Programme Note

Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs is a 10-minute musical journey inspired by classical Chinese landscape paintings. Mountains and cliffs have long been major subjects and inspiration in Chinese art, which often carries a great sense of expressiveness and poignancy through sumptuous colors and sparse, simple words (poetry is often part of the painting). As a composer, I wanted to create a musical piece that presents such qualities. The combination of guitar and strings has a unique blend of delicacy and color that matches perfectly the spirit and energy associated with those mystic mountains.

The work, consisting of two movements, begins with a lyrical meditation, followed by a fast and playful finale.

Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs was commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music for Curtis On Tour around the world.

—Zhou Tian