Monologue
Impressions on "The True Story of Ah Q"
by Chen Yi
Chamber Music - Sheet Music

Chamber Music Clarinet

SKU: PR.114409480

Impressions on "The True Story of Ah Q". Composed by Chen Yi. -. Solo part. With Standard notation. Composed 1993. 4 pages. Duration 6 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #114-40948. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.114409480).

ISBN 9781598066715. UPC: 680160014231. 9x12 inches.

CHEN YIThe Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Chen Yi received bachelor and master degrees in music composition from the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and the D.M.A. degree from Columbia University. Her composition teachers have included Chou, Davidovsky, Wu, and Goehr. She has served as Composer-in-Residence for the Women’s Philharmonic and the vocal ensemble Chanticleer (1993-96) and as a member of the composition faculty at Peabody Conservatory (1996-98). Fellowships have been received from the Guggenheim Foundation, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and National Endowment for the Arts. Honors include a first prize from the Chinese National Composition Competition, the Lili Boulanger Award, the Sorel Medal, the Alpert Award, the Eddie Medora King Composition Prize, and a Grammy Award. Her music has been commissioned and performed by leading orchestras and performers around the world, and recorded on New Albion, CRI, Teldec, Nimbus, Cala, Avant, Atma, and China Record Corporation. For further information on the music of Chen Yi, please visit www.presser.com/chen.html..
It has been strongly haunting me for a long time to think about ignorance and civilization, lowliness and pride.  This piece for solo clarinet was inspired by Lu Xun’s “The True Story of Ah Q.”  Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren, 1881-1936) is China’s best-known 20th-century author of essays and short stories, in which hecalled on the Chinese people to rise and give battle of feudalism.  I want to express my gratitude to Inter-Artes in London, who commissioned and premiered the piece at a concert, “The World of Lu Xun,” on April 23, 1993 in Birmingham, U.K., for offering me an opportunity to listen to my heart through my own  music monologue.Lu Xun (Lu Hsun) (1881-1936), the father of contemporary Chinese literature, was not only a great writer but also a great revolutionary and thinker.  With a pen as his weapon he waged a heroic struggle against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism.  The writings he has left us are a treasured part of the rich literary heritage of the Chinese people.  During the days when China was under the reactionary rule of imperialist and feudal forces, the author used his articles to expose the ugliness of the dark society.  In his articles, the author gives us a perceptive and sensitive account of life at that time.  The power of his writing is revealed in his sharp, precise style.Ah Q is a representative image of common Chinese people in the early 20th century.  He is described in Lu’s novel A True Story of Ah Q as a Chinese male, simple, ignorant, non-educated, arrogant and conceited, looked down on his own motherland and people, and its culture, but admired foreigners for everything, no independent thinking and no feeling about democracy, but apathetic politically.  The author satirized Ah Q, in order to arouse the people to build up a new society with civilization and self-confidence.I highly respect Mr. Lu Xun and think that every citizen has his/her full responsibility to improve the understanding between peoples within the environments, and make all possible contributions to the society.  The solo piece is a meditation of introspection inspired by “The True Story of Ah Q.”—Chen Yi.