Yunnan Charity Concert
These song arrangements for a benefit concert in Yunnan were the very first project I ever worked on for the Beijing Dance Drama and Opera, all the way back in February, during a brief 2.5 week trip, and I’ve finally received the DVD and CD!
This solo concert features “national first-class vocalist” 吴春燕 (Wu Chun Yan) singing a variety of old and well-known Chinese pieces but to the backing of a full orchestra, the Kunming Philharmonic. As with most projects I’ve done here, I stepped in near the end when they were running out of time and had gaps they needed to fill, so I was assigned what became these three arrangements.
What the Pipa Says (琵琶语)
This song, originally an instrumental piece by 林海 (Lin Hai), is perhaps my favorite out of the set, partly because the tune itself is just so beautiful to start off with, and partly because I received my favorite instruction for any project, “Make it sound cinematic.” The CD recording is alright - the Beijing session musicians played just fine, though I question how hot the vocals are mixed in. And why does she sound like she’s in outer space?
Unfortunately, the live orchestra in Kunming needs some work. Music 101 - learn how to read notes.
Sources of Happiness (幸福源)
I wrote some kickass string parts for this arrangement. They couldn’t play it. The end. Epilogue: not all percussionists have rhythm. There’s a lesson here, kids.
Being a Good Person (做个好人)
Truthfully, this was less of an arrangement and more a dictation. The original was already written for full orchestra and pretty decent I felt, but somehow, all the music and parts were lost (I should have recognized this as a warning sign of all the shenanigans to come)! But damn, doing a full orchestral dictation from a lo-res barely audible internet clip…sometimes you just had to guess what was going on. And that’s why I claim an arrangement credit. Oh, and the intro is all me. Writing that was so hard, I nearly gave up on it.
