Three Short Works: Opera Overture "Yue Fei" and Two Pieces in Saibei Folk Style selected from "Saibei Suite No.1 "A Morning Song on the Mountains" and No.2, "Saibei Dance"

1.Opera Overture “Yue Fei”: 
     For the four-act opera based on the tragic-historic story of Yue Fei, a general and national hero in the Southern Soong Dynasty, the overture gives a joyous scene of victory of the Soong troops at the town of Zhuxian and thus in sharp contrast to the following tragedy drama.
2. Two Pieces in Saibei Folk Style: 
     No.1, “A Morning Song on the Mountains” [10 min.], 
             selected from “Saibei Suite No.1”, using the different        instrumental colors, from cool and dark to warm and bright, the music gives a scene of sun-raise in Saibei area. And, without a break, the music moves to its 
     No.2, “Saibei Dance” [4 min.], 
              which was composed in the typical wind-percussion musical style of the Northern West China. 
It's selected from “Saibei Suite No.2”.

1. Opera Overture “Yue Fei”, Op.37 (1986)
     The full-scale opera “Yue Fei”(op.37) was originally written by the composer in partial fulfillment of graduation requirements at the Yale University, and earned him the Most Outstanding Graduate prize of the Yale Alumni Association in 1986. This is Huang’s eighth opera score, with Xu Qing-dong’s libretto, which has been dedicated to Liu Shi-rong, Dedicated to the renowned Chinese woman conductor, Zheng Xiao-ying, this four-act opera is based on the tragic-historic story of Yue Fei, a general in the Southern Soong Dynasty. But the overture is a joyous scene of victory of the Soong troops at the town of Zhuxian and thus in sharp contrast to what is to the following tragedy drama. The overture also gives an early indication of the deep and generous character of the hero, Yue Fei. While the overture was premiered by Yale Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986, the entire opera hadn’t been staged yet for a public performance.
[Duration:2 and half min.] 

2.Two Pieces in Saibei Folk Style
     selected from “Saibei Suite No.1, Op.15(1973) and No.2, Op.21(1975)
     Saibei is the region in North of the Great Wall, China, including part of Hebei, Shanxi and Inner-Mongolia. The folk music there is very unique, especially for its big leap of the melodicline. 
     In this style, without using any original folk tune, An-lun Huang composed two”Saibei Suites in early seventies. They were then premiered successfully by the Central Opera Orchestra, conducted by Zheng xiao-ying. 
     As a commission of the Bamburg Symphony Orchestra, Germany, Huang re-orchestrated these two pieces from the suites. Since their successfully Germany premiere, they have been widely performed and warmly received around the world, including the CD by the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow, conducted by Tak-ng Lai, in 1996.
     No.1, “A Morning Song on the Mountains” [10 min.], 
            selected from “Saibei Suite No.1”, using the different instrumental colors, from cool and dark to warm and bright, the music gives a scene of sun-raise in Saibei area. And, without a break, the music moves to its
     No.2, “Saibei Dance” [4 min.], 
            which was composed in the typical wind-percussion musical style of the Northern West China. 
It's selected from “Saibei Suite No.2”.
[Duration:15 min.]
Instrumentation:
Flauti piccolo, 2 Flauti, 2 Oboi, 2 Clarinetti in B flat, 2 Fagotti, 4 Corni in F,
3 Trombe in B flat, 3 Tromboni, 1 Tuba, 4 Timpani, Piatti, Triangl, Tamburo, G.C. Arpa and Strings.

Score Order => 

Opera Overture "Yue Fei"

Two Pieces in Saibei Folk Style