Ye Xiaogang’s Concert of Original Works - Jul 11

Discover Ye Xiaogang, one of China’s leading composers

When the conservatories first opened at the end of the 1970s, Ye Xiaogang wanted to parlay his piano skills into a career. Unfortunately, the Central Conservatory of Music was notseeking pianists, only composers.

After two days of jotting and scribbling, both he and his work were accepted; not long after, he was counted among the department’s ‘Four Talents’, along with Guo Wenjing, Qu Xiaosong and Tan Dun.

Today he is one of China’s best-known composers.‘I was born for it,’ says Ye. ‘Even when I played Beethoven or Mozart, I was thinking, ‘if I had written this piece, I would have done it this way’.

Born in Beijing in 1955, Ye began playing piano aged four, all the while absorbing influences for his compositional future. His politically harassed composer father was labelled a traitor and arrested among throngs of accusing neighbours.

‘All my early work was very dark and emotional because of what I went through,’ he says. ‘Some of it still is. You don’t ever get away from that.’

Composing over 30 film scores presented a different challenge.

‘You’re not writing for yourself, you’re speaking for the characters,’ he says. Confident in his creativity however, Ye claims to compose ‘as quickly as Mozart, except I make a lot of changes’.

His Beijing programme of original works includes ‘Divine Jade’, ‘Twilight of Tibet’ and ‘Das Lied von der Erde’.

This is the same Chinese poem Gustav Mahler used for his classic, but in the original language and set to Ye’s music. ‘When Chinese is translated into German it gets too complicated,’ he says. ‘This is making it simple again.’ Nancy Pellegrini

Ye Xiaogang Concert of Original Works Beijing Concert Hall, Sat 11 Jul 7.30pm. 30-380RMB.