I am so thrilled to be touring with The Philadelphia Orchestra in China, which is premiering Spring River Flowers by Moonlight, for mezzo, baritone, and orchestra. This is a setting of one of the most famous Tang Dynasty poems by Zhang Ruoxu. The poem begins with beautiful pastoral imagery of moonlight glistening off the river, and then gradually reveals that the poet is a soldier on the front lines, pining for his maiden back home. There is a kind of cosmic element in the poem’s meditations on time, passing generations, and aging.
My musical response begins with the female and male singers distant at first, with each singing two stanzas independently. As the piece unfolds, their alternations become closer and closer – and in the last stanza, they finally sing together.
It is an honor to visit Beijing with Marin Alsop and Philadelphia Orchestra, which has visited the country for over fifty years. I look forward to connecting with the commissioners from the Ministry of Culture and, of course, anyone at the concert who wants to find me on Weibo.
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我很高兴将和费城交响乐团一起在中国巡演,
在这首乐曲中,男女歌手一开始相距甚远,各自唱两小节后,
我很荣幸能与Marin Alsop(马林·阿尔索普)和费城交响乐团一起来到北京。