KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
PERELMAN THEATER
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 7:30PM
FRESH INK
WU MAN, PIPA
XI YANG XIAO GU
Flute and Drum Music at Sunset Classical (Civil)
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.
SHI MIAN MAI FU
Ambush Laid on Ten Sides Classical (Martial)
XIAO YUE ER GAO
High Little Moon (Classical)
ERIC MOE
The Sun Beats the Mountain Like a Drum (World Premiere)
WANG HUIRAN
Dance of the Yi People
XIAO PU AN ZHOU / ADAPTED BY WU MAN
Chanting of the Monk Pu An (Classical)
WU MAN
Collage
—Intermission—
CHEN YI AND WU MAN
Ancient Dances—Three Poems by Li Bai (701–762) (World Premiere)
I. Cheering (Riding on My Skiff) Chen Yi
II. Longing (Night Thoughts) Wu Man
III. Wondering (The Cataract of Mount Lu) Chen Yi
Wu Man, pipa; Robert Schulz, percussion
Catherine Owens, videographer; Larry Neff, lighting design and technical adviser;
Wu Man, concept
Commissioned by Walton Arts Foundation. Educational and audience materials created
by Walton Arts Center and the Center for the Study of Early Asian and Middle Eastern
Musics, University of Arkansas.
Fresh Ink’s 2005–2006 season is made possible by a grant from Mr. and Mrs. David L.
Glickstein and the Philadelphia Music Project, an Artistic Initiative of the Pew
Charitable Trusts, administered by the University of the Arts.
N OTE S
O N TH E
P RO G R A M
XI YANG XIAO GU
Flute and Drum Music at Sunset
Classical (Civil)
A handwritten score for this pipa piece first
appeared in 1875 as a piece with seven
untitled sections. It was later discovered
with subtitles among Chen Zijing’s handwritten collection of pipa music in 1898.
The present score, having ten sections with
subtitles, is taken from Li Fangyuan’s New
Collections, 1895. This composition is of
the “civil” style of pipa music.
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
SHI MIAN MAI FU
Ambush Laid on Ten Sides
Classical (Martial)
Perhaps the best known of all traditional
pipa works. It is a grand opus of the “martial” school of pipa music. Structured in
traditional story telling form, Shi Mian Mai
Fu portrays the epic battle between the
kingdoms of Han (Liu Bang) and the warlord of Chu (Xiang Yu) in 202 B.C. 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, effected the ambush and fought
fiercely. In it can be heard the war drums,
booming guns, soldiers and horses, and the
shouting of soldiers at the massacre. The
victors return to camp in triumph at the end
of a siring battle. Variations on a theme
make use of tonal colors and timbres created by various fingering techniques to evoke
a range of moods, heroism, stoicism,
despair, and tragedy.
XIAO YUE ER GAO
High Little Moon
Classical
This is a popular tune for pipa from the
Shanghai area that was written down
toward the end of the 19th century, though
the tune itself is very likely older.
ERIC MOE
The Sun Beats the Mountain Like a Drum
(2004, World premiere)
For pipa and electroacoustic sound
The pipa is characterized as an instrument
by an extreme range of visceral performance gestures—notes bend like crazy,
strings can be twisted together, machinegun tremolos can strike at any moment.
The wild physicality of the instrument is
palpable, with an in-your-face presence.
For the pipa’s electroacoustic partner, I
looked for material that would emulate its
hyperexpressive power. I enjoy the tension
between digitally processed and raw sounds,
and I have a decided fondness for the latter.
Often the rawness is as much the result of
signal noise or the artifacts of digital processing as of the handmade or found-on-theground nature of the source. Such sounds
sometimes have blemishes but are not bland,
and they are often hairy but not airbrushed. I
have drawn from two distinct musical traditions and sound worlds. Some of the high
adventure of the piece lies in how these traditions collide, rebound and are transformed
and convoluted by one another.
The Sun Beats the Mountain Like a
Drum was composed at the Montana
Artists Refuge in July 2004, and it was
commissioned by the Fromm Foundation
for pipa virtuoso Wu Man. I gratefully
acknowledge the contributions of bluesman
huddie Ledbetter (leadbelly) and percussionist Michael Lipsey for samples that are
essential to the piece. Thanks also go to
M.J. Williams for the loan of her percussion instruments. The work is dedicated to
Wu Man, in admiration.—E.M
WANG HUIRAN
Dance of the Yi People (1960)
This arrangement is based on folk tunes of
the Yi minority people who live in southwestern China. Virtuosi techniques of the
pipa are displayed such as tremolos, strumming, sliding notes, and harmonics. The
music evokes the intoxicating nights on the
mountainside and the joyous gathering of
young people with lively dancing.
N OTE S
XIAO PU AN ZHOU (ADAPTED BY WU MAN)
Chanting of the Monk Pu An
(Classical)
Pu An was a Buddhist priest in the 12th
century who is said to have attained
enlightenment through the chanting of
sacred mantras. The first datable version of
the piece is in score for the Zither qin from
the late 16th century, and the first extant
pipa score in 1818. Wu Man has further
adapted it, including an effect which imitates the woodblock of the temples.
WU MAN
Collage (2000)
This was inspired by all the well-known
classical martial style pipa works. But it
almost sounds like a rock guitar piece.
—Intermission—
CHEN YI AND WU MAN
Ancient Dances
Three Poems by Li Bai (701–762)
For Pipa and Percussion (2005)
I.
Cheering (Riding on My Skiff)
Chen Yi
II. Longing (Night Thoughts)
Wu Man
III. Wondering (The Cataract of Mount Lu)
Chen Yi
Wu Man, pipa, Robert Schulz, percussion
Catherine Owens, videographer,
Larry Neff, lighting design and technical
adviser
Wu Man, concept
It’s a privilege to write a new work for my
friend, the pipa master Ms. Wu Man, to
perform in the 05/06 concert season. I
remember the first time we worked together
in 1991 when Wu Man premiered my solo
piece The Points on pipa, the age-old
Chinese traditional instrument, at the New
Work October concert series of Columbia
University in New York, presented by the
New Music Consort. She immediately
caught my attention with her adventurous
virtuosity and sensibility in the piece that
involved new musical concepts and language. I have been very happy to keep
track of her new experiments and success
in the music field since then. Again, in
2001, I composed a trio for her to play with
O N TH E
P RO G R A M
Yo-Yo Ma and Young-Nam Kim, commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of
Minnesota for the Hun Qiao project. Wu
Man loved the piece so much that she commissioned me to write another new work to
perform this time.
In Chinese cultural tradition, in which I
am deeply rooted, music is part of an
organic art form, along with poetry, calligraphy and painting. I am glad that Wu Man
suggested to have our new work performed
together with visual artists. We are going to
combine the art forms together in one. I got
my inspiration from three ancient poems,
which are drawn in Chinese calligraphy,
with exaggerated dancing lines and shapes
in layers of ink. The music is complemented by image projection of Chinese calligraphy according to the poems. The duet
Ancient Dances is written for pipa and a set
of percussion instruments (including woodblock, bongo, maracas, paddle castanets, a
pair of small bells, small Beijing Opera
gong, two pair of small Chinese cymbals—
naobo and suspended cymbal—and tabla).
It consists of three movements abstractly—
Cheering, Longing and Wondering, in
which the music represents various expressions, in different textures and tempos
(Allegro-Adagio-Moderato), inspired by
the text in the three Chinese poems by Li
Bai from Tang Dynasty: 1) Riding on My
Skiff; 2) Night Thoughts; and 3) The
Cataract of Mount Lu. The flying lines, as
like mysterious and vivid ancient dances,
bring the music, the calligraphy and the
painting all together in our work.
—Chen Yi
Commissioned by Walton Arts Foundation.
Educational and audience materials created by Walton Arts Center and the Center
for the Study of Early Asian and Middle
Eastern Musics, University of Arkansas.