Ge Gan-ru, the composer, was accepted as a violin student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1974 after being sent for 're-education' during the Cultural Revolution.
Composition History
The works on this album, 'Twelve Preludes' and 'Hard, Hard, Hard!', are world premiere recordings, while 'Ancient Music' and 'Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!' are considered significant by the composer.
Compositional Technique
The piece 'Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!' requires the performer to sing, narrate, stamp feet, and play sixteen different instruments from twelve families, including a toy piano and various toy instruments.
Performer Biography
Yiming Zhang, the pianist on this album, has dedicated himself to performing Chinese piano works since 2012, publishing books and compiling collections in the field.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Ge Gan-ru compares music with painting, aiming for abstract expression and unique acoustic effects rather than realistic portrayal, using themes to develop imagination and sentiment.
Historical Context
The pieces 'Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!' and 'Hard, Hard, Hard!' are based on poems by Lu You and Tang Wan, a married couple in the 12th century who were forced to separate due to parental objections.
Compositional Technique
Ge Gan-ru's 'Ancient Music' uses a prepared piano to mimic the timbres of four ancient Chinese instruments: Gong, Qin (Chinese zither), Pipa (Chinese lute), and Drum.
