Asian Mountain Folk Songs (2018)
percussion ensemble (medium-advanced, grade 4)
approx. duration: 10 minutes
MOVEMENTS:
- Mount Guan
- Jirisan Mountainside
- Yin Mountain High
"Asian Mountain Folk Songs" (for percussion ensemble) is a chamber work comprised of three movements influenced by traditional Asian folk songs. Each movement of the piece represents different countries within Asia and the differences and similarities in melodic and harmonic structure that each of the different traditions bring. All three movements are connected by being based on specifically mountain folk songs.
The first movement, "Mount Guan," is based off a Taiwanese folk song called "Gau Shan Ching" ("Mountains, So Green"). Mount Guan is a mountain in the Central Mountain range of Taiwan. In this movement, it begins with only timpani ringing out quarter notes which is supposed to feel heavy and weighty, like a mountain. As the movement progresses, a melody is introduced by the celeste based loosely on the original melody of "Gau Shan Ching." After growing and developing the melody throughout, it is lead into a stomp-like section that takes the work to an ending of a sequenced passage of one of the earlier motives.
"Jirisan Mountainside," the second movement, is actually a little bit different from the other two movements, in the sense that it is actually not based on an actual folk song, but just the style and influence of a Korean folk song. The melodic line itself is completely original and my try at a traditional Korean mountain folk song. Using the commonly found harmonic structure of the pentatonic scale in folk songs, I wrote the melody and underlying harmony. Throughout the movement, the melody returns being passed to different instruments, whether being used like a canon. taking the rhythm and not the pitches and making a rhythmic lead with the temple blocks, or soaring with the crotales over a syncopated groove. There are subtle gestures that are not usually found in traditional Asian folk songs to help reinforce that this movement is not actually based on an Asian folk song, but rather a folk song written with a traditional Korean folk song style in mind.
The final movement, "Yin Mountain High," is based off a traditional Mongolian folk song, "Mongolian Shepherd Song." Unlike the first movement, however, the melody is exactly like the original melody from the folk song, only slightly altered. For example, when the melody first comes in with the xylophone at measure 26, the melody is in 3/4 time, while the original melody is in a 4/4 signature. When the melody is played by the vibraphone later on in the movement, it returns to the 4/4 melody. This movement can be considered the "barn-burner" (in mid-western terms) or the driving and exhilarating section of the work. It builds intensity to a climatic eruption of chimes and drums before returning to a recapitulation of the beginning into a final rush to the ending.
The first movement, "Mount Guan," is based off a Taiwanese folk song called "Gau Shan Ching" ("Mountains, So Green"). Mount Guan is a mountain in the Central Mountain range of Taiwan. In this movement, it begins with only timpani ringing out quarter notes which is supposed to feel heavy and weighty, like a mountain. As the movement progresses, a melody is introduced by the celeste based loosely on the original melody of "Gau Shan Ching." After growing and developing the melody throughout, it is lead into a stomp-like section that takes the work to an ending of a sequenced passage of one of the earlier motives.
"Jirisan Mountainside," the second movement, is actually a little bit different from the other two movements, in the sense that it is actually not based on an actual folk song, but just the style and influence of a Korean folk song. The melodic line itself is completely original and my try at a traditional Korean mountain folk song. Using the commonly found harmonic structure of the pentatonic scale in folk songs, I wrote the melody and underlying harmony. Throughout the movement, the melody returns being passed to different instruments, whether being used like a canon. taking the rhythm and not the pitches and making a rhythmic lead with the temple blocks, or soaring with the crotales over a syncopated groove. There are subtle gestures that are not usually found in traditional Asian folk songs to help reinforce that this movement is not actually based on an Asian folk song, but rather a folk song written with a traditional Korean folk song style in mind.
The final movement, "Yin Mountain High," is based off a traditional Mongolian folk song, "Mongolian Shepherd Song." Unlike the first movement, however, the melody is exactly like the original melody from the folk song, only slightly altered. For example, when the melody first comes in with the xylophone at measure 26, the melody is in 3/4 time, while the original melody is in a 4/4 signature. When the melody is played by the vibraphone later on in the movement, it returns to the 4/4 melody. This movement can be considered the "barn-burner" (in mid-western terms) or the driving and exhilarating section of the work. It builds intensity to a climatic eruption of chimes and drums before returning to a recapitulation of the beginning into a final rush to the ending.
INSTRUMENTATION:
Percussion 1 (Marimba, Xylophone, Toms)
Percussion 2 (Vibraphone, Temble Blocks, Taiko Drum)
Percussion 3 (Timpani, Crotales, Taiko Drum, Marimba)
Percussion 4 (Celesta, Chimes, Vibraphone, Tam-Tam)
Percussion 2 (Vibraphone, Temble Blocks, Taiko Drum)
Percussion 3 (Timpani, Crotales, Taiko Drum, Marimba)
Percussion 4 (Celesta, Chimes, Vibraphone, Tam-Tam)
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