Browse by Artist: LIANG, LEI

Artist:	LIANG, LEI
Title:	Brush-Stroke
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 210CD

"Lei Liang (b.1972) began his musical studies in China, completing them in the USA. His music aims at a deeper philosophical engagement with musical sound as a tool for reflection and contemplation, while resisting exoticized and formulaic treatment of Asian musical elements. Liang's music is deeply philosophical, yet sensual, evocative, yet abstract, and disciplined, yet spontaneous. Written for the Arditti String Quartet, 'Serashi Fragments' is a tribute to the Mongolian chaoer (fiddler Serashi (1887-1968). In this highly virtuosic piece, Liang deploys a wide range of articulation for string: pizzicato sul pont, stacatissimo, Bartok pizzicato, glissando, harmonics, and glissando harmonics. In 'Some Empty Thoughts of a Person from Edo,' Liang expands the timbral possibilities of the harpsichord through introducing 'lute stop,' clusters formed by the palm and fingers of each hand, along with other extended devices. A plucked passage with arpeggiated chords is reminiscent of the Japanese koto. 'Memories of Xiaoxiang' for saxophone and tape presents a personal commentary on Liang's cultural past, including field recordings in the tape part. In 'Praise of Shadows' for solo flute is a piece that invites philosophical contemplation on the duality of light and shadow, embodied by the barely audible partials in the multiphonics, whistling tones, or the downward portamento Liang often uses to end a phrase. Brush-Stroke allows the listener to be immersed in the transience of each sound as it comes into being and passes away. It is reminiscent of Japanese gagaku and Korean Aak court music."

Artist:	LIANG, LEI
Title:	Milou
Label:	NEW WORLD RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	NW 80715CD

"Lei Liang (b. 1972) is a Chinese-born American composer whose work can be situated within the lineage of the new wave of Chinese composers (such as Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng), yet whose vivid musical imagination and philosophical interests place him in a league of his own. The distinctiveness of his compositional approach, first and foremost, can be noted in Liang's avoidance of exoticized Chinese elements: one would not find stylized quotations of familiar folksongs or cliched treatment of instruments. Born into the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and denied access to older traditions of art forms in China, Liang considers himself raised in a cultural and spiritual 'ground zero.' Liang's displacement from his homeland has led him to intensify his search for a deeper cultural connection to Asian musical practice and aesthetics at large, as his interests cover the Beijing opera, guqin (Chinese zither), Inner Mongolian music, as well as music of other parts of Asia. In searching for an appropriate framework for transforming these resources, he often embarks on a sonic exploration of a philosophical concept or idea to create music that contains multiple surfaces and trajectories for the listener to decipher. On Milou Liang offers a labyrinth of sounds in musical space, deploying various modernist and avant-garde procedures (post-serial techniques involving canons, indeterminacy, extended techniques for acoustic instruments, spectral analysis) to express music as a form of ritual--its rich layers of meanings to be experienced and deciphered through the act of listening and reflection."

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