PERFORMERS:
The Mariinsky Orchestra
Conductor: Haoran Li
PROGRAMME:
Xiaogang Ye
The Faint Ginkgo
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphonic poem The Rock, Op. 7
Claude Debussy
La Mer, three symphonic sketches
Maurice Ravel
La Valse
Born in 1955, Xiaogang Ye is one of China’s leading contemporary composers. He studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in China and after graduation was appointed Resident Composer and Lecturer there. He later perfected his art at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester in New York. Amongst his former teachers are Minxin Du, Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner, Louis Andriessen and Alexander Goehr. Since 1993, Ye has divided his time between Beijing and Exton, Pennsylvania.
Ye’s oeuvre comprises symphonic, chamber and stage works as well as film music, and much of it bears a connection to Chinese culture and tradition. His works are inspired by Chinese poetry, legends, folk songs and nature. The Faint Ginkgo was composed in 2019. This work is the latest in the composer’s series of works on subtropical plants and was commissioned by the Shanghai Contemporary Music Week and the National Arts Fund. Ye has always had a strong interest in mysterious and beautiful plants, with pieces such as Lagerstroemia Indica for pipa and ensemble, Scent of Green Mango for piano and orchestra, Datura for flute, violin, cello and piano, and Enchanted Bamboo for piano quintet being performed around the world. The ginkgo is the oldest species of tree in the world, with a mysterious and beautiful aspect. This species has existed in China for millions of years, and the orchestral piece The Faint Ginkgo expresses the composer’s care and concern for nature. With Xiaogang Ye’s unique harmonic language and delicate orchestral timbre changes, the work expresses the exploration and curiosity of human beings in the new century about things ancient but still unknown, the concern for the interdependence between human beings and nature, and the deepest longing for beauty in the human heart.
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