Bamboo Dance II/Bamboo Dance
Chen Yi
About this work:
CHEN Yi: Bamboo Dance II for solo piano [1:40] (2013). Commissioned by the ABRSM (Publishing) Ltd for Spectrum 5 published in 2016, my solo piano work is inspired by the village Bamboo Dance in southern China. The aged old folk dance is for ritual ceremony and harvest celebration in the history, in which there are pairs of people holding the ends of the long bamboo rods and clapping them loudly in stable pulse, for groups of dancers to dance between the bamboo shapes on the floor, in musical rhythms and ensemble patterns. The pitch material of the piece (a descending seventh) is drawn from a folksong of Li People in Hainan Island where the Bamboo Dance is popular. The music of Bamboo Dance reflects the vivid image of the scene. There are moments with hand over hand crossings. The articulations and dynamic switches on the notes are important in this piece. Alt. version is called Bamboo Dance [2:04], also for solo piano, published by Theodore Presser Company.
Version: Solo PIano
Year composed: 2013
Duration: 00:01:40
Ensemble type: Keyboard
Instrumentation: