NING
Chen Yi
About this work:
The mixed trio Ning is commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota, in collaboration with the Asian-American communities of Minnesota, with funding from the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University and the Hoeschler Fund of the St. Paul Foundation, for the concert Hun Qiao (Bridge of Souls – A Concert of Remembrance and Reconciliation), to commemorate the little-known Asian Pacific Conflict of World War II. Premiered by Young-Nam Kim, Yo-Yo Ma and Wu Man on 5/30/2001, at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN.
The Chinese character Ning is another name of the city Nanjing, the capital of China during the World War II. Ning also means serene and peaceful. Remembering so many horrible true stories told by my parents repeatedly with anger and passion, who experienced the Japanese invasion in China, I sincerely accepted the invitation from the CMSM last year, to compose a piece of music for "calling the soul back to a resting place", to remember the Asian Holocaust — 1937 Nanjing Massacre, and to look forward to the peace of the world in the future.
The music is composed in a dramatic shape, symbolizing the sound of atrocious violence and tragic scenes, hysteric crying and miserable sobbing, gripping meditation and illusive fantasy, performed on the bowing and plucking instruments, combining unique styles and performing techniques in the music of East and West, in an abstract form and texture.
Version: Violin, cello and pipa (Chinese lute)
Year composed: 2001
Duration: 00:15:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation:
Instrumentation notes: Violin, Cello and Pipa. Published by Theodore Presser Company [114-41133]