related works

The Great Wall 長城 : for clarinet, bassoon and piano / Man-Ching Yu Donald

Genre: Chamber music
Subgenre: Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring: cl bsn pf

Songs & Dances : for ensemble / Patrick van Deurzen; text Marianne Grootenboer

Genre: Chamber music
Subgenre: Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)

Distant Voices (Modulationes super Missam Maria Zart) : for nine musicians / Willem Boogman

Genre: Chamber music
Subgenre: Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring: fl cl 2perc pf org vl vla vc

Suite en concert : pour flûte et percussion, opus 12, 1981 / Leo Samama

Genre: Chamber music
Subgenre: Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring: fl perc

composition

The Great Wall 長城 : for clarinet, bassoon and piano / Man-Ching Yu Donald

Other authors:
Yu, Donald (Composer)
Description:
The music is inspired by the modern Chinese painting The Great Wall by Zhang Guanghai. It opens with broad, low-register, impressionistic gestures that embody the spirit of the Great Wall - profound in history and vast in its physical presence. Soon, the instrumental layers juxtapose contrapuntally, emphasizing the lower register and generating a deep yet colorful tonal palette that reflects the dark, strong lines of the painting. As the piece progresses, all instruments gradually build toward a climax in the central section, where the two woodwind instruments and the piano ascend to their higher registral areas, symbolizing the bright lines depicted in the artwork. Towards the end, the music fades away in a quiet and mysterious manner, echoing the gestures introduced at the beginning. Overall, the composition characteristically fuses Chinese colors with post-tonal modern languages, directly representing the vibrant lines and dynamic gestures found in the painting.