Title: The moon over Guanshan

Arranger:Tong Leung-tak

Year: January 16, 1979

Genre:

• Large ensemble
• Arrangement
• Chinese orchestral music

Call No.: SC704

Description: Guanshanyue is best known as a qin piece that is often performed with sung lyrics originated in the eponymous poem by Tang poet Li Bai (701–762), who in turn drew the title and structure of his poem from the classical Yuefu ("Music Bureau") repertoire. It first appeared in Longyinguan qinpu, an anthology of qin scores compiled by scholar-bureaucrat Mao Shixun in 1799. Tong Leung-tak made an arrangement of Guanshanyue (i.e., "The Moon Over Guanshan") for a Chinese instrumental ensemble in 1979. This arrangement features a full set of plucked-strings and bowed-strings except the high-pitched liuqin and gaohu; it includes only xiao and sheng for winds and there is no percussion instrument. With a mellow and subdued ensemble sound, it presents the original melody thrice, with each presence involving a specific combination of instrumental parts, whose texture alternates between homophony and heterophony.

Note:

• Arrangement of the guqin piece of the same title

Instrumentation: di/xiao (1), sheng (1), yangqin (1), pipa (1), zhong ruan (1), da ruan (1), sanxian (1), zheng (1), erhu (1), zhonghu (1), dahu (1), cello (1), double bass (1)