This week Bill explores Classical music from and about Asia.
Borrowing this week’s title from the Rudyard Kipling poem, “The Ballad of East and West” we will explore the music of Asia. Traveling to Japan, China, and everywhere in between, we will listen to instruments, sounds, folk tunes, and poetry. The sounds that are the unique musical voices that define a country’s identity, tunes that are shared, and melodies that are borrowed by western composers.
PLAYLIST Monday 5/23/22
00:00 0:17
Lüting, He
Senjidema
Shanghai Music Institute
Selected Works of He Lüting: Instrumental Solo, Duetto and Chorus
Chinese Musician Audio and Video Publishing House
00:17 0:36
Dun, Tan
Silk Road
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra/ Tan Dun, violin cello, Yo-Yo Ma, violin cello
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Sony 760859
00:53 1:55
Jiping, Zhao & Zhao Lin
Distant Green Valley”” Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble
Silk Road Journeys: Beyond yhe
Horizon Sony 756283
04:52 7:46
Xinghai, Xian
The Yellow River Cantata
I. “Song of The Yellow River Boatmen”
IV. Dialogue Song “By the Yellow River”
Shanghai Philharmonic Chorus & Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra/ Ding Cao, conductor
Xian: The Yellow River Cantata / Chu: The Yellow River Piano Concerto Chandos MP 3982
13:52 7:20
Xinghai, Xian
Yellow River Piano Concerto
l. “The Yellow River in Wrath”
Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China /Long Yu, Lang Lang, piano
Xian: The Yellow River Cantata / Chu: The Yellow River Piano Concerto Chandos MP 3982
22:06 0:17
Lu, Wencheng
“The Cow Herds Flute”
Lang Lang
Dragon Songs
DG 80008233
24:33 4:04
Lüting, He
“Looking at the Milky Way from Mount Shaolin”
Shanghai Music Institute
Selected Works of He Lüting: Instrumental Solo, Duetto and Chorus
Chinese Musician Audio and Video Publishing House
28:48 1:58
Lüting, He
“Clear Water”
Shanghai Music Institute
Selected Works of He Lüting: Instrumental Solo, Duetto and Chorus
Chinese Musician Audio and Video Publishing House
32:55 8:41
Sheng, Bright
Shanghai Overture
San Diego Symphony Orchestra/Jahja Ling, conductor
Never Far Away
Telarc 80719
42:44 4:12
Sheng, Bright
Tibetan Dance: I. Prelude
Bright Sheng, piano; Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Erin Svoboda, clarinet
Sheng: Spring Dreams, Tibetan Dance, 3 Fantasies
Naxos 8570601
47:38 6:45
Sheng, Bright
Three Chinese Love Songs:
l. “Blue Flower”
ll. “At the Hillside Where Horses are Running”
lll. “The Stream Flows”
Bright Sheng, piano; Lisa Saffer, soprano; Paul Neubauer, viola Sheng: Spring Dreams, Tibetan Dance, 3 Fantasies
Naxos 8570601
54:36 0:15
Sheng, Bright
Three Chinese Love Songs:
ll. “At the Hillside Where Horses are Running” (excerpt)
Bright Sheng, piano; Lisa Saffer, soprano; Paul Neubauer, viola Sheng: Spring Dreams, Tibetan Dance, 3 Fantasies
Naxos 8570601
55:00 3:30
Lu, Wencheng
“Autumn Moon On a Calm Lake”
Lang Lang, piano Dragon Songs
DG 80008233
PLAYLIST Tuesday 5/24/22
00:00 2:54
Dun, Tan
Orchestral Theatre for Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra/Tan Dun, conductor
Symphonic Poem on Three Notes; Orchestral Theatre; Concerto for Orchestra
Naxos 8.570608
03:54 0:34
Dun, Tan
Orchestral Theatre for Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra/Tan Dun, conductor
Symphonic Poem on Three Notes; Orchestral Theatre; Concerto for Orchestra
Naxos 8.570608
4:11 0:17
Dun, Tan
Orchestral Theatre for Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra/Tan Dun, conductor
Symphonic Poem on Three Notes; Orchestral Theatre; Concerto for Orchestra
Naxos 8.570608
4:39 12:03
Dun, Tan
Symphonic Poem on Three Notes for Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra/Tan Dun, conductor
Symphonic Poem on Three Notes; Orchestral Theatre; Concerto for Orchestra
Naxos 8.570608
18:09 12:18
Dun, Tan
Crouching Tiger
l. “Hidden Dragon”
ll. “Through the Bamboo Forest”
lll. “Desert Capriccio”
Shanghai National Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra/ Chan Xie Yang;
Yo-Yo Ma, violoncello Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Sony 760859
32:29 6:53
Dun, Tan
Concerto For Orchestra
lV. “The Forbidden City”
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra/Tan Dun, conductor/composer Symphonic Poem on Three Notes; Orchestral Theatre; Concerto for Orchestra
Naxos 8.570608
40:59 9:36
Silk Road Journeys
Beyond the Horizon
l. “Summer in the High Grassland”
ll. “Gallop of a Thousand Horses”
Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble
Silk Road Journeys: Beyond The Horizon
Sony 756283
51:08 3:59
Wilder, Alec
It’s Silk, Feel It! (Mitch Miller, English horn)
The Alec Wilder Octet The Music of Alec Wilder Conducted by Frank Sinatra
Odyssey 32 16 0262
56:09 12:18
Dun, Tan
Crouching Tiger
ll. “Through the Bamboo Forest” (excerpt)
Shanghai National Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra/ Chan Xie Yang;
Yo-Yo Ma, violoncello Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Sony 760859
PLAYLIST Wednesday 5/25/22
00:00 3:08
Traditional
Parlez Moi d’Amour
Lucienne Boyer, soprano
Parlez-Moi D’Amour
Nostalgia Naxos 8.120558
03:53 2:25
Takemitsu, Toru
Coral Island, III. “Accumulation”
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra/ Yuzo Toyama, conductor
Coral Island
Denon 18073
07:28 13:18
Takemitsu, Toru
Visions
l. Mystere
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim, conductor
Carter: Partita; Berio: Continuo; Takemitsu
Teldec 99596
21:35 0:54
Takemitsu, Toru
Visions
l. Les yeux clos (excerpt)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim, conductor
Carter: Partita; Berio: Continuo; Takemitsu
Teldec 99596
23:02 2:54
Takemitsu, Toru
Toward the Sea for Flute and Marimba
I. “The Night”
Ransom Wilson, flute Robert van Sice, marimba
Japanese Music for marimba
Etcetera KTC 1143
28:36 12:55
Takemitsu, Toru
A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Seiji Ozawa
A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden
DG 4775381
43:22 8:13
Takemitsu, Toru
Ran; IIl. IV. (Music for Kurosawa’s film)
Sapporo Symphony Orchestra/Tadaaki Otaka, conductor
Takemitsu – hosokawa – A Otaka
Chandos 9876
53:06 4:25
Takemitsu, Toru
Rain Tree Sketch 2 (for Messiaen ‘Celestially Light’)
Peter Serkin, piano
The Ocean Has No East and No West
Koch 7450
PLAYLIST Thursday 5/26/22
00:00 1:50
Traditional
Ketjak Dance Bali Gamelan:
David Lewiston, producer
Music from the Morning of the World
Explorers Series Nonesuch Records
David Lewiston, producer
04:13 2:44
Gong Kebyar, Gamelan
“Baris/Gambang Betjak”
Bali Gamelan: David Lewiston, producer
Music from the Morning of the World
Explorers Series Nonesuch Records
David Lewiston, producer
07:15 1:08
Gambuh, Sekehe
“Sekar Leret” (frog song)
Bali Gamelan: David Lewiston, producer
Music from the Morning of the World
Explorers Series Nonesuch Records David Lewiston, producer
08:43 1:09
Angklung, Gamelan
“Margepati”
Bali Gamelan: David Lewiston, producer
Music from the Morning of the World
Explorers Series Nonesuch Records David Lewiston, producer
11:33 4:31
Debussy, Claude
Images, Livre II
I. “Cloches à Travers Les Feuilles”
Georges Pludermacher, piano
Images 1 & 2; Images Oubliées; Estampes
Harmonia Mundi France 901503
16:34 00:50
Debussy, Claude
Images, Livre II
I. “Cloches à Travers Les Feuilles” (excerpt)
Georges Pludermacher, piano
Images 1 & 2; Images Oubliées; Estampes
Harmonia Mundi France 901503
18:16 4:19
Ravel, Maurice
Piano Trio in A Minor
II. Pantoum
Beaux Arts Trio
Piano Trios – Klaviertrios
Phil 411141
23:32 3:58
Debussy, Claude
Poemes de Baudelaire, No. 2: Harmonie du Soir
BBC Symphony Orchestra/ Yan Pascal Tortelier Susan Graham, soprano
Poèmes De L’amour
Warner 2005
28:53 7:30
McPhee, Colin
“Tabuh-Tabuhan,” Toccata for Orchestra and 2 Pianos,
l. Ostinato
American Composers Orchestra/ Dennis Russell Davies Peter Basquin, Christopher Oldfather, pianos
Tabuh-Tabuhan / Inner Voices / Suite for Symphonic Strings
Argo 444560
38:06 9:40
Harrison, Lou
“Main Bersama-Sama”
“Concerto in Slendro”
III. Allegro
R. Hughes, M. Kobialka, D.Kobialka, Marconi, Barbagallo and Neff
New World
New World Records 80643
49:40 7:54
Hindemith, Paul
Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber
2. Turandot, Scherzo
Philadelphia Orchestra/ Ormandy, conductor
Paul Hindemith Plays and Conducts Paul Hindemith EMI Classics
EMI 47615
PLAYLIST Friday 5/27/22
01:48 2:19
Puccini, Giacomo
La Bohème – Act 3, “Ohè, La, Le Guardie…Aprite!” (excerpt)
RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Beecham, Victoria De Los Ángeles, Jussi Björling
La Boheme
Warner Classics 67753
05:42 00:20
Puccini, Giacomo
Madama Butterfly Act 1: (excerpt)
Wiener Philharmoniker/ Herbert von Karajan
Madama Butterfly
London/ Decca 478 7819
07:07 11:54
Puccini, Giacomo
Madama Butterfly Act 1:
“… E soffitto e pareti;”
“Sorride Vostro Onore?”
“Dovunque al mondo”;
“America For Ever”;
“Ier l’altro il Consolato”
Wiener Philharmoniker/ Herbert von Karajan, Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig, Luciano Pavarotti
Madama Butterfly
London/ Decca 478 7819
21:28 3:51
Puccini, Giacomo Madama Butterfly Act 1:
“Gran ventura”
Wiener Philharmoniker/ Herbert von Karajan, c. Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig, Luciano Pavarotti
Madama Butterfly
London/ Decca 478 7819
26:13 4:41
Puccini, Giacomo
Madama Butterfly Act 2: “Un bel dì vedremo”
Wiener Philharmoniker/ Herbert von Karajan, c. Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig, Luciano Pavarotti
Madama Butterfly
London/ Decca 478 7819
32:14 5:17
Puccini, Giacomo Madama Butterfly Act 2: “Che Tua Madre Dovrà Prenderti In Braccio”
Wiener Philharmoniker/ Herbert von Karajan, c. Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig, Luciano Pavarotti
Madama Butterfly
London/ Decca 478 7819
38:14 2:40
Puccini, Giacomo
Madama Butterfly Act 2:
“Con onor muore chi non può serbar vita con onore”
Wiener Philharmoniker/ Herbert von Karajan, Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig, Luciano Pavarotti
Madama Butterfly
London/ Decca 478 7819
44:10 10:10
Mahler, Gustav
Das Lied von der Erde; II. Der Einsame im Herbst
New Philharmonia/ Otto Klemperer, conductor Christa Ludwig, mezzo soprano
Symphonies 2, 4, 7 & 9, Das Lied von der Erde
EMI 483982
55:51 3:08
Gilbert & Sullivan The Mikado
“On a Tree by a River a Little Tom-Tit” (excerpt)
The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company/ Peter Pratt
The Mikado
Sony 58889