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THE BOOK OF SONGS
Zhou Long has inherited the great tradition of Chinese poetry, stretching back to antiquity. The poems he sets to music are diverse — Li Bai and Tu Fu, famous from the Tang Dynasty; Li Qing-zhao, the best-known woman poet of the Song Dynasty; and ancient canonical works such as Li Sao and The Book of Songs. It can be said that Zhou Long's choices reflect not only his artistic taste but also crucial aspects of his inner self. Li Bai's uninhibited declarations and wry humour — welling up as they do from a tragic sense of isolation — and his determination to create a new lyrical rhetoric, clearly resonate with Zhou. And Qu Yuan's spiritual journey, expressed through the wandering poet's frenzied rhythms and themes of urgency, is a cogent symbol of the virtuous and selfless individual in exile, inspirational to the composer.
ZHOU LONG LAN RAO, soprano Shi Jing Cantata (1990) 13:59 Poems from The Book of Songs (11th - 6th Century BC) [ 1.] I. Guan Ju (Ospreys) 4:51 [ 2.] II. Tao Yao (Peach Tree) 3:17 [ 3.] III. Fou Yi (Gathering Plantain) 1:30 [ 4.] IV. Han Guang (Spacious Han) 4:19 Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Geoffrey Simon conductor [ 5.] Pipa Ballad (1991) 11:39 Poem by Ba Ju-yi (772-846) [ 6.] Konghou Fantasia (1995) 5:40 Poem by Li He (790-816) Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Geoffrey Simon conductor [ 7.] A Poetess's Lament (1989/2000) 5:41 Poem by Li Qing-zhao (1084-1151) [ 8.] Green Song (1984/1991) 9:20 Li Sao Cantata (1988) 11:39 Poem by Qu Yuan (340-278 BC) [ 9.] I. Gu Yu (Swiftly I sped) 3:59 [10.] II. Ri Yue (The days and months hurried on) 2:50 [11.] III. Ai Min (Long I sighed) 2:00 [12.] IV. Wei Zi (They have cast off their beauty) 2:40 Muhai Tang conductor |
