Contemporary music feast in store for fans

The Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at the Forbidden City Concert Hall on Wednesday night as part of the Beijing Music Festival. Provided to China Daily

Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra will perform works by some of the most creative minds in contemporary Chinese music at the Forbidden City Concert Hall on Wednesday as part of the ongoing Beijing Music Festival.

Commissioned by Hangzhou Philharmonic, the composers' works combine veneration for traditional forms with techniques gleaned from Western music.

Seven Episodes of West Lake, an expansive symphony composed by Ye Xiaogang, "sings the beauty of Hangzhou", in Ye's words, through lyrics borrowed from poems written by great poets living in ancient Hangzhou, including Bai Juyi from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and Su Shi of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

"I have fond feelings for water towns in the south - and there are so many resources to utilize - lyrical material from folk songs and music around the Hangjiahu Plains in Zhejiang province," says Ye. "I felt that audiences would easily sense the exquisite and fine features in the harmony between vocal and orchestra."

The piece has been performed many times since 2011, and Ye says that he expects a more mature interpretation of "Hangzhou music" this time in Beijing.

If Seven Episodes of West Lake is regarded as an earthly introduction to the beautiful scenery of Hangzhou, Chinese Dream for Piano and Orchestra written by Zhang Zhao takes the audience to the splendor of ancient times.

Inspired by the Book of Changes, the composer depicts a modern Chinese dream using both ancient and modern instruments, a fusion between East and West, according to the composer.

Taking advantage of the solemn and glorious sound of bianzhong (chime bells), a symbol of kingly authority and prestige, the lushly scored music produces dreamlike, sacred and graceful effects.