Wu Dai Tong Tang 五代同堂, played by Michelle Yip by Julian Grant published on 2017-08-20T02:30:33Z During the time I lived in Beijing, from 2007-2010, I was bought, as a consolation prize for not mastering Mandarin, a yang-qin (butterfly harp), because I had admired it in a shop window. The sight of such a handsome instrument residing at home, unplayed, was a reproach, and so I got a very rigorous teacher who taught me the basics, so I was able to play duets with her, and later even joined in with a traditional ensemble. Strangely it is the one staple instrument of a Chinese opera band that probably originated in Eastern Europe, as it resembles a dulcimer. For a family birthday, I managed to compose and play a piece for my yang-qin, which I later transcribed for piano. I surrounded the piece with satellite pieces, using similar restricted pitches and textures, rather like Satie’s Gymnopédies, to create a small suite. The pieces were composed haphazardly and in no particular order. Because I ended up with five, I allude in the title to the strange inedible fruit, that resembles a lemon with five‐fingers ‐ or an inflated rubber glove ‐ that appears at Chinese New Year to celebrate continuity: Wu Dai Tong Tang: five generations one house – here, five aspects of the same material. Genre Classical Contains tracks Grant: Wu Dai Tong Tang - 1 by Julian Grant published on 2017-08-20T02:30:33Z Grant: Wu Dai Tong Tang - 2 by Julian Grant published on 2017-08-20T02:30:32Z Grant: Wu Dai Tong Tang - 3 by Julian Grant published on 2017-08-20T02:30:30Z Grant: Wu Dai Tong Tang - 4 by Julian Grant published on 2017-08-20T02:30:29Z Grant: Wu Dai Tong Tang - 5 by Julian Grant published on 2017-08-20T02:30:28Z
