Ge, Gan-Ru: String Quartets No. 1, "Fu", No. 4, "Angel Suite" and No. 5, "Fall of Baghdad" (Modernworks)

Featuring

Airi Yoshioka
Mayuki Fukuhara
Veronica Salas
Madeleine Shapiro
ModernWorks
Gan-Ru Ge

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Composer Biography

During the Cultural Revolution, Ge Gan-Ru was assigned to an unusual ensemble of violin, saxophone, bamboo and western flutes, pi'pa, and accordion to entertain workers.

Composition History

Ge Gan-Ru's 1982 work Yi Feng (Lost Style) for 'radically detuned' solo cello is considered the opening salvo in the Chinese musical avant-garde.

Composer Biography

Ge Gan-Ru's childhood violin studies were interrupted by the Cultural Revolution, during which he was sent to a labor camp to plant rice.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Ge Gan-Ru aims to combine contemporary Western compositional techniques with Chinese musical characteristics to create a unique and individual sound world.

Performer Biography

ModernWorks, the ensemble on this recording, was founded in 1997 by cellist and concert producer Madeleine Shapiro to focus on recent string repertoire.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded at St Anne's Church, Toronto, between May 12-14, 2008.

Composer Biography

Ge Gan-Ru's experience making musical arrangements for an unusual ensemble during the Cultural Revolution was crucial to his development as a composer.