Some of you may remember
that Zhou Long was one of the finalists
of the 1998 Masterprize Competition.
His Two Poems from Tang
then performed by Daniel Harding and
here committed to disc are in fact the
third and fourth movements of Poems
from Tang for string quartet
and orchestra. The culture of the Tang
Dynasty (AD 618-907) obviously means
much to Zhou who has composed a number
of pieces either setting poems from
that period or inspired by that culture,
such as From Tang Court
(2000) for Chinese instruments and orchestra,
recently recorded by the same forces
on BIS CD-1222 Oriental Landscapes,
reviewed here some time ago. This substantial
score, inspired by poems dating from
the Tang Dynasty, evokes the atmosphere,
moods and images suggested by the poems.
These are printed in the insert notes
(a very good idea, I say). They are
not overtly programmatic or picturesque.
Zhou works marvels, and his music is
by turns colourful, meditative, mysterious,
rhythmically alert and appropriately
inebriated (in the last movement Song
of the Eight Unruly Tipsy Poets).
He approaches his task with remarkable
subtlety aided by formidable flair for
arresting texture and a great rhythmic
variety. Contrary to that of, say, Takemitsu,
Zhou’s music is full of rhythmic vitality,
as is evident in The Rhyme of
Taigu and still more so in Da
Qu, a percussion concerto in
all but the name. Both pieces look still
further East and allude to the historical
and cultural cross-fertilisation that
impacted on ancient Chinese and Japanese
traditions. Taigu, an ancient
Chinese drumming tradition, later evolved
into Japanese taiku drumming,
whereas Da Qu alludes
to an ancient form of court music that
is the equivalent of the Japanese gagaku.
It is thus not surprising that percussion,
be it orchestral or soloist, plays an
important part in these impressive scores.
Rhythm is paramount, sometimes in a
fairly clear Stravinskian way, without
obscuring the more lyrical aspects.
As many of his contemporaries,
such as Chen Yi (who later became his
wife), Zhou was a victim of the so-called
Cultural Revolution, so that much of
his music is – in one way or another
– a reflection on this dreadful period
in modern Chinese history. The Cultural
Revolution’s main goal was to get rid
of the ancient cultural background,
but it nevertheless achieved a somewhat
different result, in that younger Chinese
composers, such as Chen Yi, Bright Sheng,
Qigang Chen and Zhou Long, to name but
a few, thoroughly explored their country’s
cultural past. This they did through
the prism of the modern musical techniques
they all managed to acquire in the West,
either in the States (Chen Yi, Zhou
Long, Bright Sheng) or in France (Qigang
Chen).
The last item The
Future of Fire for wordless
mixed chorus (or children’s chorus)
and orchestra, a short anthem based
on material from a Shaanxi love song,
depicts "[Zhou’s] memories of farmers
burning off dried grass to prepare the
land for planting, but losing control
of the flame". In his excellent
notes, Ken Smith sees this short piece
as a "vivid, if charitable, metaphor
for the Cultural Revolution". This
rousing, approachable work rounds off
this superb release in an optimistic
manner, "the powerful energy of
the younger generation and the passionate
hope for peace in the new millennium"
(the composer’s own words).
Zhou’s is a personal,
distinctive voice; and his beautifully
crafted music achieves a remarkable
synthesis of Western and Eastern musical
traditions with musically rewarding
results. Lan Shui conducts vital and
colourful readings of these attractive
scores by one of the most endearing
composers of his generation. BIS’s working
association with the Singapore Symphony
orchestra and Shan Lui has already yielded
some interesting results; but the present
release is, as far as I am concerned,
the finest so far.
Hubert Culot
Shanghai Quarteta; Jonathan Fox (percussion)b;
Philharmonic Chamber Choirc