East meets West at 2024 Beijing Music Festival

In 2013, Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Zhou Long created Jiu Ge, or Nine Odes, a whole evening symphonic epic based on the poems called Nine Songs by ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan. This marked the first time that a full, large-scale symphony interpretation of the entire 11 chapters of Qu's poem had been attempted. This year, a new version of the 2013 epic commissioned by the Beijing Music Festival (BMF) and composed by Zhou will be performed alongside the concerto Immortal Love by composer Richard Dubugnon during a concert at Beijing's Poly Theater on Tuesday night. 

Yu Long, chairman of the Beijing Music Festival Arts Foundation, recalled that the BMF raised the idea of the Chinese Concept in 2002, after which it has launched a number of Chinese music pieces and the careers of Chinese musicians.   

"I hope the BMF is not just about music performances, but also brings Chinese concepts and Chinese culture to the world through fine works," said Yu, who convinced Zhou to recreate the new version of Jiu Ge. 

According to Zhou, the new version uses the 11 chapters of the ancient epic as a framework for erhu, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, focused composition. It replaces the lyrics of the original song with modern, elegant and poetic rhythm. Across the various chapters, Western instruments are introduced to build characters and imagery to boost the storytelling. 

"In this new work, erhu is not just an instrument, but also a narrator traveling through time and space, telling the story in the Nine Songs with its unique timbre and expressiveness," he said.

The concert also features conductor Huang Yi, cellist Gautier Capucon, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet as well as musicians from the Guangzhou Symphony.

Both Gautier Capucon and Jean-Yves Thibaudet said it was a "great pleasure to be back on the stage of the BMF to perform Immortal Love. 

"It's a piece which is very dear to us [Jean-Yves Thibaudet and himself], the first piece written for us for piano and cello. And we have been great friends since 2000, so 24 years, that's a great friendship. And it's always an immense pleasure to be on stage," said Capucon.