Cho-Liang Lin, Singapore SO, Lan Shui - Chen Yi: Momentum (2003)

Chen was China's first woman to be awarded a master's degree in composition; she often incorporates Chinese instruments and melodies in her music. Born in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, Chen Yi (b. 1953) learned the violin at a young age and continued to play the instrument up to her graduate student years at Columbia University in the late 1980s. In fact, during the Cultural Revolution, Chen had continued to practise the violin even after having been sent to the countryside. By the early 1970s, she had returned to the city where she served as violinist with the local operatic troupe. All of these experiences provided inspiration for the compositions featured on this CD, whether in borrowed operatic and folk tunes, calligraphic gestures, huqin fiddling techniques, imitative sonorities of Chinese traditional instruments (sheng, suona, xiao or qin), inventive use of percussion, or in the vivid depiction of nature. Chen has lived and breathed Chinese operatic tradition and folk culture for decades, while at the same time steeping herself in the study of the Western canon of music.

Momentum for full orchestra (1998) is study of contrasts inspired, in the composer's words, 'by the power of ancient totems, the tension of breathing lava (before it breaks up to flow), and the gesture of exaggerated dancing lines in Chinese calligraphy'. While the mood swings from calm to explosive several times in the span of thirteen minutes, the piece's most striking feature is a melodic eloquence in the winds and strings that pushes modality to the boundaries of atonality. The melodic shape is especially prominent in the violin cadenza and flute/piccolo solos in the middle section, as various orchestral sections evoke tunes reminiscent of Chinese operatic tune-types and pile them one upon another. While the strings represent the ethereal that is sometimes excited by the incandescent winds, the large battery of percussion becomes a counterweight to the entire orchestra. Written during Chen's tenure as a professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and dedicated to the Peabody Symphony Orchestra and its music director Teri Murai, Momentum was premiered by the dedicatees at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in May 1998.

Chen's Chinese Folk Dance Suite (2000) is a violin concerto in all but name. The first movement, Lion Dance (drawn from Cantonese and Chaozhou melodic fragments), is boisterous, with festive percussion throughout. The violin leads the way in the celebration, with angular motifs in the main theme and dotted rhythms, dance-like and energetic, imitating the suona, a Chinese wind instrument that is best described as a hybrid of the Western trumpet and oboe. The second movement, YangKo, requires members of the orchestra to recite non-pitch syllables in various layers, creating a subtly changing rhythmic fabric on which the solo violin balances lyricism and virtuosity. The scene is a distant parade (where dancers beat drums hanging from their waists), and the composer `imagines a beautiful girl singing a sweet melody' close by. Gradually, instruments join the violin toward a blissful coda. Muqam, named after traditional Uighur music and dance from Xinjiang province, adapts fragments of folk tunes and characteristic sliding tones to Western string technique. The underlying rhythmic ostinato in 7/8-time makes the dance irresistibly lilting, while the final violin cadenza (based on a well-known folk-song describing a summer desert romance, in which a weary traveller is entranced by a beautiful Uighur maiden) incorporates improvisational and bravura singing styles inherent in the region's narrative folk tradition. Chen's Chinese Folk Dance Suite was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation and the Women's Philharmonic, premiered by Terrie Baune, conducted by Apo Hsu, on 10th March 2001, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco. It is dedicated to the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky.

The Dunhuang Fantasy for organ and wind ensemble (1999), inspired by the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) trading city, represents the composer's reflections on the pinnacles of multicultural interaction along the ancient Silk Road. Inspired by the visual brilliance of images in the Mogao Grottos, with the 'rolling dance gestures, flapping streamer lines, flying melodies around the clouds, and fiery rhythms in the sky', Chen translates these visual extravaganzas into wide-ranging organ textures, melodies and harmonies that imitate the sheng (mouth pipe organ). The wind ensemble articulates the evolving sections, enriching the colourful, dreamlike sonorities befitting the visual feast of demigods and flying beauties — some of whom hold sheng-like instruments — in the elaborate caves. The work was commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for the Biennial National Convention in Seattle, Washington. It was premiered by Kimberly Marshall and the Rainier Chamber Winds conducted by Kathleen MacFerran on 3rd July 2000 at the First Presbyterian Church, Seattle.

Similar to the Chinese Folk Dance Suite where the solo violin imitates the suona, the Romance and Dance for two violins and string orchestra (1995/98) imitates other traditional instruments. The Romance movement was originally entitled 'Romance of Hsiao and Ch'in', as the two violins imitate the vertical bamboo flute (hsiao / xiao) and plucked seven-string zither (ch'in / qin). A lyrical work that is poetic and elegant, it was dedicated to Yehudi Menuhin for his 80th birthday. The Dance was adapted from the third movement of Chen's Fiddle Suite, commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation, capturing the intensity and earnestness of broad Chinese calligraphic strokes, while borrowing tune-types and melodic motifs from Beijing opera. The original Fiddle Suite was written for string quartet and huqin (two-stringed Chinese fiddle), with fiddling technique borrowed from the huqin and emphatic strokes that befit operatic vocal embellishments.

Tu (Chinese for 'burning', 'poison', and 'fiery') was written in the summer of 2002, barely a year after the World Trade Center tragedy (also known as 9/11) and is dedicated to the memory of the New York fire-fighters who lost their lives on that fateful day. The work opens with siren-like, stop-and-start gestures, until a woodblock ostinato steadies the rhythm, acting as the backdrop to the fiery intensity of strings and woodwinds in their highest registers. A rhythmic motif of 9+1+1 pervades Tu, while Chen's broad strokes and sweeping orchestral gestures capture the courage and utter immensity of human loss. The central 'eye of the storm' is not necessarily terrifying and ominous; it also signifies acceptance of mortality and loss. The ending returns to emphatic gestures, resolute and hopeful of the composer's faith in freedom. The work was commissioned by the Women's Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra for the New Millennium Fanfare project, with funding provided by the US National Endowment for the Arts in 2000.

This release, alongside the recent Albany Records performance of her Cello Concerto, has convinced me that Chen Yi is a truly gifted composer of wide ranging expressiveness, with a distinctive voice. Not everything on this disc rises to the same level (a matter of individual taste in any case), but there's no question that Chen has something to say and abundant means at her disposal with which to say it. The more obviously folk - influenced works have something in common with Bartók, at least to the extent that Chen's recourse to popular idioms never compromises her modernity or personal style, and that's saying a lot considering the fact that she's working within a musical tradition in which tacky and sentimental “ Orientalism ” often produces the musical equivalent of a cute little Chinese parasol atop a very Western cocktail.

The Chinese Folk Dance Suite, a violin concerto in all but name, has the same rugged integrity as Bartók's Dance Suite, and its earthy, vigorous outer movements project a passionate strength that (as with Bartók) sounds far truer to Chen's original sources of inspiration than many more highly refined efforts. Similarly, the Dunhuang Fantasy for organ and chamber wind ensemble, after a grindingly dissonant opening for the soloist, settles down to what brings to mind the opening of The Miraculous Mandarin, with whooping brass and a leaping, two - note figure very close to the titular character's own leitmotif. By contrast, Romance and Dance is sweetly lyrical but never cloying, and all three soloists play with commitment and care, particularly violinist Cho - Liang Lin in the suite.

Momentum is 13 minutes of very effective orchestration, perhaps recalling Varèse but in a style very much Chen's own, with its characteristic opposition of very high violins and very low brass and percussion. The music's overall curve of tension and release is very well plotted, and particular credit must go to the violin section of the Singapore Symphony for phrasing some very long and expressively rich unison passages with particular confidence and unanimity. A passionate string threnody also figures prominently as the central musical idea of Tu, though here I find the musical tension less well sustained after the violent opening, despite some evocative writing for the harp. On the other hand this dark and angry work, dedicated to the New York firefighters who died on 9/11, is about a million times more effective than John Adams' tribute to that terrible day, and Chen's emotional directness and lack of pretense is very refreshing.

As suggested above, the performances sound uniformly excellent, with the music's intensity and lyrical eloquence well sustained, while the sonics are simply tremendous. I also feel I must share with you a very interesting experience with this disc that I had just before writing this review. Ordinarily I would add my usual caution about the music's comparatively high level of dissonance and occasionally athematic textures not being for all tastes, but it happened that a friend of mine was over as I was listening to this for the third or fourth time, and he enjoyed it hugely. He isn't into classical music at all but nevertheless found much of Chen's work very exciting and ear - catching (particularly the percussion fusillades in Momentum and Tu), and so it is. Perhaps I more accurately should say that it's not for “ refined ” tastes, and that strong music sometimes demands strong ears. So try this and give yours a good workout. It can only be healthy.

Review by David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

Chen Yi (b. 1953) is not as well-known as Tan Dun, but in my opinion she is a far better composer. Granted, her music is not for everyone; those who don't like dissonant contemporary music won't like it. Chen Yi's aesthetic is based on something of a yin/yang idea, bringing Western dissonances and contemporary rhythmic techniques to play with traditional pentatonic melodies and rhythms from her home country. She omits, at least on this CD, the Western pop and Hollywood cliches that Tan Dun includes, and so her music seems to me more athletically lean, more pure, and more ferocious. Both the Dunhuang Fantasy for organ and chamber winds and the Chinese Folk Dance Suite begin uncompromisingly, with aggressive dissonances and sharply disjunct lines, only later revealing the Chinese melodies on which they are nominally based. The final movement of the Folk Dance Suite is far more melodic from the first notes, and uses modes of middle Eastern origin in a very appealing fashion–perhaps this will be the most accessible track on the CD. Tu, the final piece on the CD and the most recent of these works, is a memorial to the New York firefighters who lost their lives in the destruction of the World Trade Center. The program notes describe it as ending with 'emphatic gestures, resolute and hopeful of the composer's faith in freedom." I must admit that I have trouble hearing it that way; the extended note in the low strings seems to me less hopeful and more full of promise for future calamity. Nevertheless, it's a very moving and emotional piece; superbly crafted and conceived.

Review by Dr. Christopher Coleman, Amazon.com

Cho-Liang Lin, violin (2-4, 6-7)
Yi-Jia Susanne Hou, violin (6-7)
Kimberly Marshall, organ (5)
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Lan Shui, conductor

Recording data: 2002-11-17/23 at the Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore


Tracklist:

01. Momentum for orchestra (1998) [13'12]

Chinese Folk Dance Suite for violin and orchestra (2000)
02. I. Lion Dance. Energetically [3'32]
03. II. YangKo. Elastically [4'36]
04. III. Muqam. Fierily [7'39]
05. Dunhuang Fantasy for organ and chamber wind ensemble (1999) [14'06]

Romance and Dance for two violins and string orchestra (1995/1998)
06. I. Romance of Hsiao and Ch'in [3'59]
07. II. Dance [4'11]
08. Tu for orchestra (2002) [13'07]