Hi everyone,
This solo guzheng piece was recorded yesterday, inspired by a 1425 year-old poem from China by Chen Shubao 陳叔寶 (553-604), who was an emperor of the short-lived Chen Dynasty (557-589). The poem is called 玉树后庭花, which has been translated as “A Jade Tree Blossoms in the Back Garden,” but just I call it “Jade Tree.” It’s about a beautiful woman—the “back garden”—or more accurately, back courtyard—was where Emperor Chen’s concubines lived, and the poem describes a woman of “bewitching beauty .”
The poem was supposed to accompany music, however, no one wrote it down and there is no way to trace back the original melody from that long ago.
There were several scales of the guzheng that were commonly used in that era. I used one of them to create this piece, hoping to capture the essence snd sentiment of the time and the sentiment.
This recording was from one long take. It was probably the hardest type of improvisation I have ever done — coming up with a melodic structured song that is more than seven minutes, in one breath. There was not a single second that I could let go of my concentration by simply making “wall-paper” noises to fill the space. Every note needed to have a meaning in order to make into the next second, all the way to the the end of the whole seven minutes. I did not realize it was already seven minutes long when I knew the song needed to end, that my “story” had finished. It was like writing cursive calligraphy so that the entire piece is done with one stroke. In Chinese, it is called 一气呵成, which means completing in one breath, so that there is coherence in thought and unity in style. I will continue to practice this way of creating. It is challenging and extremely satisfying.
The Jade Tree poem was written by Emperor Chen Shubao 陈叔宝 (553—604 A.D.) Below is a painting of him by Yan Liben 閻立本 (600 - 673 A.D.). Source:Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Denman Waldo Ross Collection, 1931.
The Jade Tree 玉树后庭花
丽宇芳林对高阁，新籹艶质本倾城；
映户凝娇乍不进，出帷含态笑相迎，
妖姬脸似花含露，玉树流光照后庭。
Translation by John Frodsham
Fine buildings in the fragrant forest face the tall pavilions,
The beauty of her newly made-up face could bring down a city wall.
In the light from the door she composes herself, hesitates a moment,
Comes out from the curtains, controls her feelings, welcomes me with a smile.
The bewitching beauty of her face is like a dew-filled flower,
The moving light from the jade tree shines on the back-garden.
Wu Fei 吴非
You can buy my album Yuan from Tzadik records or from Amazon. My albums A Distant Youth and Pluck are available for purchase on Bandcamp.
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