Guo Wenjing | |||||||
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Chinese | 郭 文 景 | ||||||
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Guo Wenjing (born 1 February 1956,in Chongqing) is a Chinese composer and educator. [1] [2]
Guo Wenjing is a contemporary Chinese composer. Unlike many Chinese composers who have studied and lived in other countries,he has only studied in Beijing. He has lived and worked in his home country for nearly his entire life with the exception of a short period of time living in New York. However,over the years he has had many works commissioned around the world. He and his music have appeared at the Beijing Music Festival,Edinburgh Festival,Hong Kong Arts Festival,Holland Music Festival,New York Lincoln Center Festival,Paris Autumn Festival,Perth International Arts Festival,Almeida Theatre (London),Frankfurt Opera (Germany),Konzerthaus Berlin (Germany),Kennedy Center (Washington),as well as Turin,Warsaw,etc. In addition,he is contracted by CASA RICORDI-BMG and the first composer to be contracted by People's Music Publishing House. His music has been given high praise both at home and abroad by The New York Times,Le Monde,The Guardian,People’s Music,etc.1
He began attending the Central Conservatory of Music, [3] Beijing in 1978,the year of that institution's reopening,and later served as the head of the composition department there;he remains on the faculty.
He has composed for both Western and Chinese instruments. His works include concertos for erhu and bamboo flute,and an opera based on the life of the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai. [2] He composed the score to several films,including Blush (1995), In the Heat of the Sun (1994),and Zhang Yimou's Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005).
Guo's music is published by Casa Ricordi. It has been performed by the Nieuw Ensemble,Atlas Ensemble,Cincinnati Percussion Group,Kronos Quartet,Arditti Quartet,Ensemble Modern,Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra,Göteborg Symphony Orchestra,China Philharmonic Orchestra,Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra,and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Guo Wenjing's music is filled with the spirit of humanism and has many oriental features.
His chamber opera Wolf Cub Village (1994) was created based on Lu Xun’s short story "Diary of a Madman". This opera’s libretto,written in Chinese,exaggerated the features of Mandarin pronunciation. This exaggerated pronunciation expresses the bleak mood and recalcitrant spirit of the opera quite vividly,strongly,and impressively. Le Monde compared his “masterpiece of madness”to Berg's Wozzeck and Shostakovich's The Nose.2 [2]
The opera,Night Banquet,based on the story written by Zou Jingzhi,a Chinese playwright. The author was inspired by Night Revels of Han Xizai ,a court figure painting of the Southern Tang dynasty. In the opera,Guo Wenjing has combined features of Italian opera and characteristics of ancient Chinese humanities perfectly. It has been performed in China,Europe,Russia,and the United States.
In the opera,Feng Yi Ting,Guo Wenjing added several Chinese traditional instruments and the elements from Peking opera and Sichuan opera into the western orchestra and opera format. The Charleston Post and Courier reviewed that “Feng Yi Ting plays like a traditional Chinese theater piece. On one level,that is,because on another very interesting level,it offers a deeper,poignant perspective on tradition vs. transition,on cross-pollination of cultures,on the age of globalization itself.”3 In the article “All the World On a Stage In America”by The New York Times,the opera was described as using “both Chinese and Western approaches to timbre,melody and hormone,oscillating between the styles and combining them with dazzling fluidity. …”4
His other opera works,Poet Li Bai ,Mu Guiying,and Hua Mulan,also use Mandarin librettos and focus on exploring the possibility and potential of combining Chinese art and Western opera.
Apart from his opera,he has created many fabulous compositions in different genres,such as chamber music and symphony.
His chamber music,Drama (1995) for three percussionists was written to sound like a Chinese drama. Although there are three percussionists,it uses only one type of percussion instrument,the Chinese cymbals. The composer innovated many creative articulations for three pairs of Chinese cymbals. Furthermore,he requires performers to speak and sing as well.
Chou Kong Shan is Guo Wenjing's concerto for Chinese bamboo flute. This work is a large-scale Chinese instrument concerto. It has three movements and requires three kinds of bamboo flutes,one for each movement. Each movement has a distinct personality and uses the distinct timbre of each flute to express its personality. It also plays an important role in promoting the development of the instrument and its performance techniques.
Shu Dao Nan (1987) is a symphonic poem by Guo Wenjing inspired by Li Bai's poetry. Shu includes the Sichuan province and modern day Chongqing of China,Guo Wenjing's hometown. The piece features regional and cultural factors such as Sichuan folk music.
Guo Wenjing has also composed many film scores (examples). Additionally,he is featured in the music composed for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The music of China consists of many distinct traditions,often specifically originating with one of the country's various ethnic groups. It is produced within and without the country,involving either people of Chinese origin,the use of traditional Chinese instruments,Chinese music theory,or the languages of China. It includes traditional classical forms and indigenous folk music,as well as recorded popular music and forms inspired by Western culture.
The music of Taiwan reflects the diverse culture of Taiwanese people. Taiwan has undergone several economic,social,and political changes through its cultural history,and Taiwanese music reflects those issues in its way. The music of the country has adopted a mixed style. As a country rich in Chinese folk culture and with many indigenous tribes with their own distinct artistic identity,various folk music styles are appreciated in Taiwan. In addition,people in Taiwan highly appreciate various style of Western classical music and pop music. Taiwan is a major Mandopop hub.
Tan Dun is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music,he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences,a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and music. Having collaborated with leading orchestras around the world,Tan is the recipient of numerous awards,including a Grawemeyer Award for his opera Marco Polo (1996) and both an Academy Award and Grammy Award for his film score in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon (2000). His oeuvre as a whole includes operas,orchestral,vocal,chamber,solo and film scores,as well as genres that Tan terms "organic music" and "music ritual."
The dizi,is a Chinese transverse flute. It is also sometimes known as the di or héngdi,and has varieties including Qudi,Bangdi,and Xindi. It is a major Chinese musical instrument that is widely used in many genres of Chinese folk music,Chinese opera,as well as the modern Chinese orchestra. The dizi is also a popular instrument among the Chinese people as it is simple to make and easy to carry.
The ruan is a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck,a circular body,and four strings. Its four strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel. The modern ruan has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string,which has greatly expanded its range from a previous 13 frets. The frets are commonly made of ivory or in recent times of metal mounted on wood. The metal frets produce a brighter tone as compared to the ivory frets. It is sometimes called ruanqin,particularly in Taiwan.
Chen Yi is a Chinese-American composer of contemporary classical music and violinist. She was the first Chinese woman to receive a Master of Arts (M.A.) in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Chen was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition Si Ji,and has received awards from the Koussevistky Music Foundation and American Academy of Arts and Letters,as well as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2010,she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The New School and in 2012,she was awarded the Brock Commission from the American Choral Directors Association. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2019.
Qu Xiao-Song is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music.
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Malaysian contemporary music is an artistic phenomenon within Malaysia that has its roots in the 1980s with pioneer composers like Valerie Ross. However,little information about that period exists in written sources. The genre gained visibility and momentum only in the new millennium due to the internet phenomenon,and in 2002 in particular,when the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) programmed several works by Malaysian composers,namely Chong Kee Yong's Echoed Dream (2002),Sunetra Fernando's 'Wayang' (2002) and Tazul Izan Tajuddin's Sebuah Tenunan III (2003). They represent the first local commissions by a professional symphony orchestra in the country. Interest in orchestral music by Malaysian composers grew and when the orchestra held its first Forum For Malaysian Composers in 2003 the event was a triumph for the local music scene.
Zhou Yi is a Chinese pipa player.
Xu Ying is a Chinese librettist.
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1. Chinaculture, Guo Wenjing.
2. Ibid.
3. The Post And Courier, Review: 'Feng Yi Ting' a wonder of culture, sound and story.
4. The New York Times, All the World On a Stage In America.