Peixun Chen: Flowing Water

Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, Tien-Ku Percussion Group / Chih-Sheng Chen / National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan 2010.2.6

The creation of this work was inspired by the ancient guqin piece: “Flowing Water”. The composer used the imagery of flowing water to express his passion towards the rivers and mountains of his homeland. The melody has a lyrical theme that depicts the sounds and movement of the gurgling water. The turbulent waves and the endless streams leads to the climax of the work. Through his musical description of the relentless flowing water and billowing waves, the composer praises the beauty of his homeland. Both the introduction and the ending are heavy, solemn and serious, highlighting the scene of mountains with their majestic peaks reaching the clouds. As it was written in a poem: “Mountains and hills of thousands of feet, Cliffs and gorges under the westerly wind, Streams and rivers are ever flowing, All the water leads to the East.”

(Translation: Anthony Ko / Edit: Patty Chan)