About this work:
The work was commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for the Biennial National Convention, Seattle, Washington, July 2000, premiered by Ms. Kimberly.Marshall as organ soloist, and Rainier Chamber Winds, conducted by its director Kathleen MacFerran on July 3, at the First Presbyterian Church, Seattle. Scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion, and solo organ. The imagination of this music came from the figures in the murals carved in the Mogao Caves in the ancient city Dunhuang more than a thousand years ago. The name Dunhuang originally meant "prospering, flourishing". Lying at the western end of the Gansu Corridor in China, Dunhuang was very important in the Silk Road that carried new thoughts, ideas, arts and sciences to the East and West in the ancient time. The Mogao Grottoes were built and developed over 11 dynasties over more than 1,000 years (from the 4th to 14th centuries), with murals, sculptures, wooden cave buildings and books. It was really the heyday of the art of Dunhuang in the brilliant Tang Dynasty (618-907). The murals depict rolling dance gestures, the flapping streamer lines, the flying melodies around the clouds, and the fiery rhythms in the sky! It shows the high spirit and the strong power of the people and their society. All these impressions are translated into the textures of my organ solo part and the wind ensemble sound. It's mysterious, vivid, colorful and energetic, it brings us to dream of the ancient glory and yearn for the future... Dunhuang Fantasy is available on Bis [1352], performed by Kim Marshall and Singapore Symphony, Cond. by Lan Shui, released in 2003, distributed by Qualiton in the States. It could also be found from checking into or . For further information, please contact: Theodore Presser Company <https://www.presser.com/chen-yi?p=2>