Label: Naxos
Genre: Chamber Music
Period: 20th Century; Contemporary
Catalogue No: 8.572488
Barcode: 747313248872
Release Date: 11/2012

Asian Music for String Quartet - TAN, Dun / TAKEMITSU, Toru / GAO, Ping / UNG, Chinary / ZHOU, Long (New Zealand String Quartet)

This programme brings together aesthetic and musical elements of East and West. Zhou Long captures the essence of the Chinese plucked ch’in, and Cambodian aesthetics are preserved in Chinary Ung’s expressive Spiral III. Tan Dun’s Eight Colors combines the exotic timbres of Peking Opera with Second Viennese School tonalities. Gao Ping’s Bright Light and Cloud Shadows has been admired for its ‘long-breathed brush strokes’ (Washington Post). Taking its inspiration from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, Toru Takemitsu’s beautifully crafted A Way a Lone evokes a shimmering sound world.

Tracklist

Zhou, Long
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
1 Song of the Ch'in 08:57
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
Ung, Chinary
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
2 Spiral III 10:01
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
Gao, Ping
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
3 Bright Light and Cloud Shadows 11:33
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
Takemitsu, Tōru
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
4 A Way a Lone 11:50
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
Tan, Dun
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
5 No. 1. Peking Opera 01:56
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
6 No. 2. Shadows 01:11
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
7 No. 3. Pink Actress 01:44
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
8 No. 4. Black Dance 01:46
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
9 No. 5. Zen 03:49
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
10 No. 6. Drum and Gong 00:55
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
11 No. 7. Cloudiness 02:38
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)
12 No. 8. Red Sona 01:48
New Zealand String Quartet (Ensemble)

Total Playing Time: 58:08