Dunhuang Fantasy

From Wind Repertory Project
Chen Yi

Chen Yi


Subtitle: Concerto for Organ and Chamber Wind Ensemble


General Info

Year: 1999
Duration: c. 12:00
Movements: Four
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Theodore Presser
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental;   |   Score - Rental


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
B-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Contrabassoon
Horn in F
Trumpet in Bb
Trombone
Organ
Percussion, including:

  • Mark Tree
  • Bongos
  • Cymbal (suspended)
  • Snare Drum
  • Tom-Toms (2)
  • Bass Drum
  • Tam Tam


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

The imagination of this music came from the figures in the murals carved in the Mogao Caves in the ancient city Dunhuang more than a thousand years ago. The name Dunhuang originally meant "prospering, flourishing". Lying at the western end of the Gansu Corridor in China, Dunhuang was very important in the Silk Road that carried new thoughts, ideas, arts and sciences to the East and West in the ancient time. The Mogao Grottoes were built and developed over 11 dynasties over more than 1,000 years (from the 4th to 14th centuries), with murals, sculptures, wooden cave buildings and books. It was really the heyday of the art of Dunhuang in the brilliant Tang Dynasty (618-907). The murals depict rolling dance gestures, the flapping streamer lines, the flying melodies around the clouds, and the fiery rhythms in the sky! It shows the high spirit and the strong power of the people and their society. All these impressions are translated into the textures of my organ solo part and the wind ensemble sound. It's mysterious, vivid, colorful and energetic, it brings us to dream of the ancient glory and yearn for the future...

- Program Note by Chen Yi


Commissioned by AGO for its 2000 Seattle convention.


Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

  • NewEar (Kansas City, Mo.) – 4 May 2001
  • Arizona State University (Tempe) Wind Ensemble – 4 April 2001
  • Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Tex.) Wind Ensemble – February 2001
  • Rainier Chamber Winds (Kim Marshall, conductor) – 5 July 2000


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources