The Hugo Masters: An Anthology of Chinese Classical Music, Vol. 3 - Wind Instruments

Chengren Bai (Composer), Yingshi Chen (Composer), Ciwen Du (Composer), Guangyi / Wang, Zhiwei Jian (Composer), Xianwei Jiang (Composer), Ying Liu (Composer), Chinese Traditional (Composer), Tian Chi Wu (Composer), Tieming Yan (Composer), Huan Yi (Composer), Songting Zhao (Composer), Chenglong Zhou (Composer), Chinese Orchestra of Shanghai Music Conservatory (Orchestra)

Product Details

• Orchestra: Chinese Orchestra of Shanghai Music Conservatory
• Composer: Chengren Bai, Yingshi Chen, Ciwen Du, Guangyi / Wang, Zhiwei Jian, Xianwei Jiang, et al.
• Audio CD (November 3, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Celestial Harmonies
• ASIN: B0000007WX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #315,490 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

About the Artist
The Hugo Masters: An Anthology of Chinese Classical Music is an impressive collection which contains the treasures of China's vast musical tradition recorded and documented to the highest standards. It appeals as much to the casual fan of world music as to the serious student of Chinese music.

The name refers to the Hugo label of Chinese musician, producer and engineer Aik Yew-goh. This extremely talented young man spent years recording China's old master musicians, capturing their virtuoso talent with his scrupulously high quality recording techniques. In some cases, it was a last chance to gather such recordings.

China's classical music comes from an oral tradition, a tradition discouraged and very nearly wiped out following the 1911 Chinese Revolution. Mr. Aik searched the continent for musicians who were alive before the revolution and were still able to pass on their formidable knowledge.

Product Description
Chinese classical music is a much larger field than Western classical music. It covers a huge geographical area as well as a time frame of thousands of years. Although some of China's musical instruments have changed very little in hundreds or thousands of years, others were adapted to Western standards under the influence of Russian musicians during the middle of this century. In some cases, frets were added to non-chromatic instruments and tonalities standardized. The liner notes of The Hugo Masters: An Anthology of Chinese Classical Music contain extensive documentation of the various instruments used in Chinese solo and orchestral music, with descriptions of their history and modifications, as well as an essay to help Western listeners understand the background of Chinese classical music.

The instruments fall into four categories, each constituting a separate compact disk:
Volume One: Bowed Strings
Volume Two: Plucked Strings
Volume Three: Woodwinds
Volume Four: Percussion
These disks are available individually or as a collector's series in a beautifully designed silk boxed set.

The music itself is highly varied and richly emotional. The music paints pictures of China's people, their culture and homeland, and their dreams and their despair. The Hugo Masters: An Anthology of Chinese Classical Music is a joint effort of the Hugo and Celestial Harmonies labels to bring this definitive anthology to listeners worldwide. This is the first time these recordings have become available to audiences outside of Hong Kong. For listeners unfamiliar with Chinese classical music, these works are a powerful and emotional awakening.