Chen-China West Suite (SP)-M/PN

"Originally commissioned by and dedicated to the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Germany for Dennis Russel Davies and Maki Namekawa to premiere on June 4, 2007, my work CHINA WEST SUITE is written in four movements for two pianos. The authentic folk music from China West has amazed and inspired me to write this piece, which has the folk music elements drawn from the folk songs Gadameilin Du Mu and Amaliehuo of the Zang People, and Dou Duo and the Lusheng ensemble music of the Miao People. I have adopted the piece for marimba and piano after the premiere, under the request from Prof. Jeffery Meyer of Ithaca College, who is the pianist of the piano-percussion duo "Strike" for a recording project on Luminescence Records in Chicago, and their performances in 2008"

-Chen Yi


Number of Players: 2
Difficulty: Grade 4+
Instrumentation:

Player I: 4.3 Marimba

Player II: Piano

Born April 4, 1953, in Guangzhou, China, into a family of doctors with a strong interest in classical music, Chen Yi started studying violin and piano at age three with Zheng Rihua and Li Suxin, and music theory with Zheng Zhong. Dr. Chen has received music degrees from the Beijing Central Conservatory (BA and MA) and Columbia University in the City of New York (DMA). Dr. Chen's major composition teachers included Professors Chou Wen-chung, Mario Davidovsky, Wu Zu-qiang and Alexander Goehr.