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Home > Composers Datebook > Bright Sheng's "Flute Moon"


	Podcast:		Composers Datebook
	Episode:		Bright Sheng's "Flute Moon"
	Category:		Health
	Duration:		00:01:59
	Publish Date:		2018-05-22 00:00:00
	Description:		Today we offer more proof (if you still need it) that the world of MUSIC, like the world in general, is getting smaller all the time. On today’s date in 1999, the Houston Symphony, led by its German conductor Christoph Eschenbach, gave the first performance of this music, a work by the Chinese composer Bright Sheng. “Flute Moon” is scored for solo piccolo and flute, with harp, piano, percussion and string orchestra. Its first section portrays a couple of giant unicorns in Chinese mythology; its second is based on a classic Chinese art song of the 13th century. Bright Sheng was born in Shanghai in 1955. During Madame Mao’s “Cultural Revolution” of the late 1960s, he worked with a folk music and dance troupe near the Tibetan border. In 1978, after the Cultural Revolution had ended, he was able to study at the Shanghai Conservatory. In 1982 he came to New York for additional study, where his teachers included the American composer Leonard Bernstein. In short order, Bright Sheng established himself as one of the most sought-after Chinese composers of our time. In addition to winning major composition awards and prizes, he’s held a number of major teaching posts across America. “Why do I compose?” he asks. “Music is a way for me to express feelings as well as a way to express concrete thoughts. These are the two opposites of the spectrum. One is more spontaneous, while the other requires more logic and organization skills. One helps the other to achieve the maximum result.”
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