Stock: 
Format: 
Release Date: 26-10-1998
Label: Celestial Harmonies
Catalog Number: 17075-2
Barcode: 13711707526
Musical Style: World
Track Listing:
| Disc 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heroic Air Of Chu [05:09] | 5 | Collecting Mulberry leaves [05:00] |
| 2 | Bianzhong Chime Bell Solo [03:56] | 6 | Cultivating The Land [02:49] |
| 3 | For Those Fallen For Their Country [07:34] | 7 | Chamber Music (The Osprey / Song of the Yue People) [07:17] |
| 4 | Concert Of The Eight Tones (Mourning For Ying / Clouds / Oriole / Flowing Streams) [13:43] | 8 | Music Of The Chu Palace [10:43] |
Description:
In the summer of 1978, archaeologists discovered a 2,400 year old tomb in China's central Hubei Province. Among nearly 10,000 other relics, it contained a vast array of musical instruments. A fully intact set of 64 bianzhong–chime bells was the most prominent of the musical treasures. The ancient bells were delicately inlaid in gold with intricate dragons and inscriptions documenting a surprisingly sophisticated music theory for ancient orchestras over 2,000 years ago. These amazing findings ultimately inspired The Imperial Bells of China, a unique program of music and song revolving around the bianzhong-chime bells, created and performed by the Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble. A seventeen–city tour of North America in the spring of 1989 marked the first time these instruments were heard by audiences outside of Asia. For those who missed this historic event and for those in the audience who did not get enough of this celestial music, the magic of The Imperial Bells of China is now available. Captured in concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the recording catapults the listener back in time to a world filled with lyrical Chinese songs, ancient flutes and pan–pipes and the scintillating, effervescent sounds of the bells themselves. Love songs and legends taken from two of the oldest collections of Chinese poetry combine with the traditional folk music from the Hubei Province and the delicate sounds of Chinese classical music to create a vivid, richly varied experience of this ancient and colorful culture.
Biography:
Formally established in 1959, the Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble plays painstakingly crafted reproductions of the many rare instruments found in the tomb of Marquis Yi. The group's primary aim is to collect, study and perform the folk music and dances of the Hubei Province. Extensive research in musical traditions of remote regions of China has led to the creation of a number of fascinating new works. Now, decades later, the ensemble continues to contribute to the development of performing arts which have a rich national flavor as well as a distinctive regional color. The Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble trains members on its special instruments and has over 200 members, including leading performers selected throughout China.
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