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- Tan Dun
Concerto for Six (1997)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
- bcl, egtr, prep pf, perc, vc, db
- 12 min
- 21st April 2024, Shindell Choral Hall, New Brunswick, NJ, United States of America
Programme Note
Composer Note:
A playful, dance-like piece, Concerto for Six evokes the joy of a village ritual. Traces of classical Chinese instrumental music are nonetheless evident in this one-movement work, which is constructed as a set of variations upon the number series 7-6-5-4-3-2-1. This numerical sequence governs the piece’s metrical scheme and affects its rhythm and tempo, as well. (In fact, the musicians’ chanting of “Qi-Liu-Wu-Si-San-Er-Yi” is Chinese for “Seven-Six-Five-Four-Three-Two-One.”) In contrast with this strict formal structure are cadenzas and sections of free improvisation for each of the six players, as one might expect in a concerto.
— Tan Dun
A playful, dance-like piece, Concerto for Six evokes the joy of a village ritual. Traces of classical Chinese instrumental music are nonetheless evident in this one-movement work, which is constructed as a set of variations upon the number series 7-6-5-4-3-2-1. This numerical sequence governs the piece’s metrical scheme and affects its rhythm and tempo, as well. (In fact, the musicians’ chanting of “Qi-Liu-Wu-Si-San-Er-Yi” is Chinese for “Seven-Six-Five-Four-Three-Two-One.”) In contrast with this strict formal structure are cadenzas and sections of free improvisation for each of the six players, as one might expect in a concerto.
— Tan Dun