50 Chinese Folk Songs

The first of two collections on this disc, 50 Chinese Folk Songs, presents Julian Yu’s piano arrangements of well-known Chinese melodies. Fifteen further early piano pieces mix song arrangements with original writing. All 65 tracks are played by Ke Lin.

Ke Lin piano

Julian Yu composer

China is one of the oldest countries in the world, covering nearly 9.6 million square kilometres and home to at least 56 ethnic groups. Chinese folk songs, which reach back thousands of years, are correspondingly diverse and have changed a great deal over time.

This recording gathers fifty of the best-known of those songs in Julian Yu’s distinctive arrangements for solo piano. The pieces are often very short—some last little more than half a minute—yet each is worked with close attention. Several draw pleasantly on western harmonic progressions from Bach and Brahms, without losing the authentic character of the original tunes.

One favourite, Flowing Stream, a Yunnan song, rests on a single chord from start to finish and still catches the beauty of southern China with striking clarity.

The 15 Early Piano Pieces (1974–77) belong to a more conservative language. Yu wrote them in his early twenties in the last years of the Cultural Revolution, when radical techniques were not allowed. His humour still shows through. In The Ping-Pong Match, counterpoint portrays two players; as the rally heats up, the music races toward hair-raising speed.

The first of the two collections on this CD, the 50 Chinese Folk Songs, consists of pieces arranged for piano in 2018 for an album to be released by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press. I would like to thank my pianist friend Lin Ke from Sydney for his wonderful playing, and Martin Wright of Move Records for his support and many years of productive collaboration.

— Julian Yu

China is one of the oldest countries in the world, covering an area close to 9.6 million square kilometres and comprising at least 56 ethnic groups. As a result, Chinese folk songs, which date back thousands of years, are extremely diverse and have evolved significantly over time.

The present CD brings together 50 most well-known Chinese folk songs in a unique arrangement for piano solo by Julian Yu. While these arrangements are very short with some pieces lasting no more than 30 seconds, they were created with the utmost attention to detail. For example, a number of folk songs have been harmonised pleasantly using western harmonic progressions from works of Bach and Brahms. However, this has been achieved without sacrificing the authentic character of the folk songs.

One of my favourite pieces from the 50 folk songs is No. 34, Flowing Stream, originally a song from Yunnan Province. Although this piece is based on only one chord from beginning to end, it captures the breathtaking beauty of southern China perfectly.

The Early Piano Pieces (1974–77) were composed by Julian in his early 20s during the final years of the Cultural Revolution. While the musical language is very conservative (as more radical compositional techniques were not permitted at the time), Julian’s distinctive sense of humour can still be found here. This is perhaps best demonstrated in the piece, No. 64, The Ping-Pong Match, where contrapuntal techniques have been adopted to depict two Ping-Pong players. As the match intensifies, the music approaches hair-raising speed!

Lastly, I want thank Julian for involving me in this wonderful project. I have enjoyed playing the music on this CD immensely not only because these are beautiful pieces but also because they bought back many fond memories of my childhood in China.

— Ke Lin

Artists

Julian Yu

Julian Yu is a multi-award-winning Australian composer whose musical language is imbued with elegance and expressiveness, both enhanced by impeccable craft and a special attention to detail.

Ke Lin

Ke Lin was born in Shanghai and started learning the piano at age 3. However, his interest in playing piano only began at age 12 after hearing a recording of Chopin’s ‘Fantaisie Impromptu’.

Audio previews

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Tracks

50 Chinese Folk Songs Julian Yu

Flying the Kite (Hebei) :55
Gada Meilin (Inner Mongolia) :56
The Little Lover (Inner Mongolia) :55
A Patch of Willow Trees (Shanxi) :28
A New Year Visit (Shaanxi) :29
Picking Flowers (Sichuan) :27
Little Cabbage (Hebei) :22
Lan Huahua (Shaanxi) :32
Thunder a Thousand Miles Away (Shaanxi) :48
The Furry Gourd (Shanxi) :28
Jasmine (Jiangsu) :56
Jasmine (Hebei) :57
Jasmine (John Barrow) :48
Labourers Have a Hard Time (Shaanxi) :31
Small Planting, Huge Harvest (Jiangsu) :29
Weeping Seven-Seven (Jiangsu) :32
The Little Cowherd (Hebei) :35
Jagged Mountain (Sichuan) :47
Horse-Lantern Tune (Zhejiang) :30
Wind Rustles the Bamboo Leaves (Fujian) 1:04
Scenes of Wuxi (Jiangsu) :44
The Embroidered Bag (Shanxi) :25
Flower Lantern (Yunnan) :48
Going West (Shanxi) :41
A Gust of Wind Blew on the Day You Left (Inner Mongolia) :25
A Pair of Ducks and a Pair of Geese (Shaanxi) 1:08
Xintianyou Medley (Shaanxi) :58
Mountain Song of the Horseman (Yunnan) :39
Women on Patrol (Shanxi) :39
Yimeng Mountain Tune (Shandong) :26
Thirty-Mile Village (Shaanxi) :53
Bitter and Alone (Shanxi) :42
Weeping at the Great Wall (Jiangsu) :33
Flowing Stream (Yunnan) 1:12
A Rainy Day (Guangdong) 1:35
Hunting the Yellow Goat (Shaanxi) :32
Mum, You are Really Confused (Liaoning) :38
A Little Bird (Taiwan) :25
Fengyang Flower Drum – 1 (Anhui) :55
Fengyang Flower Drum – 2 (Anhui) :36
Man Jiang Hong (Ancient song) 2:04
Willows are New 1:21
Taihang Mountains (Shanxi) :32
Three Folk Songs (Shanxi and Shaanxi) 1:22
Snatching at Butterflies while Tea-Picking (Fujian) :32
Tea-Picking (Zhejiang) :47
Willows are Green (Jiangsu) :24
Jiaocheng Mountain (Shanxi) 1:00
Flower Riddle (Hebei) :33
Song of the Yellow River Boatmen (Shaanxi) 1:01

15 Early Piano Pieces Julian Yu

Canon in Two Voices :55
Pentatonic Counterpoint :43
Mountain Village Scene 2:12
Mountain Song 1:35
Day and Night, Thinking of You 1:49
Tibetan Dance 1:08
March Fair 1:19
Theme and Variations 4:01
The Little Wooden Boat 1:13
Little Pine Tree Variations 1:54
Mini Variations 1:54
Sonatina in D 2:05
Variations on The Blossoms of Friendship 1:46
The Ping-Pong Match 2:00
Variations on a Hebei Folk Song 1:43

Performers

Ke Lin

Contributors

Cover design

Ke Lin

Ke Lin was born in Shanghai and started learning the piano at age 3. However, his interest in playing piano only began at age 12 after hearing a recording of Chopin’s ‘Fantaisie Impromptu’.

Layout and photography

Martin Wright

Recording engineer and director of Move Records, Martin Wright has well over fifty years’ experience in the industry and has been widely recognised for the calibre of his recordings.

Where to listen

50 Chinese Folk Songs is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

50 Chinese Folk Songs is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.