LIU Xue Xuan: Concerto No. 2 for Erhu and Piano
Erhu: KUO Ching-Tzu / Piano: WU Bing-Jen / Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra Young Performers Series [Blooming VII] / National Theatre and Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan / April 26, 2023 / Videos: Jacob Audio and Video Arts, Jacob Chang / Audio: Chao-Hui Wang http://littlegcco.com/
This concerto draws inspiration from the folk songs of the Tsou people of southern Taiwan, employing a theme that is transformed from a few elements. The opening erhu solo uses a combination of note patterns played lightly to evoke the echo of a valley. The three movements are played in a continuous flow. The first movement develops and continues with a minimal motive (D-E-E-F). As chord changes converge, a constantly shifting sonic palette emerges within a unified concept. The second movement contrasts the first’s constant shifts, offering a respite with a lullaby that becomes its central theme. The third movement awakens in a state of restlessness. A peculiar, fast-paced dance pattern in five-beat time, with a perpetual motion, gradually returns to its origins, fully revealing its intention to return to its roots. The piece concludes in a primal, passionate atmosphere. Although this piece incorporates ethnic elements, the composer sought to transcend the stereotypes of ethnic music and traditional Chinese music. He sought to achieve this by emphasizing that ethnic music could also be non-titled (pure music), and that non-titled music could also incorporate ethnic styles and colours. This is the uniqueness of ethnic instrumental music (traditional Chinese music), and the musical utopia that the composer yearns for most. This piece won the Silver Award in the Concerto Category of the 2003 Council for Cultural Affairs’ National Music Composition Awards.
The composer described his creative philosophy: “I used several Nanzou folk songs, which, after modification and distillation, became the motives for the entire piece. They appear several times in the first movement, but only as fragments, with a very lively and rapid rhythm, so they can only be found in quick memory. The lullaby in the second movement attempts to create a lasting impression, appearing repeatedly and very clearly, just to be remembered. The third movement basically disrupts the impression again, a five-beat perpetual dance, not wanting the audience to remember the melody, but rather an atmosphere, a passionate, primal atmosphere. These three movements are continuous. The composer Felix Mendelssohn used the same technique in his Violin Concerto in E Minor. I adopted this method to pay tribute to him, and it also symbolically echoes the concerto form.” This is the first movement of this performance.
(Edit: Patty Chan)
