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Three Six [listen]

Jiangnan "Silk and Bamboo" Music

Jiangnan "silk and bamboo" music, known as Jiangnan sizhu, is folk ensemble music indigenous to the region south of the Yangzi River that encompasses Suzhou, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. "Three Six" is one of the eight most notable "silk and bamboo" pieces. Its title relates to musical structure: three cadence notes occur in each of four melodic sections, and a recurring refrain is juxtaposed between these sections, the introduction, and the coda.

Instruments include: pipa, yangqin, daruan, erhu, zhonghu, dizi

Performed by the Music From China ensemble

The River Flows [listen]

Yunnan Folk Song

Chinese folk songs use the idioms of everyday speech, with its particular intonations, accents, and cadences. This correlation between speech and music distinguishes folk songs of one region from another. Yunnan folk songs belong to the southwestern dialectical style. In "The River Flows," a young girl sees the moon above and flowing waters below and turns to thoughts of her lover.

Instruments include: voice, erhu, pipa, liuqin, yangqin, zhongruan, daruan, dizi

Performed by the Music From China ensemble