I hope you’ll join me this afternoon on The Classical Network. Following today’s Noontime Concert, we’ll hear selections from the original version of Chinese-American composer Zhou Tian’s “Broken Ink.” Originally titled “Poems from the Song Dynasty,” the work received its US premiere (the world premiere of its revision) in a concert of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Rossen Milanov, this past weekend.
Zhou’s “Broken Ink” is a multi-movement meditation on Song Dynasty poetry, an important part of the cultural heritage of the composer’s native Hangzhou, explored through the means of a Western symphony orchestra. Zhou re-imagines the lost art of Classical Chinese poetry, a multidisciplinary form which was sung as much as it was spoken. (Increasingly, it also became tied to painting.) Though the melodies have been forgotten, the composer avoids interpreting the texts too scrupulously, choosing instead to reflect on their bittersweet nature, in a work full of touching melodies and driving rhythms.
Zhou’s “Viaje” for flute, cello and piano, written for Mimi Stillman’s Dolce Suono Ensemble, will be performed as part of a memorial concert in honor of composer Steven Stucky, at the Curtis Institute of Music’s Gould Hall at Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street, in Philadelphia, tonight at 7 p.m. More information is available at http://www.dolcesuono.com.
His “Grand Canal,” a work which incorporates traditional Chinese instruments and bears the influence of Chinese opera (and which was presented here by the PSO as part of its 2012-13 season), will be performed by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, in Columbus, OH, this weekend. You can find out more at http://www.columbussymphony.com.
Tune in this afternoon for the original version of Zhou Tian’s “Broken Ink.” It will be among my musical selections, between 2 and 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
