CD 1
Melodies of Western Yunnan - Suite for Chinese traditional orchestra Op. 19 (1993)
1. I. A-Wa Mountain
2. II. Jino Dance
3. Parade - trio for six Beijing Opera gongs Op. 40 (2003)
4. Mount Riyue - Rhapsody for Chinese traditional orchestra Op. 37 (2002)

CD 2
Drama - trio for 3 pairs of cymbals Op. 23 (1996)
1. I.
2. II.				play
3. III.
Chou Kong Shan (Listen to the Mountain) - Concerto for bamboo flutes and Chinese
 traditional orchestra Op. 18a
4. I. Lento-Adagio
5. II. Allegro
6. III. Andantino-Moderato

Bamboo Flute – Dai Ya
Percussion – Wang Jianhua, Liu Gang, Wang Yidong
China Broadcast Chinese Orchestra
Peng Jiapeng – conductor

Beijing Concert Hall, November 19, 2006

Guo Wenjing is a contemporary Chinese composer. He attended the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing iand was one of the members of the famous Class of '78, (which also included fellow composers Zhou Long, Chen Yi, Tan Dun and Chen Qigang). Despite being highly regarded in his homeland, as well as having enjoyed some success abroad, no recordings of Guo's music have been made available outside China. The current program features five works by Guo, composed between 1993 and 2003 for traditional Chinese instruments and ensembles, including his two amazing trios for Beijing opera gongs.

He has composed for both Western and Chinese instruments. His works include concertos for erhu and bamboo flute, and an opera based on the life of the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. He composed the score to several films, including Blush (1994), In the Heat of the Sun (1994), and Zhang Yimou's Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005).

Guo's music first became known in the West in 1983, when Suspended Ancient Coffins on the Cliffs on Sichuan was premiered in Berkeley, California. The piece clearly pays tribute to Bartók, highlighting two solo pianos with a battery of percussion instruments, but the strong imprint of Guo’s own Sichuanese roots is unmistakable in the orchestral writing. Shu Dao Nan [Hard are the ways of Sichuan] (1987), a symphonic poem with voices, is a setting of Li Bai’s poetry, which the official People’s Music Publishing House selected as part of its series “Twentieth-Century Distinguished Chinese Classics”. Chou Kong Shan [Sorrowful, Desolate Mountain] (1992, rev. 1995), a concerto for Chinese bamboo flute, was premiered by the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden under the baton of Neeme Järvi. Guo’s other orchestral works include concertos for violin, cello, and harp. Apart from his chamber music for traditional western string quartets and percussion ensembles, Guo also has composed Late Spring (1995) for Chinese ensemble and Sound from Tibet (2001) combining instruments from China and the West. Among his most performed chamber works are Drama (1995, a trio for three percussionists who also speak and sing), Inscriptions on Bone (1996, for alto singer and 15 instruments), She Huo (1991, for eleven players) and Parade (2004, a sequel to Drama, for three percussionists). Guo has also composed music scores for 20 feature films and 25 television films in China.

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1. Riding on the Wind: Overture for Orchestra and Military Band

Symphony in B Minor, Op. 39 "Hero"
2. I. The Spreading Flames
3. II. The Motherland

While Guo Wenjing's modernist scores have established him as one of China's most imaginative and individualistic contemporary composers, he can, when the occasion or a commission requires, produce works with a broad popular appeal. The current program features two works in this populist/nationalist idiom. The overture for orchestra and military band, "Riding on the Wind" makes a splendid noise, as well as slyly swiping some gestures from John Williams' score for "The Cowboys." More serious in tone is the B Minor "Heroic" Symphony, op. 39. Guo definitely knows his Shostakovich and Prokofiev - as can be heard in this grandiose Socialist-Realist "Heroic" Symphony. Throughout the score Guo quotes from L'Internationale, Dong Fang Hong (The East is Red), The March of the Volunteers (China's National Anthem) as well as a signature quote from composer Lu Qiming's "Ode to the Red Flag" (a work well-known to all Chinese concert goers).

Guo's music is utterly infectous - brilliantly orchestrated, witty, never over-staying its welcome. Even though neither of these works claim any pretense to the vangaurd, they are - with tongue firmly in cheek - "Revolutionary" ^_^ ---jayfan.com

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1. Shu Dao Nan 	23'17"

Guo Wenjing is one of China's most exciting young composers. A member of the legendary Class of '78, he works represent one of the most successful attempts at fusing a unique Chinese aesthetic with late 20th century western musical techniques and forms. His expressionistic cantata, Shu Dao Nan (Hard Are the Ways of Szechwan), a setting of Li Bai's famous poem, was one of Guo's earliest success. Dense orchestrations, melodies inspired by regional folk songs and a solo tenor, whose frequent flights into the highest tessitura (evoking the sounds of Chinese opera) combine to provide a truly thrilling musical experience.

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