Strings of Grace and Valor
Yuanchun Yu’s “Civil and Martial” Pipa Recital
Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall · March 15, 2025
Overview
“Wen Wu Shuang Quan” — literally civil and martial in perfect balance — is both a portrait of the pipa’s dual nature and a mirror of the performer’s artistic philosophy.
For Yuanchun Yu, it means inhabiting two worlds at once: the refined and the fierce, the lyrical and the heroic, the scholar’s pen and the warrior’s sword.
The programme unfolds as a journey through the instrument’s expressive extremes — from tranquil landscapes of ancient melody to the epic pulse of battle and transcendence.
On stage, the music becomes a living Jianghu — a poetic “world of rivers and lakes” where the artist roams freely between tenderness and might, between stillness and storm.
Program
Wild Geese Descending on the Sandy Bank (平沙落雁)
Traditional, transcribed by Yang Dajun
A masterpiece of ancient elegance, this work paints a vast autumn sky with its spare phrases and delicate ornamentation. The gliding tones evoke the migration of geese — symbols of loyalty and poetic melancholy.
Lord Guan (Yu) the Gallant (关帝云长)
Composed by Wang Amao
Drawing on the legendary figure of Guan Yu, emblem of righteousness and courage, the piece alternates solemn recitation-like passages with percussive, sword-like gestures — a sonic portrait of moral strength.
The Swan (天鹅)
Composed by Liu Dehai
Created after the composer’s visit to Austria in 1984, The Swan captures the graceful movement of the bird upon shimmering waters. New pipa techniques invented for this piece — “reverse-forward pluck,” “double hook,” and “phoenix nod” — opened a new chapter in the instrument’s evolution.
Battle of Chu and Han (楚汉)
Traditional, arranged by Jiang Ying
A duet for two pipas and percussion. Beneath its fiery exchanges lies a meditation on fate and valor — the final cry of Xiang Yu before his fall, embodying the tragic grandeur of Eastern heroism.
The Heavenly Ladder (天梯)
Composed by Luó Maishuò
A work for pipa and piano that ascends from earthly turmoil toward spiritual clarity. The intertwining of keys and strings becomes a metaphor for human striving — a climb through sound toward the luminous unknown.
Artists
Yuanchun Yu
Yuanchun Yu, pipa soloist and faculty member of the Central Conservatory of Music, is the first Doctor of Pipa Performance in China and one of the most influential young artists in contemporary Chinese music.
Formerly principal pipa of the China National Traditional Orchestra and UNESCO Artist-in-Residence, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Berlin Philharmonie, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing).
Her repertoire spans traditional classics and newly commissioned works such as Civil and Martial, The Silent Strings, The Battle of Chu and Han, and The Heavenly Ladder.
Described as “a poet of the pipa,” Yu’s performances embody both the delicacy of Chinese aesthetics and the emotional power of contemporary expression — uniting wen and wu, grace and valor, in one resonant voice.