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
Burning Steps : for bassoon and string quartet / Chiel Meijering
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
fg 2vl vla vc
Versleuteling : for bass trombone, guitar and piano / Arend Gerds
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
trb-b g pf
Ritornello : per quintetto a fiati e percussione, (1971) / Jan Wisse
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
fl ob cl fg h perc(pf)
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.