Songs across the Aeons 唐诗神游 (2021)
Instrumentation:
Mezzo-soprano
Flute
Violin
Cello
Piano
Duration:
ca. 13’
I. Ascending the Tower of Cranes 登鹳雀楼
II. Silent Mountains 空山不见人
III. Twilights in the Desert 大漠孤烟直
IV. The Big Dipper High in the Sky 北斗七星高
Texts by the Taiwanese poet Yu Kwang-Chung 余光中 (1928–2017) / English translations by the composer
Dedicated to Katherine Chu, Dean of the Tianjin Juilliard School, and the iSING! International Young Artists Festival
II. Silent Mountains 空山不见人
空山不见人
但峭壁多回声
一声咳嗽
似远又似近
也许那人已转过
右边大斧劈的悬崖
早没于盘旋的松径
空山无人
才真是自在
鸟声，没关系
瀑布声，更没关系
但一声不明的咳嗽
就乱了整幅禅机
你说是吗，王维
among mountains with no one in sight
but sounds echoing on their cliffs
a cough
seemingly both far and close by
maybe the person already turned
the corner to the right
already disappeared beyond the winding trails
among mountains with no one in sight
a most peaceful moment
birdsong, not an issue
the sound of waterfalls, also not an issue
but one unidentifiable source of a cough
disturbs the entire picture of Zen
don’t you agree, Wang Wei?
IV. The Big Dipper High in the Sky 北斗七星高
北纬线长
把北斗越放越高
半天寒光
抖动哥舒的宝刀
长安今夜
想正是万家灯火
但在寒外
却已暗穹为帐篷
以星高闪烁为烛光
来伴将军的薄梦
the higher the latitude
the higher the Big Dipper appears in the sky
half the sky lit by cold starlight
rattling the general’s powerful sword
Chang’an tonight must be lit by the light of ten thousand homes
yet out on the cold steppes
only the dark sky serves as a tent
starlight in place of candlelight
shining upon the general’s shattered dreams
I. Ascending the Tower of Cranes 登鹳雀楼
白日，已落到山后
黄河，前浪早入了海
至于后浪，源自雪水
还有得流呢，千年万代
你真要上楼去望远吗？
就让我陪着你吧
像穿越电影那样
你带我去指点盛唐
我带你，唉 去
回顾二十一世纪
Sun sets behind mountains, the
Yellow River’s currents long emptied into the sea
as to the currents behind, flowing from snowmelt
and will continue flowing, a thousand generations
do you really want to ascend the tower to see farther?
allow me to come with you just like in those
time travel movies
you will bring me to the heyday of the Tang
I will bring you, ah
to look back upon the 21st century
III. Twilights in the Desert 大漠孤烟直
一切都离你那么远啊
背景全退到了天涯
南宗水墨画的宗师
竟超前试验抽象画
寂寞的天地间
下面，是一片艳黄
上面，是一片通赤
中间，竖一截诡灰
还倒映一道幻紫
但暝色收拾了一切
代之以全面的昏暗
只透漏一点点亮青
everything appears so far away from you the background retreats to the horizon
the master painters from antiquity
were the first to experiment in abstract landscapes
a lonely space between earth and sky
below, a swath of dark yellow
above, a zone of bright red
in between, a band of ghostly gray
accompanied by a mirage in purple
yet the color of twilight coheres all other colors
representing the entirety of dusk
where only a tiny amount of light lingers
Songs across the Aeons sets four poems by the Taiwanese literary giant Yu Kwang-Chung. Each text responds to a specific classical poem from the Tang dynasty (618–907): in some, Yu injects his wry sense of humor; in others, he reflects upon the sweep of time and history that separates the Tang from us; in yet others, he provides the Tang writers with narrative methods derived from contemporary cinema and photography, allowing us to feel more “at home” in Tang poetry, and inviting the poets of antiquity to speak with renewed vigor and urgency.
[NB: Wang Wei penned the original poem Yu is responding to. Geshu Han was a general who failed to secure Tang China's northern borders against marauding Huns. Chang'an, modern day Xi'an, was the Tang capital.]
Performance history: