ISSUU Version for perusal only
From the G. Schirmer Rental Library
Date of Printing________________
G.Schirmer, Inc.
New York, NY
ISSUU Version for perusal only
Bright Sheng
ISSUU Version for perusal only
NANKING! NANKING! a threnody for orchestra and pipa (1999)
NANKING! NANKING! was jointly commissioned by Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Mr. Marshall Cloyd for SIEBEN HORIZONTE (Seven Horizons) a concert for the New Millennium First performance January 2nd, 2000, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach
New York, NY
G. Schirmer, Inc.
ISSUU Version for perusal only
Instrumentation
3 Flutes (3rd doubling Piccolo 1, 2nd doubling Piccolo 2)
ISSUU Version for perusal only
3 Oboes (3rd doubling English Horn)
3 Clarinets in Bb (2nd doubling Eb Clarinet, 3rd doubling Bass Clarinet)
3 Bassoons (3rd doubling Contrabassoon)
4 Horns in F
3 Trumpets in C
2 Trombones
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (4 players)
ratchet
slapstick
low lion roar large bass drum low temple block large tamtam [60”]
Chinese opera gong [ca. 11”]
Chinese opera cymbal [ca. 7”]
wind gong
very high wood block guiro
cow bells (set of 4)
brake drum bongos (set of 4)
xylophone
Harp Piano
Solo Pipa*
Strings
ISSUU Version for perusal only
Program note
In December 1937, in what was then the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres occurred in the long annals of wartime barbarity. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking (Nanjing) and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city, but systematically raped, tortured, and murdered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. Amazingly, the story of this atrocity, one of the worst in history, continues to be little known by the public.
This work is written in memory of the victims. It is not a recreation of the massacre. For someone who did not live through this horrifying episode, the story exists only in the realm of its author’s imagination. Here I try to tell the story through the “eyes” of one person (the pipa), a victim, witness and survivor.
But it is also a story of humanity’s spirit, of the people in Nanking who endured and survived the cruel violence when the government was incapable of defending its own citizens. There were also heroes during these dark pages in history: a handful of Westerners (including a businessman from Hamburg) who risked their lives in order to save Nanking civilians. Ultimately, it is humanity that triumphs.
– Bright Sheng