Elements - New Music for Pipa by American Composers

In a seemingly unlikely marriage of ideas, this recording presents new works by four American composers for a fabled instrument of China, the pipa. Building on the instrument's long history, these composers present a new vision of how an ancient instrument from another culture can provide inspiration and speak — just as relevantly today as it has for thousands for years — to an even broader audience. [...]

Donald Reid Womack 作曲
Elements 五行 (2010)

1 Fire 火 [3:45]
2 Water 水 [3:44]
3 Wood 木 [2:26]
4 Earth 土 [3:00]
5 Metal 金 [4:46]
Yang Jing, pipa 楊靜, 琵琶

Jeff Myers 作曲
Turtle and Rat 龜與鼠 (2012)

6 The Turtle 龜 (Rondeau) [3:06]
7 The Rat 鼠 (Palindrome) [2:17]
Yang Jing, pipa 楊靜, 琵琶

Thomas Osborne 作曲
Rumi Songs 盧米之歌 (2011)
Texts by Jalaluddin Rumi,
trans. by Coleman Barks

8 You've no idea how hard I've looked [3:59]
9 I want to hold you close like a lute [:51]
10 We are the night ocean [3:09]
11 I used to be shy [1:14]
12 When it's cold and raining [2:44]
Yang Jing, pipa 楊靜, 琵琶
Rachel Schutz, soprano 女高音

Takeo Kudo 作曲

13 White Crane 白鹤 (2011) [6:26]
Yang Jing, pipa 楊靜, 琵琶

Donald Reid Womack 作曲

14 An Enveloping Rain 聚散的雨 (2011) [11:13]
Yang Jing, pipa 楊靜, 琵琶
Lai Yi-Chieh, guzheng 古箏
Anna Womack, viola 中提琴

Total Time = 52:40

Producer: Donald Reid Womack
Recording Engineer: Pierre Grill, Rendez-Vous Recording
Editing, Mixing and Mastering: Pierre Grill, Rendez-Vous Recording
Cover photo: ©Peter Fuchs (CH)
Rachel Schutz photo © Rebecca Fay Photography

Tracks 1-5 and 11-14 recorded at Rendez-Vous Recording, Honolulu March 4, 5, and 6, 2012.
Tracks 6-10 recorded at Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu March 5, 2012.

Support graciously provided by Elisabeth and Hans Widmer