SHENGNAN CAO
Chamber
Scarlet Red (2022) for saxophone quartet premiered in 2022.5 by UMKC saxophone studio Duration: 11'17'' Notes: The inspiration for the piece comes from Daji, the favorite consort of King Zhou of Shang, and the last king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China. She is a classic example of how a beautiful femme fatale can cause the downfall of a dynasty. In the story, King Zhou became highly infatuated with Daji. He used any means necessary to ingratiate himself with her and please her. Daji enjoyed torture and executions, and King Zhou constructed his “pond of alcohol.” and “forest of meat” and allowed the guests to play cat and mouse game nude in the forest to amuse Daji. She was executed after the fall of the Shang dynasty. Her head was hung on a small white flag to symbolize the dynasty’s downfall.
fall into (2018) for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano Premiered in 2018.4 by Eunice Kim, Yegor Shevtsov, Issei Herr, Ford Fourqurean. Duration: 9'53''
Starry (2018) for soprano and piano Premiered in 2018.11 by Xiaotong Cao, and Shengnan Cao in New York City Duration: 6'53'' Lyrics: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by.
Three Double Basses (2019) for three double basses premiered in 2019.4 by MSM double bass studio Duration: 7'54''
SENZA RITORNO (2018) for flute, clarinet, vibraphone, violin, cello, and piano Premiered in 2018.6 by AMF Contemporary Ensemble Duration: 7'09''
Qing Ping (2018) for soprano and electronic track Premiered in 2018.12 by Xiaotong Cao in New York City Duration: 4'56'' Notes: This piece was inspired by a famous poem written by Li Bai, which was a Chinese poet who lived in Tang dynasty. This poem is about one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Texts: Her clothes are like plumage, and her face a rose, Breeze pets the rails and the belle in repose. If not a fairy queen from Heaven on high, Her Goddess of the Moon makes flowers shy.
Nice-tailed Fox (2016) for bamboo flute, pipa, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and piano Premiered in 2016.6 by Toronto New Music Ensemble in Beijing Duration: 8'18'' Notes: This piece represents two characters, a Nine-tailed Fox and a Taoist priest (Pipa and Clarinet) from Classic of Mountains and Seas, compiled from the Warring States period to the Western Han period (circa 4th to circa 1st century BC). In East Asian folklore, foxes are depicted as a familiar spirit possessed of magic powers. These foxes are depicted as mischievous. These fox spirits can usually shapeshift, often taking the form of beautiful young women who attempt to seduce young men for mere mischief or to consume their bodies or souls. However, the fox spirit is not necessarily evil, and the priest is not likely good. Good and bad alike are both parts of a whole, and we must embrace that to reach the complete existence we long for.