Title: Safflowers on Tian Shan

Composer:Guo Hengji

Year: December 8, 1996

Genre:

• Small ensemble
• Original composition
• Chinese plucked string orchestra

Call No.: SC1210

Description: "Safflowers on Tian Shan" is a piece for Chinese plucked strings composed by Kwok Hang-kei in 1996. Its title is inspired by the Iceland poppy, a flower commonly seen in the Tian Shan mountains stretching from China's Xinjiang Province into Central Asia. Its melodies build on certain seven-note scales reminiscent of the Dorian and Mixolydian modes, while its use of percussion instruments such as the hand drum and the sabayi (sistrum/rattle) is common to representing the Uyghurs in modern Chinese music compositions. In addition to Chinese plucked strings, the score calls for sheng, cello, double bass, percussions, and a female vocal part. The music begins with a slow, almost pensive introduction with each plucked string part joining in one by one. The next section, in duple-meter, announces the syncopated main theme in the lower strings at a walking pace while the female voices hum along for a brief while. The music suddenly breaks into a lively dance that signals the third section, replete with rapid triplets and sixteenth-note runs. It is then followed by a slower, lyrical, triple-time dance that leads to the reprise of the main theme before reaching a quiet conclusion where the female voices return to complete the piece with one last phrase.

Note:

Instrumentation: zhongyin sheng (2), diyin sheng (2), yangqin (2), liuqin (1), pipa (1), zhong ruan (1), da ruan (1), da sanxian (1), zheng (1), timpani/pai gu (1), tambourine/chuan ling/sapayi (1), hand drum/muyu (1), glockenspiel/xylophone (1), women's voice (1), cello (1), double bass (1)