Si Ji (Four Seasons)

Yi Dance is my arrangement of a well-known Chinese pipa piece. The pipa and the guitar both originated in the Middle East. Yi Dance was composed in 1965 by a famous pipa player, Wang Huiran, and the music describes the joy of the Yi people (a minority race in China) on the night of the traditional Torch Festival. In this arrangement, I tried to express the Chinese character by imitating some of the pipa’s techniques—the original musical flavor—while retaining the rich sound of the guitar. Now living in Berlin, Carlo Domeniconi is a Italian guitarist and composer who spent many years living and teaching in Istanbul. We met at the Singapore Guitar Festival in 2002, where we spent some enjoyable time together. Soon after this, he decided to write a piece inspired by I Ching (the book of change). The I Ching occupies a special place among the world’s great books of philosophy. Not only is it one of the oldest books ever written, but it also depicts a view of the world which is completely out of the ordinary. Everything exists in a “state of change”—where time is the essence of life. I have chosen 6 of the 7 pieces from this suite, which Domeniconi finished for me in 2003. Carlo introduced me to a piece for this project written by his friend Dietmar Ungerank, an Austrian guitarist/composer. Since 1987, he has focused on his own lyrical compositions of which Intonation and Four Sound-and-Image Compositions to paintings by Xiaobai (Wuhan, China) is a typical example. Impressed by the paintings of Su, Ungerank transcribed four of his paintings into music using the Chinese pentatonic mode with a special tuning. In the last movement Land Circus he employs themes and motifs from a traditional Chinese melody. The four Sound-and–Image Compositions begin with an added Intonation. Gerald Garcia is an internationally renowned guitarist and composer with an oriental background. I first met him in Hong Kong when I was 14 and he has been a dear friend since my arrival in London. Mayila is the name of a beautiful girl who sings this delightful traditional song from the Xinjiang province. Gerald mixed western harmony and texture with this Xinjiang melody. The listener might hear it as a western piece, while Chinese people will immediately recognize this familiar melody. Heavenly Bird is a Fujian folk song, and Lantern Song is from the south of China. Both are miniatures from Songs of Oriental Children, arranged by the Japanese guitarist Shuko Shibata. I studied the piano for several years and as a guitarist, I am envious of the many beautiful Chinese works written for the piano. I have arranged a very important piece which I like very much. In 1934, the Russian composer/pianist Tehere-pnine organized a competition for collecting Chinese style compositions. Marking the first Chinese composition to be internationally recognized, Shepherd Boy with Flute for piano, by He Luting won the first prize. The composer used the European A-B-A form to compose this piece. The A section is the cheerful sound of the flute while the B section is a folk dance. His use of polyphony effectively enhances the Chinese melody of the flute. Both of Stephen Funk Pearson’s parents are musicians. He experimented with many instruments before finally deciding to devote his attention to the guitar. He studied philosophy, music, and composition at Vassar (USA). With an unusual musical background, Pearson has developed into a highly individual composer. When approached about this ‘China’ inspired album, he became very intrigued with the idea and contributed South China Sea Peace (2003). This piece is for solo prepared guitar. An additional saddle is placed on the fretboard under the strings, giving the guitar two sets of six strings—two different tunings and sounds at the same time. Some of the pitches are not perfect and this becomes part of the character of the piece. In fact, it is tricky to sight read from the score because of the two unusual tunings. As a result, I feel as though I'm playing a different instrument—my guitar sounds like a koto. Evan Hirschelman, originally from Michigan and now residing in California, turned to classical guitar after playing the electric guitar for many years. While maintaining a resemblance to the pipa tuning in the midrange and creating an oriental atmosphere, Evan’s ‘rock’ background is obvious in Three Meditations (2004) which he wrote for me. Two of the three movements are presented here. Number two is full of exotic harmonies—I imagine myself meditating while laying on a quiet beach. Steve Goss and I both graduated from the Royal Academy of Music and studied with the same teacher, Michael Lewin. Steve is now Head of Composition at the University of Surrey and his music has been performed worldwide. He is very interested in Chinese culture and seems to know more about Chinese films than I do. Raise the Red Lantern (2004), written for me, is a set of pieces based on films made by the first group of Chinese filmmakers in the 1980s and ‘90s to receive worldwide recognition. I have chosen three out of the five pieces for this recording and for the most part, the following are the composer’s comments about them: The Blue Kite, named after a 1993 film by Tian Zhuangzhuang, is about domestic tragedy during the Mao period. In the film, a young boy’s kite becomes a symbol of freedom and hope during difficult times. The music depicts the flight of the kite in the wind—always changing speed, always changing direction—moving in an erratic and unpredictable way as the boy tries to control it. Yellow Earth (1984) is a film by Chen Kaige, set in a feudal village. A young girl is about to be forced into marriage with an older man by family arrangement. When a soldier comes to visit the village to collect folk songs for the Red Army, he tells her of the great freedom the women of the south enjoy. After she asks him to take her along, he waits until he can get proper permission. But she can’t wait that long, so on the day after her marriage, she stages a disappearance at sea and finds her own way to freedom. Throughout the film the girl is too shy to sing to the soldier despite the fact that she has a beautiful voice. She sings a nostalgic song in her private moments—the soldier never hears it. This piece is based on this secret song. Farewell my Concubine is named after Chen Kaige’s 1991 film about the Beijing Opera. Drawing on material from the old style opera, Stephen uses a castanet and third string tuned down to G sharp to imitate the accompanying ensemble. In this opera, the King of Chu is completely surrounded by his enemy and all his men have deserted him. However, concubine Yu is faithful to the King until death. She finally commits suicide at the end of a thrilling sword dance. At the start of the 2004 new year, I received Four Seasons, a lovely suite written for me by Thierry Rougier, a guitarist whose music has been influenced by South America and the south of France where he lives. Having close contact with several Chinese instrumentalists, this music is inspired by the sound of the pipa, erhu, and sheng. He tried to imitate the colorful sound of these instruments while using a lot of guitaristic techniques in the Four Seasons. The four pieces are written in the shang mode (one of the Chinese pentatonic scales) with the 3rd string tuned down to F sharp. There are a lot of different sounds—an explosion of colors in Spring (Chung); Summer (Xia) has to be played using a special technique with the right hand playing harmonics while the left hand ‘hammers’ on the notes, creating a fresh and cool feeling of summer; In Autumn (Qiu), the trickiest thing is the very last note. The intentional buzz is an effect that I hope, leaves the listener imagining; Winter (Dong) recalls the previous themes. As I played it, I thought of an ancient poem from which my name Xuefei (dense snowfall) originates: “…long ago, when we started, the willows spread their branches, now as we look back, the snowflakes fall…” Christmas (2004), London Si Ji in Chinese is Four Seasons. We have chosen it to be the title of this ‘China’ inspired album. I hope this disc will leave you with an image of variety and diversity of colors, like the four seasons. As a musician, I feel a responsibility to communicate between different cultures and people through my music. As an artist from China, I would like to infuse the culture of my country in my music. As a guitarist, I hope to make a small contribution towards expanding the guitar repertoire, exploring new possibilities and enriching the techniques for the instrument. The guitar originated in the Middle East, halfway between China and the West. Chinese culture is refined, poetic, expressive and adaptable, like Chinese painting. These virtues can be usefully applied to the guitar. I was struck by the possibilities of the instrument after recording this CD—how ideas from the east have helped in exploring and enriching what is essentially western music. I make music from my heart as always, and I hope that you will respond in a similar way. Xuefei Yang, London (2004) My special thanks to: Carlo Domeniconi, Steve Goss, Even Hirschelman, Stephen Funk Pearson, and Thierry Rougier for writing these compositions for me; Dean, for his strong belief in my talent; Tong, for his wonderful photographs and constant support; John Williams and Kathy Panama for their kind help.  MUSICAL PIONEER Xuefei Yang is acclaimed as one of the world’s finest classical guitarists. Hailed as a musical pioneer - her fascinating journey began after the Cultural Revolution, a period where Western musical instruments & music were banned. Xuefei was the first-ever guitarist in China to enter a music school, & became the first internationally recogniZed Chinese guitarist on the world stage. Her first public appearance was at the age of ten and received such acclaim that the Spanish Ambassador in China presented her with a concert guitar. Her debut in Madrid at the age of 14 was attended by the composer Joaquín Rodrigo and, when John Williams heard her play, he gave two of his own instruments to Beijing’s Central Conservatoire especially for her and other advanced students. MUSICAL EDUCATION Xuefei was born in Beijing, & is a graduate of Beijing’s Central Conservatoire of Music, and went on to become the first Chinese musician to receive a full scholarship for postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she received the Principal’s Prize on completion of her postgraduate study. PROFESSIONAL CAREER Her international success has led her to be invited to play in more than 50 countries at numerous prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, all Southbank venues, and Royal Albert Hall in London, as well as the Philharmonie Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Auditorio Nacional de Espana, Barcelona Auditorium, Carnegie Hall & Lincoln Center New York. In Asia she has appeared at the National Concert Hall Taipei, Hong Kong City Hall & Cultural Center, Esplanade Singapore, Seoul Arts Centre and gave the first guitar recital and concerto in the Beijing National Center of Performing Arts. Xuefei has also been invited to perform at major music festivals such as BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Shanghai MISA Festival and the Beijing international Music Festival. In 2003 she performed 54 concerts for the “Night of the Proms” Tour, appearing in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, to a total audience of over 800,000 people. Xuefei is frequently invited to play with the world’s leading orchestras including Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Scotland National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, & Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, China Philharmonic. Xuefei’s recent highlights include return performances with the English Chamber Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Wintertour Philharmonic, debut performances with Beijing Symphony Orchestra, China National Orchestra giving the Asian premier of the The Albeniz Concerto written for Xuefei by Stephen Goss, and an Australian tour with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra which included performing the Australian premier of Tan Dun’s guitar concerto. Xuefei’s dedication as a recitalist will see her appear across the world throughout the season. Her engagements in the 2016/17 season include appearances in Melbourne, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, San Francisco, Frankfurt, London, Bath, Istanbul and concertos with the Seoul Philharmonic, HK Philharmonic, Beijing Symphony & Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester. Xuefei also continues her successful collaboration with the Heath Quartet. NEW REPERTOIRE Gramophone magazine praised Xuefei as one of the leading innovators of her generation for continuing to build the guitar repertoire. Xuefei is committed to commissioning new works and making her own arrangements, with a particular interest in adding Chinese music and chamber music, many of which have appeared on her recordings. Xuefei has received new works from composers such as Chen Yi, Stephen Goss, Timothy Salter, Carlo Domeniconi. This season sees her giving at least three world premiere performances. IN THE MEDIA Xuefei is one of the few guitarists whose artistry connect with audiences far beyond the guitar fraternity. She collaborates with an eclectic range of artists: classical musicians such as Jian Wang, Ian Bostridge, Rosalind Plowright, Sir James Galway, Elias String Quartet & the Heath Quartet; cross-over artist David Garrett. Xuefei has also appeared on numerous radio and television programs including BBC Radio 4’s Woman's Hour, the BBC Proms, a BBC documentary ‘The Story of Guitar’, and China Central Television, who made a biographical documentary on Xuefei, & are filming another this year. PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION The UK classical music magazine, Classic FM, named Xuefei as one of the 100 top classical musicians of our time. In recognition of her distinguished career, Xuefei was awarded ‘Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music’ in June 2012. Xuefei continues to be ambassador & role model for guitar in China, & from 2015 she is honored to be the artistic director of Changsha International Guitar Festival. Xuefei is now based in the UK.