Nai Chung Kuan’s Childhood Memories for dizi and piano. You can compare and contrast with the dizi and Chinese orchestral version from the Exploring Chinese Orchestral Repertoire Series #18. Both are performed by the same talented dizi soloist: Mei-Yu Shih (Ashley Shih).
Nai Chung Kuan: Childhood Memories
Dizi: Mei-Yu Shih / Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra / Chih-Sheng Chen / National Recital Hall, Taipei, Taiwan. 2012.6.24
Composer’s note: This is a variation based on Taiwan’s popular children’s folk song “Dark Sky”, or “Tianwuwu”. I worked and lived in Taiwan for five years in the 1990s. During that time, every weekend or holiday, I would drive to the forests in the mountains alone. I traveled almost every corner from north to south and loved Taiwan’s landscapes. What impressed me was how the warmth of human connections there reminded me of my childhood. Perhaps life amongst the mountains and rivers of Taiwan is simpler than in my hometown of Beijing. The song “Tianwuwu” touched my soul like “Little Water Buffalo”, which I sang when I was a child.
(Trans: Kiah Mok Goh / Edit: Patty Chan)
