Ssu-Yu Huang: Grand Music of Tang

Grand Music of Tang
(guitar, 24 pieces), 2000 [~78’00”]

This suite for solo guitar was commissioned by the Japanese classical guitarist Kazuhito Yamashita. Ten of the 24 pieces were world-premiered by Mr. Yamashita in Tokyo, Japan on February 4, 2000. The ten pieces were Deer Enclosure, Welcome Rain in a Spring Night, Drinking Alone with the Moon, Grass, Deeply Moved by Music, Lady Playing Zither, Li Ping Playing the Harp, Poem Without Title, Jade Zither Sorrow, and Viewing the Moon, Thinking of You. Click here for these poems and their English translation.

"One movement is better than another, and there are real pearls among them." from a review in 2020 by Vladimir Mikulka, Czech guitar virtuoso living in Paris.

This guitar-solo suite consists of 24 pieces, each of which was inspired by a specific poem from the Tang Dynasty of China (618–907 AD). These poems can be grouped into four categories :

Nature:

1. Deer Enclosure
2. Bamboo Lodge
3. Through Yanzi Gorges
4. Autumn Night
5. Docking Overnight by Maple Bridge
6. Mooring on Jiangde River
7. Welcome Rain in a Spring Night

Wine, Friendship:

8. Drinking Alone with the Moon
9. Bring in the Wine
10. Liang State Verse
11. Wei City Song
12. Grass

Music :

13. Lady Playing Zither
14. Playing the Guqin
15. Deeply Moved by Music
16. Monk Jun Playing the Lute
17. Li Ping Playing the Harp
18. Somber Flute

Mood :

19. Yearning
20. The Adorned Zither
21. Lady Yang
22. Jade Zither Sorrow
23. Viewing the Moon, Thinking of You
24. Poem Without Title