related works

Expansion : for piano / Man-Ching Yu Donald

Genre: Chamber music
Subgenre: Piano
Scoring: pf

Vasanta : for doublebass and chamber orchestra, 1978 / Walter Hekster

Genre: Chamber music
Subgenre: Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring: cl-b fg cfg trb-b tb g-b hp pf el.org cb-solo

Bagatelle 5 : for ensemble / Dmitri Kourliandski

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

Snow Prelude and Fugue : for violin, flute and three saxophones / Georgs Pelecis

Genre: Chamber music
Subgenre: Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring: vn fl sax-a sax-t sax-bar

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.