Memories of son inspire composer Chen Qigang to escape his creative abyss
Chen Qigang lost interest in music when his only child was killed. But he drew on his happy memories to bounce back with a new opus
A top mainland Chinese composer has rediscovered his shattered creative life through a new work in memory of his only son and musical partner.
Paris-based Chen Qigang, last pupil of the late French master composer Olivier Messiaen, lost his 29-year old son, Yuli, in a car accident in Zurich - a tragedy that brought his prolific creativity to a sudden halt.
"By September 3, 2012, I had finished the piano score of Luan Tan, then came the news the following day. After that, I couldn't pull myself together to do the orchestration. I was no longer interested in completing the piece," Chen recalls.
The work, running for more than 20 minutes, will be premiered tonight at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall in Tsim Sha Tsui. It was commissioned in 2010 by Edo de Waart, then chief conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic.
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the French Radio Philharmonic later joined as co-commissioning parties for a project deemed to be different to Chen's previous output.
"I wanted a breakthrough of my musical style, which tended to be refined, melancholy, and soft. So I chose the folkish elements in China's local theatrical tradition that is strong in rhythm and dynamics.