The name 'pipa' originally came from the sound ('pi' and 'pa') made by the forward and backward plucking motion used to play all lute-like instruments in ancient China.
Composer Biography
Bright Sheng, the composer, studied composition and conducting with Leonard Bernstein, a renowned American composer and conductor.
Performer Biography
Wu Man, the pipa virtuoso on this album, is cited by the Los Angeles Times as 'the artist most responsible for bringing the pipa to the Western world'.
Composer Biography
Bright Sheng, the composer, worked for seven years as a pianist and percussionist in a folk music and dance troupe in Qinghai Province near the Tibetan border during the Cultural Revolution.
Composer Biography
Bright Sheng, the composer, was among the first students accepted by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music after universities reopened in China in 1978, following the Cultural Revolution.
Performer Biography
The Shanghai Quartet, featured on this album, is praised by The Strad as 'a foursome of uncommon refinement and musical distinction' and brings the delicacy of Eastern music to Western repertoire.
Instruments
The pipa, a lute-like Chinese classical instrument played by Wu Man on this album, has a history dating back over two thousand years.
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