Campus Digest

HKBU music talents featured in first internationally published Chinese choral music anthology

15 Apr 2015

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The Cantoría Hong Kong of HKBU performs most of the music pieces of the Half Moon Rising CD
“Half Moon Rising: Choral Music from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan” is the first collection of Chinese choral music that is published internationally in English

Choral ensembles of HKBU, namely the Cantoría Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University Choir, are featured in a newly published music CD for the choral anthology Half Moon Rising: Choral Music from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. The 24-track collection was published by internationally renowned music publisher Edition Peters in London.

The two choirs from the HKBU Department of Music provided most of the project recordings for worldwide distribution. The Cantoría Hong Kong performed 17 of the 24 tracks, while the HKBU Choir provided three others. Over half of the tracks were recorded during live performances beginning from 2010 to November 2014. The HKBU ensembles recorded works in Putonghua, Cantonese, Taiwanese and Jiangsu dialects.

The famous Chinese choral music pieces performed by the HKBU ensembles included Ban Ge Yue Liang Pa Shang Lai (Half Moon Rising), Hong Dou Ci (Red Bean Poem), Qing Chun Wu Qu (Dance of Youth), Pao Ma Liu Liu Di Shan Shang (Horses Run on the Mountain).

The Half Moon Rising package includes a book, an audio CD and website (www.editionpeters.com/halfmoonrising). “It is the first collection of its kind that is published internationally in English,” said Dr John Winzenburg, Editor of the anthology package and also Associate Professor of the Department of Music, HKBU. “While Chinese choral music has developed a rich repertoire over the past century, very few pieces have been available to non-Chinese choirs.  The purpose of this anthology is to offer choirs everywhere an accessible introduction to performing Chinese choral music.”

The Half Moon Rising package is intended to facilitate the performance of Chinese-language choral works by conductors and singers everywhere, regardless of background.  The book includes musical scores transliterated from the original Chinese, along with introductory notes and poetic and literal translations.  It also contains a historical introduction and Putonghua pronunciation guide.  The website adds online support materials, including aural and written pronunciation guides for each piece, along with the recorded excerpts from the CD.