Morning on Tai Mountain
Abstract / Program Notes
Chinese history has for many years been a source of fascination. My study of Chinese culture and my love for mountain climbing both lent themselves to fascination of the tradition of climbing Tai Mountain, especially at the night before the Chinese New Year. As this occasion would be punctuated with many fireworks, this imagery lent itself well to the snare drum used as partner to the saxophone. The composition is in four parts, each part with its own interior form: The South Gate–––Folk Tale at the Temple–––Shrines and Spirits–––The Summit at Sunrise The first part depicts the chaos of buying tickets and negotiating the crowds near the entrance. After beginning the journey, a group of people set off strings of firecrackers. The second part is the first part of the climb, where a rest stop at a temple leads to an old man telling a group of young children about his life as a child in rural Shandong province. The third part represents the steepest part of the climb, near a group of Buddhist shrines. In the late night on the mountain, these old shrines seem to have their own mystical story, and the wind howling through the canyons and shrines seem to be the voices of the dead. The fourth part is the arrival at the summit with its many souvenir stands? An old woman begs for money by singing a traditional Shandong embroidery song. Firecrackers are lit as the sun rises in the east.
Morning on Tai Mountain
Chinese history has for many years been a source of fascination. My study of Chinese culture and my love for mountain climbing both lent themselves to fascination of the tradition of climbing Tai Mountain, especially at the night before the Chinese New Year. As this occasion would be punctuated with many fireworks, this imagery lent itself well to the snare drum used as partner to the saxophone. The composition is in four parts, each part with its own interior form: The South Gate–––Folk Tale at the Temple–––Shrines and Spirits–––The Summit at Sunrise The first part depicts the chaos of buying tickets and negotiating the crowds near the entrance. After beginning the journey, a group of people set off strings of firecrackers. The second part is the first part of the climb, where a rest stop at a temple leads to an old man telling a group of young children about his life as a child in rural Shandong province. The third part represents the steepest part of the climb, near a group of Buddhist shrines. In the late night on the mountain, these old shrines seem to have their own mystical story, and the wind howling through the canyons and shrines seem to be the voices of the dead. The fourth part is the arrival at the summit with its many souvenir stands? An old woman begs for money by singing a traditional Shandong embroidery song. Firecrackers are lit as the sun rises in the east.