BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Yiyun Gu is a Melbourne concert pianist who cares about what audiences understand. For her upcoming event at the Melbourne Recital Centre, she hasn’t just chosen a program of works that showcase her skills. She’s handpicked pieces that she feels showcase the best voices in Eastern and Western composition.
East Meets West is a concert experience that is set to take listeners through the “differences and similarities of music” from different cultures of the world. A balance between three Chinese and three Western composers of varying genres and eras, the journey will be as educational as it will musical.
Of her choices of music, Yiyun says she wishes to “help the contemporary composers, especially those who are from a different cultural background, be heard and understood by more people”.
The Chinese-born Australian musician has played piano since she was three, and has won awards across China and Australia. Also with degrees in economics and commerce behind her, Yiyun completed a Master of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in 2013. She now dedicates herself to performing “contemporary music written by Chinese composers, and hopes to present more of them to Australian audiences”.
Let’s talk East Meets West.
Yiyun, tell us all about East Meets West. How did the idea for this concert come about?
It is a program that I have selected pieces from Western composers such as Liszt and Debussy, and Chinese contemporary composers such as Tan Dun. In each thematic group, there are two pieces that were inspired by the similar object. For example, in the moon light group, I have Debussy’s Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (‘The moon sets over the ancient temple’) and Tan Dun’s Missing Moon. It is for the audience to find the connection and difference between two works composed not only far away in time, but also in distance.
You’ve said that the program explores the “differences and similarities” of Eastern and Western music. How can we hear this on a practical level?
Difference and similarities can be in many ways. For example, Mo Fan’s Dreaming of the Tiger Spring has the similar texture as Liszt’s Beside a Spring, when both of these two composers wanted to describe the running of water. However, the structure and harmony they used for their composition is totally different, which the audience can hear immediately from the music. It is just like looking at two paintings, one by Monet and one by a Chinese artist in Qing dynasty.
You’ve selected a remarkable range of composers to perform, from Tan Dun to Debussy; Mo Fan to Piazzolla. Why do you feel these composers speak to their cultures – why are they particularly strong representatives of these ideas of “East and West”?
The initial purpose is to introduce some contemporary Chinese composers’ piano composition to the Australian audience. Tan Dun is one of the most important contemporary Chinese composers. Mo Fan has written a wide range of compositions including some theatre works, although they are not familiar to our audience here. Gao Ping is a representative of the new generation Chinese composers, and he lived and taught in New Zealand, and performed in Port Fairy Spring Music Festival before he came back to China.
The selection of three Western composers is not only a representative of three different times which are my favourite – romantic, impressionist, and modern Latin music – but also a good pair with my selection of the Chinese works. And to the audience, from the known to the unknown.
You have performed right across Europe, but also have a strong interest in presenting contemporary Chinese composition. How has your musical technique evolved to accommodate for stylistic expressions across ranging cultural traditions?
In my years of piano study from a young age, my repertoire was mainly from European composers, just like most of the piano students all over the world (Czerny, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, etc.), which lays a good foundation for my technique and understanding of music. At the same time, I was exposed to traditional Chinese music from time to time when I was in China, from school study, as well as from everyday life. I am quite familiar with some tunes and have an understanding of difference style of music from difference area of China.
In the modern days, contemporary Chinese compositions don’t really sound like traditional Chinese music, but I am always interested in finding the trace of the Eastern elements the composer implanted in the music, and exploring those brand new ideas, including sound, rhythm, and technique.
Your program celebrates differences by presenting Eastern and Western music side-by-side. How far away do you feel that we are from hearing music that unites musical styles from all over the world?
This is a very interesting topic. Actually, some modern Chinese composers’ music has very little trace of traditional elements, such as Gao Ping’s wonderful work Dance Fury – Homage to Astor Piazzolla – it is totally exotic from the view of [a person who is] Chinese; while some Western composers start to implant Eastern elements in their music, which makes the music sound a lot more Chinese than Chinese composers’ work. I think the barrier has already been broken.
What do you wish Western audiences would better understand about Chinese music? And what do you feel Chinese audiences should take away from Western music?
I think it will be very helpful for the audience to listen to music from different cultures – not only make music listening more interesting, but also help the classical music industry to develop more healthily and sustainably.
Yiyun Gu will perform East Meets West at 6pm March 26 in the Melbourne Recital Centre Salon as part of the Spotlight Series
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