THE MUSIC OF ALEXANDER TCHEREPNIN AND THE ART OF XU BEIHONG 徐悲鸿
Xu Beihong (1895-1953), Six Galloping Horses, ink and color on paper, 95.5 x 180cm, 1942, Xu Beihong Memorial Museum
Conductor Jindong Cai at the 2021 China Now Music Festival. Photo: Karl Rabe
The fifth annual China Now Music Festival concludes with a program highlighting the aesthetic crosscurrents between East and West in the early-mid 20th century, including symphonic works in honor of the great painter Xu Beihong (1895-1953), and a rarely performed chamber opera by Russian composer Alexander Tcherepnin (1899-1977). Jindong Cai conducts the Orchestra of the New Asia CMS, with guest soloists including pianist Xu Fangfang, the daughter of Xu Beihong.
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EAST
OF WEST
OCTOBER 7-22
2022
A Musical Journey of East-Meets-West
In the swirling, creative atmosphere of the early 20th Century, a blind street musician composes one of the most beloved works of Chinese music, and becomes a legend. A young artist leaves his home in China to study in Paris, and later returns to revolutionize the tradition of Chinese ink painting with horses that seem to gallop off the page, and everyday animals that symbolize the heroic struggle of an entire nation. A Russian composer living in China writes a chamber opera based on a Chinese folk tale, with a libretto in French. He encourages his Taiwan-born protégée to return to China from Japan to make a name for himself in the burgeoning classical music scene. The young composer goes on to write a moving tribute to his homeland and, later on, a piano concerto for a young pianist in honor of her father, the artist trained in Paris who paints horses that look like they are galloping right off the page.
Follow this journey in a program of music that transcends place and time, and reminds us that through music and art we can cross borders and overcome boundaries.
PROGRAM
Abing, arr. Wu Zuqiang 阿炳, 吴祖强
The Moon Reflected on Erquan Pond (1949/1979)
二泉映月
Alexander Tcherepnin
The Nymph and the Farmer - a chamber opera (1952)
仙女与农夫
Lucy Fitz Gibbon, soprano; Yi Li, tenor
INTERMISSION
Jiang Wenye 江文也
Taiwan Dance (1936)
台湾舞曲
Jiang Wenye 江文也
Piano Concerto Xu Beihong's Color-And-Ink Paintings (1964)
钢琴协奏曲 “徐悲鸿的彩墨画”
Mvt III. Rooster Crowing in the Rain—Recalling Past Valor
第三乐章: 风雨鸡鸣—壮烈的回忆
(World Premiere)
Xu Fangfang 徐芳芳, piano
Huang Anlun 黄安伦
Capriccio Xu Beihong, Opus 103 (2022)
徐悲鸿画境随想
(World Premiere)
PERFORMERS
THE ART OF XU BEIHONG 徐悲鸿
A Visionary in 20th Century Art
Xu Beihong 徐悲鸿 (1895-1953) is the most influential artist and art educator in 20th-century China. He is widely known as the father of modern Chinese painting, famous for his iconic paintings of free-running horses. One of his most famous of these is Six Galloping Horses (1942), pictured above. All images courtesy of the Xu Beihong Memorial Museum, Beijing, China.
Read the article "A Lost Manuscript" by Xu Fangfang chronicling the loss and recent rediscovery of Jiang Wenye’s Piano Concerto Xu Beihong's Color-And-Ink Paintings.
SELECTED WORKS CELEBRATED IN THIS MUSIC PROGRAM
Special Thanks to our co-sponsors for this event: the New Asia Chamber Music Society, the Xu Beihong Arts Committee, and Xu Fangfang, daughter of Xu Beihong.
The 2022 China Now Music Festival is presented in collaboration with the Central Conservatory of Music, China in celebration of the first five years of the US-China Music Institute at Bard College.