Wuhan composers’ pandemic symphony brings listeners to tears at its Beijing premiere
- ‘Every time I sing it, I can’t bear to think about the meaning … behind the lyrics,’ says Wuhan-born soprano Zhang Liping of choral symphony Dedicated to 2020
- Written by two composers and a librettist, all Wuhan natives, the work is inspired by the experiences of people in the city where the novel coronavirus emerged
On October 10, the premiere of Dedicated to 2020 – A Symphony for Soprano, Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra, performed by nearly 200 singers and musicians on a packed stage in Beijing, brought many in the audience to tears.
With its solemn and powerful melodies and lyrics, this is the world’s first large-scale Covid-19-inspired symphony, and has drawn comparisons to some of the most stirring pieces of music written at other times of crisis in modern history.
The 70-minute-long piece, commissioned by the 23rd Beijing Music Festival, was co-written by Zou Ye, a composer in Wuhan, the city in central China where the Sars-CoV2 virus was first detected.
Zou, co-composer Fang Shi and librettist Tang Yuesheng – both Wuhan-born – took inspiration from the people of Wuhan for the choral symphony in eight movements. Zou cites as an example the seventh movement, “Sunset”, which is inspired by the image of an elderly Covid-19 elderly patient – a former Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra violinist – watching the sunset from his hospital bed.
Tang says the piece considers universal themes. “The pandemic give us a chance to rethink humanity. Have we strayed too far from civilised behaviour? Is it high time that we returned to being civilised and loving each other?” he says.