The travelling Chinese orchestra : for solo piano

    Research output: Creative WorksComposition

    Abstract

    This short descriptive piece came from a visit to a Chinese restaurant in Canberra, the menu of which was printed on pages from an Asian arts magazine. My menu pictured eight Chinese earthenware musicians on horseback from the Tang dynasty 618-907. All of the mounted musicians, maybe from Shaanxi or neighbouring areas, have moustaches and are strikingly dressed in beige hoods, red robes, with red trousers tucked into black boots. There are two drummers with their drumsticks, one musician playing the fife (dizi), one playing the flute (xiao), another the transverse flute (yuè), one on pan-pipes (paixiao), one on harp (konghou) and one on mouth organ (sheng). When a travelling Chinese orchestra is passing through, the drums then the cymbals are heard in the distance, sounding out of the silence. Next, the high woodwind ring out. As the orchestra moves closer the melody is heard, the pitch rising gradually until the players are present, playing at full volume. The melody, using an old Chinese scale, is accompanied by the percussion. As the orchestra rides past, the pitch of the melody drops a little and as the distance increases, eventually only the high woodwind and finally drums can be heard.
    Original languageEnglish
    Place of PublicationGrosvenor Place, N.S.W.
    PublisherWirripang Pty Ltd
    Size1 musical score, 5 pages, 140 seconds
    Publication statusPublished - 2010

    Keywords

    • musicians
    • orchestra
    • Chinese
    • piano music

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