Between Sound and Shadow
In the late raining evening at the café, my mate Liu Xuanguang and I was sitting on the bar table, and discussed about the ensemble founding strictly. This was the night in July 30th, 2019 at around 21:00, I can still remember quite clear of this night’s memory even with the exactly time. The feeble lights hid behind the glasses reflected on the white marble bar table, and Xuanguang said with his frowned countenance: “Do you really think we can make it in reality in our city? A city without any chamber music ensemble in the history? What and how we will do?” I didn’t exact know how to answer him, but one only thing I was felt, just like the lights, sound of that environment and shadows of our all on the bar table, we have to create this ensemble as the first one and contact with music listeners in our city and then steps to other places. So I said peacefully to him: “Let’s try this and start to perform chamber concerts in Yichang, then go farther for more possibilities.” Very simple reply with no impetuous emotions, and Xuanguang also agree this simply as he always during our other usual discussions. This is the formal beginning of our story. Between the soft raining sound outside the café with the weak lights illuminated our coffee cups and reflected shadows on the table, I found a special and mystical line which was connecting this two sides, like the musician performs on the stage in the dark lights and connects audiences in the dark seats area, their shadows, minds and emotions are connected by the music and lights, and music is the lights of consciousness. Finally, we named as “Soundshadow Ensemble”.
As our primary thought of founding our ensemble, we always try to connect with listeners. In the middle of 2021, we decided to make this album and planned four members join this project: Liu Xuanguang (Piano), Cao Yuchen (Violin), Zou Shilong (Guitar), and me Chen Hu Jie (Clarinet). Pieces in this album aim for expressing the different bright and dark colours of the music, and embody our name “soundshadow”. So the pieces in this album have contrasting and finally drop into the dark musical colour, like sinking into shadows. When we talked about the repertoire of this album, just also planned some repertoires for our winter season’s concert in 2021 at the same time. Norbert Burgmüller’s Duo for Clarinet and Piano is one of the main piece that we played in the winter concert. At the planning time, we hoped our performances can include romantic emotions, bright colours, beauties and hope. So that, Burgmüller: Duo, Op.15 was a very good choice for this concert, especially concert night date closed to the new year’s eve. We recorded this piece on the Christmas Eve, and played live on our last “Shadowless” series concert. Then as the bright beginning of this album. Besides the duo between the clarinet and piano, for this album, we also hope there are more different corporate combos. That why we asked our brilliant guitarist Zou Shilong to play three duos in this album, one with the piano and the guitar as the solo melody, one with the clarinet, and one with the violin, these two are most as accompaniments. Spanish guitarist Jóse Ferrer’s Boléro, Op.39 and Germany composer Joseph Küffner’s Serenade for Clarinet and Guitar, Op.68 are Zou’s favourite choices for this album. These two pieces describe a quiet night picture: “The natural sound in the dark forests, delicate summer wind touches the trees, a lonely guitarist plays the music for the far lover”. Cao Yuchen based on the character of guitar, chose Nicolò Paganini: Cantabile, MS 109 for his corporation with guitarist. He thought this piece could give out a bright musical colour with expressive emotions. The elegant violin part plays a pure song for our beautiful life. Another memory is about our violinist Cao and me. I met and knew him since 2018 when we were in the music college in the United States. We were the roommates of our college time, too. One day, after I rehearsed Aram Khachaturian’s Trio for Clarinet, violin and piano, I went back to our apartment, and said to Cao: “I hope that I can play and record this trio with you when we back to China.” Because I was really influenced by this piece at the first time when I played this piece in America. All three movements wrote in a strong and obviously Armenian style. But especially the final movement, I like most. The theme melody of the third movement was transcribed in a famous Chinese Uyghur folk song Lift Your Veil by the Chinese Songwriter Wang Luobin. This song is from Xinjiang Province in China, and then was popular to the all provinces in China. So that when I play the beginning of this third movement, I always add some our style and a kind of native language accent expressions into the performance. In this combination, we can feel the western and eastern cultures are breaking the border and come together, communicate and understand each others. Moving back our eyes from my memory fragments to this album, Khachaturian’s Trio is the last piece. This trio goes back to the darker musical colours with more shadows, finally ends with a morendo clarinet tones and a pianissimo violin’s pizzicato. Some people may ask why we don’t make an exciting ending of all? But if I say this is not the ending, this is meaning: To be continued. Right, this just a start of Soundshadow Ensemble. Like we paid a lot of efforts for popularizing chamber music in our city and searching for more in other places, our steps never end here, we are still looking forward, and maybe someday take you from the dark shadow to the another beautiful lights places. As I am writing this introduction for our album and sitting in the same seats in the same café. The coffee cup’s shadow still reflects on the white marble table, but the lights is brighter.
Chen Hu Jie
(Soundshadow Ensemble Artistic Director)
Now Yichang from Summer to Autumn.