Changyuan Liu: Dreamscapes Erhu Concerto
Erhu: Aiai Duan / Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, Tien-Ku Percussion Group / Chih-Sheng Chen / National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan, 2012.7.21.
This erhu piece was commissioned in 2011 by the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra. The title “Dreamscapes” can be interpreted in two ways: exposing the mystery of the different forms of dreams, or giving meaning to these dream phenomena, through music.
The entire work is divided into ten movements, to be played continuously, each describing a different dreamscape.
I. Musing Dream: memories returning in a dream;
II. Jubilant Dream: full of happiness;
III. Heartsick Dream: nostalgic yearning for one’s lover;
IV. Frightening Dream: the dream of fear and dread;
V. Struggling Dream: fighting to be freed from life’s powerful constraints, with loud cries;
VI. Melancholic Dream: the dream of sorrow, tears and sighs;
VII.Fantasy Dream: fantasy in a dream;
VIII.Lamenting Dream: sighing about the weariness of life;
IX. Leaping Dream: lively, and leaping in joy;
X. Half Dreaming: in a trance, but starting to awaken..?
(trans: KW Chan/A Ko/P Chan)
