Xiao Huang Li Nao
Item
-
Score title
-
Xiao Huang Li Nao
-
Composer
-
Chan Hing-yan
-
Program note
-
"Xiao Huang Li Niao" ("Little Oriole") is a love song in the style of a nursery rhyme. This setting was arranged for the Australian vocal ensemble The Song Company in late 2013. It premiered in Sydney in early 2014 as a concert-opener, where members of each voice part walked on stage at their first vocal entry.
Chan's inspiration for the choral arrangement came from versions of "Little Oriole" that he had learned in the style of a two-part invention on the piano during his student days. Hong Kong students of traditional Chinese music frequently interact with musicians who grew up in different parts of China, and Chan's Mainland composition teachers emphasized exercises in harmonizing folk songs. "Xiao Huang Li Niao" is one of the many Mongolian folksongs that have become popular in folksong collections and arrangements for voice and different instruments. This arrangement creatively develops some of the ideas Chan had encountered in these versions.
Chan Hing-yan