The Courtesan: Six Songs on Poems of Yu Hsuan-chi

Six songs for soprano voice, and two percussionists

Commissioned by Wild Cheetahs, Portland, Oregon

Duration: 18min.

NOTES
The Courtesan: Six Songs on Poems of Yu Xuanji is a setting of poems by one of China's premiere woman poets. Born in 843 A.D. during the Tang dynasty- the golden age of Chinese poetry, Yu was a highly educated and talented courtesan, respected by literary society for her intensely personal poetry. During her short life, she was variously and sometimes simultaneously a Taoist nun, a courtesan, a concubine and a poet. I have selected six poems which seem to describe a journey sadly typical of a courtesan's life: from hopeful, naive love, through painful loss, and finally to a spiritual trancendence. The translations are elegantly rendered by Geoffrey Waters.

The piece is set in a musical style very reminiscent of traditional Chinese song. The musical lines are based on five note scales with the missing fourth and seventh scale tones added occasionally for accent and tension. The percussion is partly traditional- the Chinese opera gongs and cymbals- and partly imitative of tradition- for example the use of claves instead of wooden clappers. Overall, the piece seeks to reflect the marvelous beauty and simplicity of Yu Xuanji's poetry.

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