Nanking! Nanking (2000)

Concerto for Pipa and Orchestra

Performance Note

The Pipa needs to be amplified with a single speaker placed near the soloist. The house system should not be used.

Listening Sample 1.



Listening Sample 2.



Listening Sample 3.

Program Note

The work is jointly commissioned by Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Mr. Marshall Cloyd for SIEBEN HORIZONTE (Seven Horizons) a concert for the new millennium on January 2nd, 2000, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.

The work is dedicated to Christoph Eschenbach.

The orchestration calls for three flutes (second doubles second piccolo, third doubles first piccolo), three oboes (third doubles English horn), three clarinets in Bb (second doubles Eb clarinet, third doubles bass clarinet), three bassoons (third doubles contra bassoon), four horns in F, three trumpets in C (third doubles trumpet in Bb), three trombones, tuba, timpani, four percussionists (ratchet, slapstick, low lion roar, large bass drum, low temple block, large tam-tam [60"], Chinese opera gong [ca. 11"], Chinese opera cymbal [ca. 7"],wind gong, very high wood block, guiro, cow bells (a set of 4), brake drum, bangos [a set of 4], xylophone) harp, piano, solo pipa and strings.

In December 1937, in what was then the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking (Nanjing) and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city but systematically raped, tortured, and murdered more that 300,000 Chinese civilians. Amazingly, the story of this atrocity--one of the worst in world history—continues to be unknown from public consciousness.

This work is written in memory of the victims, not a recreation of the barbarity. For someone who did not live through this horrifying episode, the story only exists in the realm of its author’s imagination. Here I try to tell a story from the world of one person (the pipa), who is not only a victim, but also a witness and survivor.

But it is also a story of human spirits, of the people in Nanking who had endured and survived this cruel violence when the government was incapable of defending its own citizens. There were also heroes during these darkest pages in history, a handful of Westerners (including a businessman from Hamburg) who risked their lives in order to save Nanking civilians. Ultimately, it is the humanity that triumphs.

—Bright Sheng

 

盛宗亮: 南京啊南京！—琵琶与管弦乐的挽歌

作品介绍:

（琵琶演出时需要音响扩大，用单个音箱放在独奏者附近。不能用剧场现有的音响扩大）

这部作品受德国北方广播交响乐团与M。克洛诶得先生委約，首演于该团迎接千禧年的《七种新视野》音乐会，2000年1月2日在汉堡由C。艾勋巴赫指挥。

这首作品献给C。艾勋巴赫指挥。

乐队配置为：独奏琵琶，3支长笛（2、3、分兼第2、第1短笛），3支双簧管（第3兼英国管），3支Bb调单簧管（第2兼Eb调单簧管，第3兼低音单簧管），3支大管（第3兼低音大管），4支F调圆号，3支C调小号（第3兼Bb调小号），3支长号，大号，定音鼓，4位打击乐手（ratchet、slapstick、低音狮吼、低音大鼓、低音木鱼、大低音鑼、京鑼、中镲、风鑼、高音板鼓、guiro、牛铃【4个一套】、刹车皮钢圈、bango鼓【一套4个】、木琴），竖琴，钢琴，弦乐队。

1937年12月，在当时中国首都南京，展开了一场史无前例及惨无人道的大屠杀。日本军占领南京后在几星期内不仅烧杀抢劫了这座毫无抵抗力的城市，并且有组织、有系统地强奸和屠杀了三十多万名中国平民。不可思议的是这样的大悲剧竟然在世界上鲜为人知。

这部作品是为纪念受难者而作，并不想重现当年的残酷。由于没有亲历其境，这个故事仅存于作曲者的想象力---试图通过独奏琵琶来讲叙她作为一位受害者、目击者和幸存者的经历。

这也是一部人类正义战胜邪恶的故事：南京市民在当时政府无力抗敌时承受并智慧地保护了自己，得以生存。在历史最黑暗的时候也有英雄，不少在南京的西方人（包括一位汉堡商人）毅然举身， 想尽办法解救了数以千记的南京人。人间正道最终凯旋。

—盛宗亮