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Mu Gua (The Quince)
SM-000189570
| Alternative title |
The Quince |
| Composer | Gary Nash |
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Lyricist  | Confucius |
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| Translator | Gan Li |
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| Publisher | Gary Nash |
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| Genre |
Classical / Song
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| Instrumentation |
Piano, Soprano |
| Scored for | Duo |
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| Type of score | Piano-vocal score |
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| Key |
G major |
| Duration |
1'30" |
| Language | Chinese |
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| Difficulty |
Advanced |
| Year of composition |
1999 |
| Description |
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Gary Powell Nash first became interested in composing music for texts in Mandarin Chinese in 1994, after meeting a classmate who was a People’s Republic of China national and a lyric soprano. When he composed his first setting of a Mandarin Chinese poem in 1995, he did it by listening to the poet recite the poem in Chinese, writing a melody derived from that same recitation and then composing the rest of the music around that melody.
In 1999, Nash discovered a few ancient Chinese poems that he also wanted to compose musical settings for, using this same process. By this time, Nash had become somewhat fluent in Mandarin Chinese, as well more comfortable in working with Chinese texts to where he could incorporate more American music, as well has his own style and still remain sensitive to the Chinese language. Mu Gua (The Quince) embodies all of those concepts. Composed in a G major modality, Mu Gua, a medium-slow tempo, 1 and ½ minute strophic song, uses rhythms, harmonies and harmonic progressions that fuse Chinese, American popular and Western Classical music. |
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