Percussion Concerto––"Kong Ling You" with Chamber Orchestra and Electronics
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Date
2020-12-08
Authors
Li, Tao
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
My percussion concerto is scored for percussion soloist, chamber orchestra, and electronics. It explores virtuosity of performance on both Chinese and Western percussion instruments, the timbral interplay between acoustic and electroacoustic sounds, and the art of storytelling in Chinese classical literature.
The narrative of this piece is drawn from the first five chapters of the Chinese Novel Journey to the West. This book was written by Wu Cheng’en in the Ming dynasty (C. 1592) and is considered to be one of the Four Wondrous Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The book is based on true historical events and characters and is deeply rooted in Chinese philosophy, religions, and ideology. This piece explores the early life of the main character of this book, Monkey King––from his birth from stone, through his obtaining of power from a Daoist master to go to the heaven world, and finally, to his interruption of an important gathering of gods, which culminates in a comical battle.
In my concerto, the character of Monkey King is portrayed by the percussion soloist. The interaction between the soloist and the orchestra represents the Monkey King and the world. The use of Peking opera gongs, bangu, dagu, and many musical and rhythmic materials are inspired by different parts of this story as they appear in Peking opera. In particular, bangu and gongs are the main instruments of the percussion set in the Peking opera orchestra, while fighting scenes are normally accompanied solely by the percussion set. The purpose of using fixed electronics is to provide extra musical and timbral elements through techniques such as spatialization, incredibly quick instrumental tempi, and the manipulation of the sound of human voice. These elements provide the audience with a multi-dimensional listening experience.
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Keywords
Chamber orchestra, Chinese classical literature, Chinese percussion instruments, Concerto, Electronics, Percussion