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Ge Gan-ru (1954-     )

Ge
          Gan-ru, composerGe Gan-ru, born in Shanghai, has been called China's first avant-garde composer. He received degrees in both violin and composition at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 1982, when China was still unfamiliar with 20th century Western music, he wrote politically controversial works including Yi Feng for solo cello without accompaniment in which he used unorthodox extended techniques to produce timbres simulating Chinese percussive instruments. In 1983, he was awarded a fellowship to attend Columbia University where he completed his doctoral degree. Ge Gan-ru has composed music for theater, dance and documentary and feature films as well as concert music. The New York Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, BBC Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Kronos Quartet, and many other ensembles have commissioned and performed his works. Ge Gan-ru is a Board Director of Meet the Composer. Ge Gan-ru's music reflects his deep interest in amalgamating Eastern and Western musical aesthetics. He writes, "While in Western music, composers are connected with the relationships between pitches, in Chinese music what is important is the particular pitch and its microtonal and timbral character. I try to combine contemporary Western compositional techniques with my Chinese experience and Chinese musical characteristics to create a universal music world."
-  Mode Records

COMPOSITIONS                                                            Ge Gan-ru Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre
Violin Concerto (1976)
Twelve Preludes, piano (1979)
Moment of Time, piano (1981)
Trio, soprano, flute and clarinet (1981)
Chamber Symphony, chamber orchestra (1982)
Yi Feng (Lost Style/Customs), amplified cello (1982)
Fu (Prose Poem) (String Quartet No.1) (1983)
Capriccio, flute and piano (1984)
Double Bass Quartet (1985)
Gu Yue (Ancient Music), piano (1986)
A Great Wall, synthesizer, piano and percussion, film score (1986)
Today with Dragon, flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, percussion, violin and doublebass, dance work (1986)
Dao (String Quartet No. 2) (1987)
Ingrain, flute, clarinet, doublebass and piano (1987)
Who Killed Vincent Chin?, synthesizer, documentary film score (1987)
Gu zheng, concerto, koto and orchestra (1988)
Hao, flute and piano (1988; rev. 1996)
Taipei, orchestra (1988)
Color Schemes, piano, TV score (1988)
Resonance, flute, cello and Tibetan cymbals, dance work (1988)
Si, violin, clarinet and piano (1989)
Ji, symphonic requiem, chorus and orchestra (1989)
Xiang zhan, soprano (1989)
Yun, flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, violin, cello and percussion (1990)
Tang Dynasty, zheng and percussion, TV score (1990)
Chinese Rhapsody, orchestra (1992)
Wu (Resolute/Rising to Height), concerto, paino and orchestra (1986/91)
String Quartet No. 3 (1991)
Lost Angeles, violin, viola and cello, dance work (1996)
Angel Suite (String Quartet No.4) (1998)
Symphony No. 1, orchestra (1997)
Four Studies of Peking Opera, string quartet and piano (2003)
Composer's Corner - A Viennese Fantasia, guitar, violin, viola, double bass (2003)
Six Pentatonic Tunes, orchestra (2004)
Cello Concerto, cello and orchestra (2004)
Fall of Baghdad (String Quartet No.5) (2005)
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, soprano and orchestra (2005)
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!, voice and self-accompanied toy orchestra (2006)
Lovers Besiege, piano, cello and percussion (2006)
Fairy Lady Meng Jiang, flute concerto (2008)
Lovers Besiege - Orchestral Suite, orchestra (2009) [based on material from 2006 work for piano, cello and percussion]
Shanghai Reminiscences, orchestra (2009)
Butterfly Overture, orchestra (2010)


WORKS BY GENRE                                                            Ge Gan-ru Links     ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
Today with Dragon, flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, percussion, violin and doublebass, dance work (1986)
Resonance, flute, cello and Tibetan cymbals, dance work (1988)
Lost Angeles, violin, viola and cello, dance work (1996)

Orchestra
Chamber Symphony, chamber orchestra (1982)
Taipei, orchestra (1988)
Chinese Rhapsody, orchestra (1992)
Symphony No. 1, orchestra (1997)
Six Pentatonic Tunes, orchestra (2004)
Lovers Besiege - Orchestral Suite, orchestra (2009) [based on material from 2006 work for piano, cello and percussion]
Shanghai Reminiscences, orchestra (2009)
  - Part I: My Childhood
     - Jing An Temple
     - Violin Beginner
     - Bicycle Music
     - Pedlar's Tune I (Sharpening Knives)
     - Flies Chase A Bald Head
     - Pedlar's Tune II (Water Melon)
     - Pedlar's Tune III (Steamed Pork)
     - Pedlar's Tune IV (Toasted Gingkoes)
     - Summer Night's Cooling Party
 - Part II: Cultural Revolution - Awakening
     - Growing Violinist
     - Chaos
     - Revolutionary March
     - Fantasia
     - Lament
     - Awakening
Butterfly Overture, orchestra (2010)

Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Violin Concerto (1976)
Wu (Resolute/Rising to Height), concerto, paino and orchestra (1986/91)
Gu zheng, concerto, koto and orchestra (1988)
Cello Concerto, cello and orchestra (2004)
Fairy Lady Meng Jiang, flute concerto (2008)

Chorus w/Orchestra
Ji, symphonic requiem, chorus and orchestra (1989)

Chamber
Fu (Prose Poem) (String Quartet No.1) (1983)
Double Bass Quartet (1985)
Dao (String Quartet No. 2) (1987)
Ingrain, flute, clarinet, doublebass and piano (1987)
Si, violin, clarinet and piano (1989)
Yun, flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, violin, cello and percussion (1990)
String Quartet No. 3 (1991)
Angel Suite (String Quartet No.4) (1998)
Four Studies of Peking Opera, string quartet and piano (2003)
Composer's Corner - A Viennese Fantasia, guitar, violin, viola, double bass (2003)
Fall of Baghdad (String Quartet No.5) (2005)
Lovers Besiege, piano, cello and percussion (2006)

Solo Instrument
Yi Feng (Lost Style/Customs), amplified cello (1982)
Capriccio, flute and piano (1984)
Hao, flute and piano (1988; rev. 1996)

Piano
Twelve Preludes, piano (1979)
Moment of Time, piano (1981)
Gu Yue (Ancient Music), piano (1986)

Vocal
Trio, soprano, flute and clarinet (1981)
Xiang zhan, soprano (1989)
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, soprano and orchestra (2005)
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!, voice and self-accompanied toy orchestra (2006)

Incidental/Film/TV
A Great Wall, synthesizer, piano and percussion, film score (1986)
Who Killed Vincent Chin?, synthesizer, documentary film score (1987)
Color Schemes, piano, TV score (1988)
Tang Dynasty, zheng and percussion, TV score (1990)


GE GAN-RU  LINKS                                                            Works by Genre      ~ top of page ~
Intrepid Journeys Lead to Ambitious Works (Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times)
Reimagining the Story of Lu You and Tang Wan: Ge Gan-ru’s "Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!" and "Hard, Hard, Hard!" (Yen-Lin Goh)
With Ge Gan-ru, Avant-Garde Crosses Cultures (Express Night Out/The Washington Post)

Composer's website [none at the moment]

Ge Gan-ru @ fr.WIkipedia
Ge Gan-ru @ Classical Archives
Ge Gan-ru @ Classical Net
Ge Gan-ru @ Columbia University, Department of Music
Ge Gen-ru @ Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture
Ge Gan-ru @ Facebook
Ge Gan-ru @ Gramophone   also   here
Ge Gan-ru @ IMDb
Ge Gan-ru @ IRCAM
Ge Gan-ru @ Jay K. Hoffman & Associates
Ge Gan-ru @ Mode Records
Ge Gan-ru @ ModernWorks    also   here
Ge Gan-ru @ MusicWeb International
Ge Gan-ru @ Naxos    also   here   and   here
Ge Gan-ru @ New World Records
Ge Gan-ru @ Other Minds
Ge Gan-ru @ Sin80

Streaming Audio
Ge Gan-ru @ Classical Archives
Ge Gan-ru @ Internet Archive/Other Minds
Ge Gan-ru @ New Sounds
Ge Gan-ru @ WNYC/Art of the Day Job

Recordings
Ge Gan-ru @ ArkivMusic
Ge Gan-ru @ BIS
Ge Gan-ru @ Discogs
Ge Gan-ru @ Naxos   and   here
Ge Gan-ru @ New Albion Records
Ge Gan-ru @ New World Records

Ge Gan-ru @ YouTube
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