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Detroit Symphony Orchestra presents the World Premiere of Xiaogang Ye's Twilight of the Himalayas

Sep. 05, 2013

Detroit Symphony Orchestra presents the World Premiere of Xiaogang Ye's <em>Twilight of the Himalayas</em>

On September 22, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra presents a portrait concert featuring the music of Xiaogang Ye, including the world premiere of his new cantata, Twilight of the Himalayas, op. 68. The program, led by conductor Yongyan Hu, also includes the US premieres of both The Last Paradise, op. 24, for violin and orchestra, as well as Ye's orchestral song cycle, TheSong of the Earth, op. 47. The concert, which takes place at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, marks the first full concert by a major American orchestra dedicated to a single composer of Chinese descent.

Twilight of the Himalayas is the result of Ye’s 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship. Written for chorus, solo tenor and orchestra, the work is inspired by the natural beauty of Nepal and Tibet and includes original texts by Li Shaosheng and Liu Sola. The performance features tenor soloist Yije Shi, boy soprano Liu Shen, and zheng virtuoso Ji Wei as well as the New York Choral Society.

Violinist Cho-Liang Lin joins the orchestra in a performance of Ye’s violin concerto, The Last Paradise, op. 24. The piece was commissioned in 1994 by the Hong Kong Urban Art Service and received its premiere by violinist Anton Miller and the China Central Philharmonic Orchestra led by Yongyan Hu. Written in a single movement, the concerto highlights Ye’s appreciation of the European concerto tradition.

The Song of the Earth, op. 47, composed for soprano, baritone and orchestra,is Ye’s response to Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. A polished fusion of traditional Chinese influence with a distinct neo-Romanticism, Ye’s piece sets full reconstructions of the Chinese poems by Li Bai, Qian Qi, and Meng Haoran, which Mahler used in fragment in his original work. Composed in 2004, The Song of the Earth was commissioned by the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Young Euro Classic Music Festival of Berlin.

For more information on Xiaogang Ye, please visit www.schott-music.com 

Details on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's concert at Lincoln Center can be found at www.dso.org    

Xiaogang Ye
Twilight of the Himalayas, op. 68 (2013)
Cantata for chorus, solo tenor and orchestra
20’

The Last Paradise, op. 24 (1993)
for violin and orchestra
3(3.pic.).2.2.bcl.2.cbsn-4.3.3.1-4perc-hp-str
16’

The Song of the Earth, op. 47 (2004)
for soprano, baritone and orchestra
3(3.pic).2(2.ca).2.bcl.2.cbsn-4.3.3.1-5perc-hp.pno-str
42’

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