for Soprano, String Orchestra and Percussion
The Mountain Spirit is scored for soprano, string orchestra and percussion. The text of this work comes from poetry anthology Nine Songs written by a great Chinese poet Qu Yuan*. Nine Songs consists of 11 poems and presents various parts that reflect rituals of ancient China including: worship of Heaven and Earth, sacrifices of divinity and the soul, praising of love, and mourning for the soldiers who defended the homeland of the state of Chu (circa 1030–223 BCE). The original poem of The Mountain Spirit is an evocative masterpiece and interpreted as pure, simple and unrequited love in this work. It begins brightly and then turns as well as concludes with a melancholic mood. This work attempts to symbolize that beside love, waiting is also an eternal theme human beings.
*Qu Yuan (339 BCE-278BCE) was a great Chinese poet who lived during the Warring States period in ancient China and is also regarded as one of the most prominent figures of Romanticism in Chinese classical literature.
Performed by:
Shannon Mercer, soprano
Soundstreams Chamber Orchestra