by Wong Kong Yu
Initially I write this set of Prelude and Fugue to refresh my ears. After having this set finished, I am very happy for having my own book of works eventually, even though it is still way less than 24. Making use of national tones in polyphonic music has always been the tradition of Chinese composers. I, unavoidably, have done the same thing and been immersed.
Although far from radical, some new techniques can still be found. Take Fugue No. 2 and No. 4 as examples, on one hand, pure tonalities are kept; on the other hand, remote key modulations are used. This is the result of my study in Shostakovitch's piano fugues.
The idea of Fugue No.1 comes from Chinese composer Luo Zhongrong's Rhythmic Fugue. The first three measures in this fugue can be notated as 3/8. In some stretto passages in mm. 56-59, 76-81 and 106-109 and the ending of tonic pedal, two layers of these rhythms combine and give an extra energy to the music.
Significantly, the right hand first eight-bar melody in Prelude No. 1 was composed when I was 16 years old. This is the very reason why I keep it pure here. I harmonized the melody differently when it reappears, and its time value is expanded and later becomes the middle part of the piece (mm. 34-62).
No. 2 Prelude and Fugue imitates folk music of Xingjiang: those persistent, irregular steps and Arabian modes.
In No. 3, the Prelude adopts two folk songs from Vietnam. There is a fluid scale passage and a four-dyads descent to describe continuous sounds of strings, cymbals and gongs. The harmony is based on quartal chords that is solely used here among the set. The fugue, which resembles an invention, clearly shows the characteristics of Cantonese music.
Prelude No. 4 is a rondo, with a basic four-note motive from Mongolian horse-fiddle music. This simple pentatonic phrase is repeated, expanded, enlarged and rearranged, finally it becomes the main and subsidiary parts and creates a sense of polytonality in the later part of this piece. At the end of the fugue, this motive appears again in four octaves.
Program Notes provided by the composer
Zhou Qian, piano (I and II)
Born in Wuhan in 1977, Zhou Qian was a student of Affiliated Middle School of Wuhan Music Conservatory since 1989, studying piano with Professor Gu Zi Yu. In 1995 she entered the Shanghai Music Conservatory, studying composition under Prof. Zhao Xiao Sheng. Since 1999, she had also studied piano under Ms. Huang Hong and Ms. Zhou Shi Yu. She is now pursuing her Master of Music Composition in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, studying under Prof. Chan Wing Wah.
Shirley So, piano (III and IV)
Shirley So was born in Hong Kong and started to learn piano at 6. She is a year 3 student in the Music Department of the CUHK. She is major in piano under the instruction of Dr. Mary Wu. She also studies chamber music under the instruction of several professors in the department, such as Prof. Michael McClellan for piano trio and Dr. Mary Wu for Bach's Double Concerto. Shirley received numerous awards from open piano competitions such as Hong Kong International Piano competition and the Piano Competition of Piano Festival 1997 organized by the Hong Kong International Institute of Music. She joined the 23rd International Music Festival in Kagoshima, Japan in 2002 and was invited to be a guest performer for the program, "The Young Music Makers", for RTHK Radio 4.
Scores (2.65 Mb)
Prelude I (3.85 Mb)