GE GAN-RU (b. 1954)

PIANO WORKS
12 PRELUDES • ANCIENT MUSIC
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! • HARD, HARD, HARD!

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YIMING ZHANG

‘This album, recorded by Yiming Zhang, a rising star, exemplifies an enormous variety of my piano music. 12 Preludes is one of my earliest works dating back 40 years, and is based on elements of Chinese folk music. Each of the four movements of Ancient Music was inspired by Chinese traditional instrumental sonorities - “Gong”, “Qin”, “Pipa” and “Drum”. As in Chinese traditional music, Ancient Music is concerned with the living essence of every tone. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong! and Hard, Hard, Hard! are inspired by the poems in the same titles by Lu You and his former wife Tang Wan, respectively, in the 12th century. I purposely used cheap, often unstable instruments and the pianist’s untrained voice to achieve a most serious, sophisticated and heartfelt melodrama.’ – Ge Gan-ru