Terra Kytaorum
Encyclopedia
Terra Kytaorum is the title of a monumental work for brass ensemble and percussion by the contemporary classical composer Jeffrey Ching
. Its subtitle is Souvenir des Yuan, which incorporates it into that composer's series of musical souvenirs based on melodic material from various Chinese dynasties: Souvenir des Tang
(1997), Souvenir des Song
(1994), and Souvenir des Ming
(2002). The present work was completed in London on 31 December 2000.
This pseudo-history is developed into the following fifteen-part musical structure.
Then the offstage trombone chants: "Open the [temple] doors!"
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "May it please you to proceed to the place of ablution!"
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Mount the steps [to the temple]!"
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Proceed to the front of the Spirit Tablet of the The Greatly Accomplished and Most Holy Prince of Promulgated Civilisation [i.e. Confucius
]!"
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Let the Official for the Ceremonial Victuals advance with the Ritual Tray!"
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Proceed to the front of the Spirit Tablet of the The Greatly Accomplished and Most Holy Prince of Promulgated Civilisation [i.e. Confucius]!"
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Let the Second Presentation Official perform the rites!"
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Let those in charge of the ceremonial victuals clear away the food vessels!"
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Let the various assistants withdraw to their original places!"
" element comes from the recurring variations in different historical Chinese styles. The "variations
" are not on any one theme (although the original hymns are so similar as to seem to be mere variants of each other), but are, rather, stylistic parodies in the tradition of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations
.
, Ming
, and Qing
dynasties, Western travellers’ reports, and transcriptions by others or Ching himself from ethnographic recordings. The two samples of Ming imperial signature were scanned at Ching's request by Mr Peter Lam
, Director of the Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong
.
Jeffrey Ching
Jeffrey Ching is a British contemporary classical composer, born in the Philippines of Chinese parentage. His rich and complex musical language, irreducible to a single style, explores the correspondences and contradictions between the traditions of Europe and Asia, and between the music of past...
. Its subtitle is Souvenir des Yuan, which incorporates it into that composer's series of musical souvenirs based on melodic material from various Chinese dynasties: Souvenir des Tang
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
(1997), Souvenir des Song
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
(1994), and Souvenir des Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
(2002). The present work was completed in London on 31 December 2000.
World premiere and instrumentation
Terra Kytaorum (Souvenir des Yuan) was commissioned by Weltblech (World Brass), who premiered an abridged version in Berlin on 9 January 2001. It is scored for 4 trumpets, horn, 3 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, and 2 percussionists. Played uncut, the complete work, unique in scale in the brass ensemble repertoire, would last over an hour.Pseudo-historical background
The work is premised on fictitious events from mediaeval history which existed only in the composer's fancy. Ching writes:
The last Mongol emperor to reign in Beijing, heir to the Yuan dynastyYuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
of Khubilai Khan, was intrigued by the idea of bringing together the religious music of his many subject peoples in one of the great biannual sacrifices to ConfuciusConfuciusConfucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
. (The Muslims, contemptuous of idolatrous practices, were not ordered to take part.) For the climactic ritual before the spirit tablets of Confucius and his four leading disciples, the emperor, who was an enthusiastic clockmaker (like another famous last ruler, Louis XVI of France), hit upon the idea of the five musical styles overlapping, like the co-ordinated mechanism of clock parts moving at different speeds (section 10 below). The experiment, although opposed by conservative mandarinsMandarin (bureaucrat)A mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence.-History and use of the term:...
, had a certain success, and was only spoilt at some points by the screams of the political prisoners being tortured or executed in a nearby suburb—victims of court purges for whom the gentle teachings of Confucius must have seemed an irrelevant hypocrisy.
This pseudo-history is developed into the following fifteen-part musical structure.
The sections of the work
Most of the hymns are preceded by announcements by the third trombone chanting into his instrument from backstage, impersonating a herald speaking in 14th-century Mandarin.- 1. Intrada—a ManchuManchuThe Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
drumming pattern (18th century) punctuates the ceremonial entry of the participants - 2. Fiat (I)—a 12th-century imperial calligraphic sample from the Song dynastySong DynastyThe Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
(which the Mongols overthrew) is translated by an exact system of correspondences into musical brushstrokes of sweeping glissandi. The background ticking of the wood block (crotchet/quarter-note = 125) is arithmetically derived from the escapement mechanism of the great Song water-clock of 1092—as if to signify, in Chinese time, that the Song’s "days were numbered".
Then the offstage trombone chants: "Open the [temple] doors!"
- 3. First Hymn for Welcoming the Spirits, arranged in the Korean style (as practised to the present day still using, by a neat coincidence, Yuan dynastyYuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
hymns) - 4. Second Hymn for Welcoming the Spirits, arranged in the ancient Chinese style (as reconstructed by the Ming musicologist Zhu ZaiyuZhu ZaiyuZhu Zaiyu , a prince of the Ming dynasty of China. In 1584 Prince Zhu innovatively described the equal temperament via accurate mathematical calculation...
, late 16th century). - 5. Third Hymn for Welcoming the Spirits, arranged in the Tibetan lamaist style (as practised to the present day)
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "May it please you to proceed to the place of ablution!"
- 6. Hymn for the Ablution, used as tenor cantus firmusCantus firmusIn music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
in Agnus I (slightly adjusted) from Machaut’s Messe de Nostre DameMesse de Nostre DameMesse de Nostre Dame is a polyphonic mass composed before 1365 by the French poet, composer and cleric Guillaume de Machaut...
(mid-14th century)—With a little stretch of the imagination, it is not inconceivable that Christian missionaries could have shown off the latest ars novaArs novaArs nova refers to a musical style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages: more particularly, in the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel and the death of the composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377...
music upon reaching the fabled Land of the Cathayans (Terra Kytaorum).
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Mount the steps [to the temple]!"
- 7. Hymn for the Ascent into the Hall, arranged in the Chinese Ming style (ornamentation as recommended by Wang Sizong, 1566; organum chords based on Huang Zuo, 1544)
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Proceed to the front of the Spirit Tablet of the The Greatly Accomplished and Most Holy Prince of Promulgated Civilisation [i.e. Confucius
Confucius
Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
]!"
- 8. Hymn for the Libations and Gifts, superimposed on the notorious rondeau, "Fumeaux fume" by SolageSolageSolage was a French composer. He composed the most pieces in the Chantilly Codex, the principal source of music of the ars subtilior, the manneristic compositional school centered around Avignon at the end of the century.-Life:Nothing is known about his life, beyond what can be inferred from the...
(late 14th century). Monkish humour might have insisted that this smoky piece accompany the one part of the ceremony for which the burning of incense was prescribed.
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Let the Official for the Ceremonial Victuals advance with the Ritual Tray!"
- 9. Hymn for the Elevation of the Ritual Tray, arranged in the Japanese gagakuGagakuGagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that has been performed at the Imperial Court in Kyoto for several centuries. It consists of three primary repertoires:#Native Shinto religious music and folk songs and dance, called kuniburi no utamai...
style (based on the Chinese Tang style, as practised in Japan to the present day)—Of course, the Mongols failed to conquer Japan, so one must imagine captured Japanese musicians playing this music, a vicarious triumph for Mongol amour-propre.
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Proceed to the front of the Spirit Tablet of the The Greatly Accomplished and Most Holy Prince of Promulgated Civilisation [i.e. Confucius]!"
- 10. Hymn for the First Presentation (QuodlibetQuodlibetA quodlibet is a piece of music combining several different melodies, usually popular tunes, in counterpoint and often a light-hearted, humorous manner...
Mongolicum). A guide for the listener through the overlapping of the hymns: each hymn is announced by three strokes on the temple block, and completed by three strokes on the wood block and three scrapes on the guiro.- Hymn to ConfuciusConfuciusConfucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
, arranged in the Chinese Qing style (18th century)—the tuning is based on the reconstructed official Qing scale, which had 14 chromatic steps instead of 12 to the octave - Hymn to Yan HuiYan HuiYan Hui ; was a late 13th century Chinese painter who lived during the Southern Song and early Yuan dynasties. His specific dates of birth and death are not known.-Biography:...
, arranged in the Korean style (as above) - Hymn to ZengziZengziZengzi , born Zeng Shen , courtesy name Ziyu , was a Chinese philosopher and student of Confucius.He is credited with having authored a large portion of the Great Learning, including its foreword. Zengzi's disciples are believed to have been among the most important compilers of the Analects of...
, arranged in the Tibetan style (as above) - Hymn to Zisi, arranged in the Japanese style (as above)—In the tradition of the Chinese historians, Ching appends his moral verdict to the bare facts: the vainglorious Mongol invasionsMongol invasionsMongol invasions progressed throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire which covered much of Asia and Eastern Europe by 1300....
of Japan, frustrated, like the Spanish ArmadaSpanish ArmadaThis article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
, by bad weather (kamikazeKamikazeThe were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
), are satirised by cheap wind and thunder effects. - Hymn to MenciusMenciusMencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...
, used as tenor cantus firmusCantus firmusIn music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
in Agnus II (slightly adjusted) from Machaut’s Messe de Nostre DameMesse de Nostre DameMesse de Nostre Dame is a polyphonic mass composed before 1365 by the French poet, composer and cleric Guillaume de Machaut...
(mid-14th century)
- Hymn to Confucius
- 11. Ritual Address to the Spirits—chanted centre-stage by the bass trombone into his instrument, using reconstructed Yuan Mandarin, and substituting for the name of the emperor’s ritual deputy my own Chinese name
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Let the Second Presentation Official perform the rites!"
- 12. Hymn for the Second Presentation, arranged in the Tibetan style (as above)—punctuated by distant screams
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Let those in charge of the ceremonial victuals clear away the food vessels!"
- 13. Hymn for the Clearing Away of the Food Vessels, arranged in Chinese Republican style (20th century, as practised to the present day in the Temple of ConfuciusTemple of ConfuciusA Temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple devoted to the memory of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism.- History :...
, Taipei)—punctuated by distant screams
Afterwards, the offstage trombone chants: "Let the various assistants withdraw to their original places!"
- 14. Hymn for the Ushering Out of the Spirits, performed in the Korean style (as above)—This is overlaid with a second series of calligraphic glissandi: the signature of Zhu Yuanzhang, Fiat (II), found on extant military papers for the anti-Mongol campaign. The fatal clock starts ticking again.
- 15. Fiat (III)—the final series of glissandi, based on another of Zhu’s signatures. The steady ticking gives way to the running out of the sands of time (Ming clocks were sand-powered)—now for the last Mongol emperor of China. Finally, Zhu drives him and his entire court out of China, becoming the first Ming emperor in 1368.
Overall form
The whole work is described as "rondo-variations". The "rondoRondo
Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
" element comes from the recurring variations in different historical Chinese styles. The "variations
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
" are not on any one theme (although the original hymns are so similar as to seem to be mere variants of each other), but are, rather, stylistic parodies in the tradition of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations
Diabelli Variations
The 33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120, commonly known as the Diabelli Variations, is a set of variations for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a waltz composed by Anton Diabelli...
.
Historical source material
Nearly all the musical material of Terra Kytaorum—hymn melodies, keys, instrumentation, the varied national styles, non-standard tuning, and percussion patterns—may be verified in encyclopaedia articles, specialist journals and monographs, doctoral dissertations, Chinese treatises and records from the YuanYuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
, Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
, and Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
dynasties, Western travellers’ reports, and transcriptions by others or Ching himself from ethnographic recordings. The two samples of Ming imperial signature were scanned at Ching's request by Mr Peter Lam
Peter Lam
Peter Lam Kin-ngok , son of industrialist tycoon Lim Por-yen and his second wife, U Po-chu, is the Chairman & CEO of Media Asia Entertainment Group.-2008 Speeding offense:...
, Director of the Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a research-led university in Hong Kong.CUHK is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, including Chen Ning Yang, James Mirrlees, Robert Alexander Mundell and Charles K. Kao...
.