Track List
01. Chinese Traditional Orchestral Music: "Carnival Dance"
Composed by: Liu Changyuan
"The Bustling and Happy Chinese New Year" is a concert full of the Chinese traditional music’s charm and Chinese characteristics. The jubilant and festive music, the grand atmosphere of the Chinese nation, and the passionate classics render China’s long history as well as colorful customs. It expresses the love for the Chinese charm, engages the audience in the festive atmosphere of celebrating the new year and sends best wishes to them.
This piece combines dance music in the western regions of China with the rhythm and musical mood of South American tango. It depicts a grand scene of people dancing together during festival celebrations. It gives full play to the expressiveness of each part of the orchestra, which makes a masterpiece that will blow the audience's mind.
02. Chinese Traditional Orchestral Music: "Grand Music"
Composed by: Jiang Ying
This piece is inspired by an ancient music score unearthed in Dunhuang and expanded the cultural extension of this ancient piece. Through the continuous enrichment and superposition of the music, the composer has shown the charm of the splendid culture of a great country. At the beginning it presents a desolate and sad atmosphere. With the advancement of the melody, it’s as if you could see that numerous heroic figures come out from the history, and a vivid scroll of history unfolds in front of you. Afterwards, all parts play together, joining the main melody with a sometimes soothing and sometimes urgent rhythm, gradually pushing the music to a climax. It highlights image characteristics of desolation, sadness, magnificence, and passion, and vividly demonstrates the Chinese nation’s resilience during her struggle in the long history, the ordeals she’s been through, and the grandeur as a great country.
03-1. Female Vocal and Band "A Glass of Wine"
Composed by: Ekber
Vocal: Zhao Yiyu
"A Glass of Wine" is a piece of Uyghur-style music. With its poetic lyrics, lyrical and unrestrained melody, and a strong sense of rhythm, it expresses the longing for love and the praise of beautiful life.
03-2. Female Vocal and Band "Reed Flowers"
Composed by: Yin Qing
Vocal: Zhao Yiyu
"Reed Flowers" is a classic vocal piece that expresses emotions through reed flowers. Through a description of reed flowers, it tells a story about a young woman sending her lover away to serve in the army. It fully expresses her reluctance to let him leave and her longing for the good news of his good performance on the battlefield.
04. Erhu Concerto "Thoughts on the Great Wall"
The third movement "Loyal Souls" and the fourth movement "Looking into the Distance"
Composed by: Liu Wenjin
Erhu played by: Wang Tianzhu
This piece presents the delicate, lyrical and yet majestic expressiveness, which is unique to the erhu. It also combines the form of a Chinese traditional orchestra concerto to express the patriotic feelings inspired when Chinese people stand on the Great Wall. The music reviews and expresses deep emotions over the long history of the Chinese nation, praises and recalls the memories about the martyrs who fought for this country and its people, and looks forward for a better future of China.
05. Chinese Traditional Orchestral Suite "The Harmony of Colors"
The first movement "Green: Song of Wind"
Composed by: Zhang Chao
The inspiration of the music comes from the spectrum of light of the sun—only when the harmonious but different seven colors are together, can you see the dazzling sunlight. This piece of music shows the cultural connotation and ethos that the harmonious coexistence of seven ethnic minorities in Yunnan embodies.
06. Liuqin Concerto "Garden After the Rain"
Composed by: Su Wenqing
Liuqin solo: Zhang Biyun
"Garden After the Rain" was inspired by the beautiful scenery the composer Su Wenqing and his wife saw when they were caught in the pavilion in their courtyard by a sudden drizzle. Through the presentation of the music’s structure and artistic connotation of the work, it conveys a profound artistic tension and leaves a lot of space for the audience to ponder.
07. Chinese Traditional Orchestral Music "Tolerance and Diversity"
Composed by: Chen Si’ang
As a piece of contemporary Chinese music, "Tolerance and Diversity" is trying to describe the process of exchanges, collisions, reflections, integration, and co-development between Chinese culture and foreign cultures for thousands of years through the musical language of modern large-scale Chinese traditional orchestra. It shows Chinese culture’s openness, inclusiveness, and the spirit of diversity like rivers flowing into the sea. The deep and grand theme and profound and complex content of this piece of music require the use of diverse techniques, and the intertextuality and integration of the diverse techniques promotes the fusion of diverse musical styles, forming a unique "pan-technique" style.
Nanjing Chinese Orchestra
Nanjing Chinese Orchestra, the first state-owned Chinese orchestra that tried self-governance in Jiangsu Province, is quite influential in China. Through 40 years of development since its foundation in the 1980s, it has become a large-scale national orchestra that consists of four groups of related musical instruments: bowed string, plucked string, woodwind and percussion.
Currently, Nanjing Chinese Orchestra is working with Jiangsu Grand Theatre (a professional theatre with the most complete facilities in Jiangsu) as its first resident orchestra. Zhang Lie, an outstanding conductor of Chinese national orchestral music, serves as the music director and principal conductor. Featured with a pure Chinese music style, the orchestra has created lots of original works themed on traditional Chinese culture and realistic subjects through long-term cooperation with famous composers, conductors and performers at home and abroad.
The orchestra actively takes part in international cultural exchanges and has performed in over 40 countries and regions around the world. In 2004, it staged “Dream Chasing in Nanjing – Concert for the Chinese New Year of Monkey” at the Golden Hall in Vienna. It was identified as a “key troupe for cultural exchanges with foreign countries” by the then Ministry of Culture (predecessor of China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism) and hailed as a “high-level symphony orchestra of the People’s Republic of China” by foreign media.
The Chinese folk music concert titled “The Bustling and Happy Chinese New Year” is a “Chinese New Year/Spring Festival” themed special brand project crated by Nanjing Chinese Orchestra. Not only is it a “festival mode” created by the orchestra and Chinese audience together, but it has also been presented multiple times in the “Happy Chinese New Year Overseas Tour” events hosted by the former Ministry of Culture (current Ministry of Culture and Tourism) of China in over 40 countries and regions, where they celebrated Chinese New Year with different countries. With the unique musical expression of modern folk orchestral music, “The Bustling and Happy Chinese New Year” concert uses passionate and festive folk music to display China’s diverse customs and cultures, show the audience the festive atmosphere and best wishes for Chinese New Year, and extend gratitude to the audience for their recognition and support.
Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestra
Zhang Lie
Chinese national first-class conductor, outstanding conductor of Chinese national orchestral music, member of the Chinese Musicians Association, standing director of China National Orchestra Society, vice chairman of China Conducting Committee.
In recent years, under the baton of Zhang Lie, several Chinese national orchestras have held concerts at some of the best music venues in over 30 countries as well as HK, Macao and Taiwan, such as the Berliner Philharmonie in Germany, the Barbican Centre in London, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg of Russia, the Lucerne Culture and Congress Center in Switzerland, the Helsinki Music Centre in Finland, the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Smetana Hall at the Municipal House in Prague of the Czech Republic, etc., spreading ancient and modern oriental music culture to all parts of the world.
Erhu by:
Wang Tianzhu
Famous Chinese erhu instrumentalist, the current vice director and principal player of Nanjing Chinese Orchestra, Chinese national first-class instrumentalist, and a council member of China National Orchestra Society Huqin Committee. Wang Tianzhu has acted as the orchestra’s principal player and solo player for multiple important concerts, including the Chinese New Year folk music concert at the Golden Hall in Vienna in 2004, and the Charm of Jinling concert held in China National Center for the Performing Arts in 2010. In 2014, he was invited to make a music record for the Australian documentary The Dalfram Dispute 1938, traveling to Australia to hold a concert tour and give an interview to ABC. In 2017, he was invited to Europe to work with The RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra.
Liuqin by:
Zhang Biyun
Liuqin and zhongruan instrumentalist, and a council member of the Shanghai Musicians Association’s Folk Orchestra Committee. She received the Golden Award for the Plucked String Group at the 10th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music (a major event). The solo music Chibi which Zhang Biyun was invited to play has been included in the 2019 small-scale plays and works program funded by the China National Arts Fund. The Strings Expanding a Thousand Years has been included in the 2019 young talents of artist creation project funded by the China National Arts Fund.
Female Solo:
Zhao Yiyu
Chinese national second-class actress, solo actress of Jiangsu Art Performance Group Opera & Dance Drama Theater.
