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The Music of Xiaoyong Chen |
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Contact: |
| xiaoyong_chen@hotmail.com | |
| A list of the performances is being worked in progress. | |
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| TITLE:[Little Song] COMPOSED BY:XIAOYONG CHEN |
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| Biographical notes |
| Xiaoyong Chen was born in Peking in 1955 where he began his studies in composition at the Central Conservatory from 1980 to 1985. These studies were continued in the class of Gyögy Ligeti at the Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg until 1989. Xiaoyong Chen belongs to a small group of young Chinese composers who have in recent times attracted a great deal of attention in Europe, in Asia, in the USA and in their native country. Already in 1987, his First String Quartet was premiered at the Donaueschinger Musiktage. Chen received the Composition Prize of the Forum Young Composers of the West-German-Radio (WDR) in 1992, the Kaske Prize Munich in 1993, and the J. S. Bach Prize awarded by the Hamburg Senate in 1995. Chen has worked with prominent orchestras and ensembles such as the South-west-Radio and TV (SWF) Symphony Orchestra Badeb-Baden, the KBS Symphony Orchestra (Seoul), the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Philharmonic State Orchestra of Hamburg, the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, the Orquestra Gulbenkian (Lisabon), the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, the London Sinfonietta, the Auryn Quartet, the Arditti String Quartet, the Ensemble 2e2m in Paris and so on. He has worked intensively with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmpnie Bremen since 1994. His work has been performed at many important festivals in Donaueschingen, Berlin, Cologne, Leipzig, Dresden, Munich, Hamburg, Hannover, Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Manchester, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and so on. Divers commissions awarded to him by international institutions, have enabled the composer, who lives in Hamburg, to develop his own personal musical language. |
| In Dialogue with Sound - the Music of Xiaoyong
Chen. by Dr. Klaus Angermann |
| In his commentary on his Trio "Enclosed
Events", Xiaoyong Chen
describes his fascination with the origin
and life of a single tone which
spreads across silence, slowly unfolding
it's overtone spectrum before
it finally recedes into silence. This phenomena,
which by Western traditional
concepts, could only form the physical foundation
of music and would hardly
be considered as part of the actual creative
field, can be seen as an elementary
model in the compositional work of Chen.
The starting point of all of his work is
often an apparently simple tonal event which
seems to be untouched by compositional
manipulation. Such a tonal event is however,
already form. For Chen, the single tone
is not merely a random, disposable and inert
element which the composer compels
into a predetermined plan. He sees it rather
as a sort of living entity, which possesses
it's own dynamics and which demands a compositional
reaction. This reaction however,
does not imply the subjugation of an as
yet unformed material but rather, it calls
for a
sort of subjective resonance in the composer,
unleashed by the material itself.
This act of composing is for Chen, a communication with tonal events(?), an uncovering of it's as yet secret possibilities. These compositions possess therefore, an openness which does not permit the composer to have a predetermined idea of where the music will lead him. Chen described the manner in which his compositions evolve - "My ideal form lies on a higher level before I begin to write the piece. Yet the music itself, when it is already partially written, tells me where and how it should proceed. Perhaps I could say that the fixed idea is a cycle, or better still, a spiral. That is to say, that which has been written, is self-reflective and motivates that which is still to be written in an attempt to achieve a greater clarity. However, the path taken by the overseeing spiral is unknown to me in advance - it is dictated by the music itself" One should, at this point, counter a possible misunderstanding: - the openness or freedom we refer to here, is not synonymous with automatic, associative writing, whereby the composer allows himself to drift along without any accountability for his decisions. Chen's works are, on the contrary, very precise and consciously structured - not least of all, because of his affinity to mathematics and the natural sciences. The structures of his music however, are not predetermined but evolve simultaneously with it, out of the reality of the given tones. An interval or an accord alone, can often determine the form of a composition. Under such partly extreme limitations, a compositional discipline which strives not to dominate the material but rather to harness it's inner dynamics by allowing the material to unfold freely, is of great value. Without a doubt, this form of composing is related to Chen's background which he in no way attempts to deny. Far Eastern philosophy, in which the nature of objects, independent of their function, is regarded more highly than in Western thought, also plays a role. Also the influence of Chinese music and language which, with regard to the modulation of tone and rhythm demonstrate an unusually high degree of differentiation, is undeniable. Fundamental however, is the fact that the almost astonished attention which Chen devotes to tones is not restricted to a particular cultural sphere but is also transferable to the Western listener. Growing up in China in the era of the Cultural Revolution, Chen perceived traditional European music, of which only few works were available, as something strange and fascinating. Only from the perspective of this imposed distance, can we understand Chen's fascination in exploring the possibilities inherent in Western music and in this, a congeniality with his teacher György Ligeti. Although Chen refers to the tradition of Chinese music, in particular by his preference for the Chinese zither, the Cheng, it is astounding that these references never appear in the form of folklore ingredients. The unusual sounds are blended into a musical language which cannot be classified as Chinese or European - a musical language in which there are no unquestioned matters of course, no reliable vocabulary of expressive means - a musical language which allows, time and time again, for surprises and for the renewed discovery of music in each work. This unprejudiced attitude, coupled with an open, experimental relationship to the material and the acceptance of sound as a partner, not merely as a medium, allows Chen to achieve a freshness as well as an internationalism in his work.. |
| Discography: |
| - Volatine/Ferne Klänge,producted by ambitus (amb 97 969), Germany.
- Invisible Landscapes- works by Xiaoyong Chen, - Static and Rotation/Eastern Asia |
| Work List / Xiaoyong Chen |
| - Klavierquintett (1984), duration: 11' 1st performance: ensemble of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, 1986. - Violinkonzert (1985), duration: 12' - Streichquartett Nr. 1 (1986/87), duration:
14'30'' - Streichtrio (1987/88), duration: 11' - Duet for Violin and Cheng (1989), duration:
5'30'' - Dyeh... for large orchestra (1988-92),
duration: 12' - San Jie for Chinese orchestra (1990/91),
duration: 6' - "Yën" for Soprano and 11
Instruments (1991), duration: 11' - "Thao" for dis-piano and percussion
(1992), duration: 21' - "Pien Lü" for ch'in (Guqin)
solo (1993), duration: 10' - "Warp" for Chamber Ensemble (1994),
duration: 16' - "Evapora" for fl. ob. pf. vn.
and cello (1996), duration: 12' - "Diary-I" - seven miniatures for
piano (1996), duration: 15' - "Circuit" for Chêng (1996),
duration: 15' - "Enclosed Events" for flute,
cello and piano (1997), duration: 14' - "Volatine" for clarinet, violin,
percussion and piano (1997), duration: 9' - "Static and Rotation" for guitar
(1997), duration: 10' - "Streichquartett Nr. 2" (1998),
duration: 12' - "Floating Threads" for String
Orchestra ( 1998) Duration: 6' - "Sonate" für Cello und Klavier
(1998), duration: 6' - "Invisible Landscapes" for Chêng,
Percussion, Piano and Ensemble (1998), duration:
14' - "Crossing", "Floating Point"
for Piano, from Diary II (1999), duration:
7' - "Interlaced Landscapes" for Orchestra
(1999), duration: 14' - "Mein Herz" for Ensemble |