China Girl was the seventh album by classical and pop musician Vanessa-Mae

Vanessa-Mae

Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson , known professionally as Vanessa-Mae , is an internationally known British violinist. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion", as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style...

, released in 1997 (see 1997 in music

1997 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...

).

China Girl contains only three tracks. The first is a recording of the Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto

Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto

The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto is one of the most famous works of Chinese music and certainly one of the most famous outside of China. It is an orchestral adaptation of an ancient legend, the Butterfly Lovers...

 performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...

 conducted by Viktor Fedotov. The second is Violin Fantasy on Puccini's 'Turandot

Turandot

Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...

' performed with The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Viktor Fedotov.

Happy Valley

The final track is Happy Valley which was created by Vanessa-Mae and producer/songwriter of her second pop album, Andy Hill. It was performed with The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Chinese Ladies' Choir, conducted by David Arch. The song was selected as the theme for the Re-unification Concert, which was broadcast from Hong Kong's Happy Valley Race Course.

Excerpts from the liner notes on Happy Valley:

The piece starts with a solo violin cadenza-like introduction performed in a traditional Western classical manner. The minor key sets and ominous tentative mood and Chinese voices are heard chanting quietly but quite distinctly a song along the lines of a phrase often attributed to the late Chinese leader Deng Hsaio Ping

Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...

. Deng was the architect of the post re-unification concept of one country, two systems...The growing rumble of the lower strings and rolling timpani create an almost threatening aural feel for the size of Hong Kong's new masters, China.



The heroic and protesting solo violin grows in anxiety, reaching a climax with the voices, who will also not pipe down. At this point, the low rumbles give way to a galloping rhythm representing the unremitting path of progress and fate. Over this galloping accompaniment, the violin sings a slightly melancholic but lyrical theme, symbolic of Hong Kong's conciliatory approach as it anticipates its new future.



The music is broken by two episodes reflecting on the history of the Chinese. The first of this is an achingly beautiful melody which floats over an ethereal accompaniment on harp, reminiscent of a gracious gentle romance which is very much a part of China's ancient culture. The second episode is filled with angst and difficulties face by that vast country through many periods of turbulent history. As the music develops, the violin and the Chinese voices seem to build a stronger rapport and this growing confidence builds until an important moment when it is clear that the British lease has expired and Hong Kong has reverted to the Chinese. This moment is marked in the music by a new section with a full Chinese folk song sung over a military-style tattoo beaten out, not on military drums, but on Chinese traditional drums including flower drums.



A significant key change to major and a violin part bursting with virtuosity which intermingles with the drum rhythms cement the positive aspects of the re-unification, and demonstrate an optimistic outlook for a prosperous future.

The liner notes also indicate the album is dedicated to the memory of Tan Lip Kee (born 1920, Swatow, China; died 1994, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

), Vanessa-Mae's maternal grandfather.

Happy Valley is also used as the background music for the popular Chinese fan dance

Fan dance

A fan dance is a dance performed with one or more fans. This form has been adapted in various countries. The Korean fan dance, for example, evolved from Joseon Dynasty court dances and remains a popular form of traditional Korean dance. The Spanish or Portuguese flamenco makes dramatic use of fans...

千红 (Qian Hong, Thousand Red).

Track listing

1. "Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto" – 26:39
2. "Violin Fantasy on Puccini's 'Turandot'" – 11:24
3. "Happy Valley - The 1997 Re-unification Overture" – 6:33