(from Yellow River Cantata by Xian Xinghai)
(arranged by Yin Chengzong and a group of composers that included Xu Feixing, Sheng Lihong, Shi Shucheng, Chu Waghua and Liu Zhuang)
This piano concerto is the result of an arrangement of the Yellow River Cantata that was written by the composer Xian Xinghai in 1939. It was inspired by Guang Weiran’s patriotic poem Yellow River, which he adapted and used for the lyrics and became a well known piece in China. It was written, supposedly while hiding in a cave, during the Second Sino-Japanese War and took a total of six days to complete, after having finished it in four days but adding a further two to do amendments to the sixth and eight movements.
The piece was banned in China during the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976, but in the late 1960s Yin Chengzong adapted the work into a piano concerto after he had put his piano onto a truck and went to Tiananmen Square where he used it as an accompaniment for revolutionary songs. He was noticed by the actress and political activist Jiang Qing, known by the name Madame Mao. She got a group of musician from the Central Philharmonic Society to rearrange the cantata and hence it became a four movement piano concerto. The performing edition of the concerto was improved and in 1970 the standard piece was created and premiered by Yin Chengzong and the Beijing Central Philharmonic Orchestra in 1970.
When the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976 the concerto was banished from being performed on stage in China but had gained attention in other countries. By the late 1980s it returned to being performed live in China and has since been played on stage and on recordings by both Chienese and Western musicians.
The concerto consists of four movements which are:
- Prelude: The Song of the Yellow River Boatman which highlights the waves of the Yellow River and their terrifying momentum.
- Ode to the Yellow River which praises the cultural pride in the Yellow River’s presence and history and includes the opening element of the Chinese National Anthem in the trombone part of the movement.
- The Wrath of the Yellow River which was originally sung as a soprano solo but starts with a dizi (Chinese transverse flute) solo as an accompaniment to the piano and has been thought to have used the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto as an influence.
- Defend the Yellow River which has been arranged as polyphonic canon and includes the use of the tune from the revolutionary song “The East Is Red”.
It has been recorded by several artists and orchestras that include Yin Chengzong with the Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Epstein with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Lang Lang with the China Philharmonic Orchestra and Ilana Vered with the National Philharmonic Orchestra among others.
Lang Lang recordings
DG 477 6229 (CD: Dragon Songs)
China Philharmonic Orchestra
Piano – Lang Lang
Conductor – Long Yu
Flute (Chinese) – Chen Shasha
Lute – Wu Yuxia
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River_Piano_Concerto
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River_Cantata
- https://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/3378
- https://www.wrti.org/arts-desk/2015-09-28/the-story-of-the-cantata-that-led-to-the-famous-yellow-river-piano-concerto
- https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/4130/
- https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.225805
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/works/22502–xian-xing-hi-yellow-river-piano-concerto/browse
- https://www.discogs.com/search?q=yellow+river%20piano%20concerto&type=all
- https://www.allmusic.com/composition/yellow-river-piano-concerto-mc0002374492