and unsettled feelings of waiting. The rolling clouds and vigorous rains evoke flooding anxiety when one anticipates the return of loved ones; hopelessness strikes when the picture unfolds in vast emptiness without the trace or boat nor carriage.

     The music is written in a similar philosophy that the purity and simplicity of Chinese poetry writing is preserved by the “unembellished” setting of words, mostly one note per syllable. The range of the vocal line exploits the soprano’s dramatic tessitura from middle C to high B flat. In all Three Songs, there are brief unaccompanied solo passages that highlight the voice, suggesting a “pure” and expressive style of Chinese folk singing. The piano accompaniment, on the other hand, is rather colorful and impressionistic. It introduces the voice and sets the mood for each Song. There is a rich harmonic palette where pitch materials are derived from the natural harmonic series as well as various “altered” pentatonic scales. Inspired by images of ruins and vast emptiness, the expressive vocal line combines with the subtle changes of piano timbres to suggest feelings of self-containment and mystery.

Alice Ho