In the Steppes of Central Asia following: an invitation to travel by Bright Sheng

Since taking Debussy's passion for gamelan in the exhibition Universal in 1889, since "Pagodas" and "And the moon descends on the temple that was" of the same, since the chief doeuvre Asia in the quest Scheherazade by Ravel (and "my beautiful Chinese Coffee "in Lenfant and spells), from the sensual Tragedy of Salome by Florent Schmitt and Persian hours Koechlin, from Turangalila Dolivier Messiaen, there is in" our "music as a dOrient desire, more or less close more or less distant. So when composers born a little more to the East, Takemitsu in Tan Dun, make the opposite way, this is something that should neither surprise nor shock and must judge by.

Born in Shanghai in 1955 and moved to New York, Bright Sheng was particularly lélève Leonard Bernstein and inevitably the huge Chou Wen-Chung Wen-ChungChou: Echoes From The Gorge. This disc brings together three of his orchestral works, performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic, led by the composer.

"The song and dance of tears" (2003, revised 2013) has as its starting point, says the composer, music collected in the mountains and deserts of the ancient Silk Road. Introduction ecstatic, in the spirit of Hovhaness and furious allegro and poignant farewell, this is a musical impressions of the trip, rich in exotic instrumental colors. Appear as soloist the sheng, a mouth organ, and pipa, which belongs to the lute family. Alliance between the woods of the orchestra, piano, and these traditional Chinese instruments is very happy. A piece certainly influenced by a US symphonic but goes beyond the quaint, a bit like the pieces of Kodaly managed to bring folklore in the concert hall without distorting it. The sound, in addition, gives a lot of presence and relief to the result.

"Colors of Crimson" (2004) is written for solo marimba and orchestra, marimba with Bright Sheng made a far less tiresome use than many of its peers. The piece is written for the famous virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie. You did not know that Messiaen was a Chinese adopted son? You can not ignore it.

The blazing Mirage (2012) for string ensemble with principal cello, is inspired by the famous Buddhist caves of Dunhuang (or Mogao). Although Yo-Yo Ma to louvrage seen, but with the soloist on this recording, Trey Lee, we didnt regret.

We often present the contemporary world as a globalizing uniformity where everything flows would become ordinary, odorless, colorless and tasteless, forms of expression "loss didentité", destruction of local traditions, like the identity wasnt , today as yesterday, something that is built, or rebuilt, rather quun quon heritage property is spread more or less good condition, like an old piece of furniture. The question does therefore not trivial: are Chinese composers with the baggage of a western dune henchmen standardized culture where some folklore floats amidst a musical soup boilerplate? Play an awesome piece like "The song and dance of tears," this is to convince that this is not the case at all.