Postcards (1997)

for Chamber Orchestra

1. from the Mountains



2. from the River Valley



3. from the Savage Land



4. Wish you were here

Program Note

In 1997, I was approached by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for a commission. I was told that I was selected from ten composers by the commissioner Ruth and John Huss, who were the patrons of the orchestra and chose me to write a work in celebration of their silver wedding anniversary. I subsequently had a nice conversation with the Husses and was told that they chose me because my music reminded them of their fantastic trip to China a few years earlier. So I thought a selection of music postcards from various places in China would be appropriate for the occasion. Thus I based each of these four short movements on a folk music style from different regions in China.

Postcards was premiered on January 22, 1999 in St. Paul’s Ordway Music Theatre by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Hugh Wolff, and is dedicated to Ruth and John Huss.

—Bright Sheng