Qigang Chen

Biography

Qigang Chen ([tʂʰə̌n t͡ɕʰǐ.kɑ́ŋ]; Chinese: 陈其钢; pinyin: Chén Qígāng; born 8 August 1951) is a Chinese-born French composer who has lived in France since 1984 and obtained French citizenship in 1992.

Biography

Coming from an intellectual family, Qigang Chen was born in Shanghai and began his musical studies as a child. In his early teens, he was confronted with the Cultural Revolution and would spend three years locked up in a barracks, undergoing an "ideological reeducation". Nonetheless, his passion for music remained unshakeable and, in spite of the social pressure and anti-cultural policy, he pursued his training in composition.
In 1977, Chen was one of 26 candidates out of 2,000 to be accepted into the composition class at the Beijing Central Conservatory. After five years of studies with Luo Zhongrong, in 1983 he stood for the national competition where he came first. As a result, he was the only one in his field to be authorized to go abroad to pursue graduate studies in composition.
He was Olivier Messiaen's last student and lived with him as well, from 1984 to 1988. His first five years in France allowed him to broaden the scope of his culture and acquire new knowledge about 20th century music.

Reception

Chen is one of the most performed living composers around the world, winning him many accolades. In 2001, his orchestral work Wu Xing was selected from over 1000 entries as one of the five finalists of the Masterprize Award, hosted by the BBC. In 2003, EMI/Virgin Classics released an album devoted to his music, including the highly acclaimed work Iris devoilée. It was later voted by Gramophone magazine as one of the Top Ten Classical Recordings of the Month. In 2005, he was awarded the Grand Prix de la Musique Symphonique by SACEM in recognition of his career achievement. He worked as Music Director of the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Most recently, in 2013, he was decorated with Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres by the French government.
In 2015, he launched a composition workshop at Gonggen College in China, as a platform for dialogues with, and between, young musicians.

Chamber

Le Souvenir (1985) for flute and harp
San Xiao (1995) for bamboo flute, san xian, zheng, and pipa
Extase II (1997) for oboe and instrumental ensemble
L'Éloignement (2003) for string orchestra
Instants d'un opéra de Pékin (version from 2004) for piano solo
Extase III (2010, arrangement of EXTASE) for oboe and traditional Chinese instrumental ensemble
Voyage d'un rêve (new version from 2017) for flute, harp, percussion, and string trio
La clarinette enchantée (2017) for flute, oboe, clarinet, basson, and French horn

Concerti

Feu d'ombres (1990-1991) for soprano saxophone and small wind ensemble
Extase (1995) for oboe and orchestra
Reflet d'un temps disparu (1995-1996) for cello and orchestra
La Nuit profonde (2001) for jinghu/jing erhu and orchestra
Un Temps disparu (2002) for erhu and orchestra
Er Huang (2009) for piano and orchestra
Extase IV (2011, arrangement of Extase) for oboe and Chinese traditional orchestra
Reflet d'un temps disparu II (2011, arrangement of Reflet d'un temps disparu) for cello and traditional Chinese orchestra
Un Temps disparu II (2012) for viola and orchestra
Joie eternelle (2013) for trumpet in C and orchestra
La Joie de la souffrance (2017) for violin and orchestra

Vocal music

Poème lyrique II (1990) for baritone and instrumental ensemble
Invisible Voices (2005) for 6 mixed voices and large orchestra
Jiang Tcheng Tse (2017) for solo voice, chorus, and orchestra

Orchestra

Wu Xing (The Five Elements) (1998-1999) for symphony orchestra
Iris dévoilée (Iris Unveiled, 2001) for large orchestra, three female voices, pipa, erhu and banhu, and zheng
Enchantements oubliés (2004) for large string orchestra, harp, piano, celesta, and percussion
Ouverture symphonique: "Instants d'un opéra de Pékin" (2014) for symphony orchestra
Luan Tan (2010–2015) for orchestra
Itinéraire d'une illusion (2017) for symphony orchestra

Electro-acoustic

Rêve d'un solitaire (1992–1993) for instrumental ensemble or orchestra and electronics

Music for ballet

Raise the Red Lantern (Épouses et concubines) (2000)

Songs

You and Me (2008); theme song of 29th Olympic games in Beijing 2008
Theme song of film Under the Hawthorn Tree (2010) for male voice
Mother and childhood (2011) for male voice
Invisible Forbidden City (2011) for male voice
To meet again, in days gone by (2014) for male and female voice; theme song 2 for promotion of film "Coming Home×Coming Home2014 · Album · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1My Beloved, in My Heart (I)1:182So Near, Yet So Far Away (I)1:513Coming Home (I)1:404Always on My Mind (I)2:465Arrangement of Song of the Fisherman (I)2:026My Beloved, in My Heart (II)4:567So Near, Yet So Far Away (II)1:048To Meet Again, in Days Gone By5:189My Beloved, in My Heart (III)3:3110My Beloved, in My Heart (IV)4:3411Always on My Mind (II)2:0612So Near, Yet So Far Away (III)2:3813Following in Your Footsteps, Till the End of the World3:2614Silent Conversations4:4915Arrangement of Song of the Fisherman (II)5:4816Coming Home (II)3:3617My Beloved, in My Heart (V)4:3818Always on My Mind (III)2:44"
Following in your footsteps, till the end of the world (2014) for male voice; theme song 1 for promotion of film "Coming Home"
Dream (2014) for female voice; theme song for subject-live performance at Dragon Tiger Mountain, Jiangxi

Music for open air project

Music for the Opening Ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games (2008)
Scroll Painting
Ritual Music
You and Me

Music for film

"Under the Hawthorn Tree" (2010)
"Flowers of War" (2011)
"Coming Home×Coming Home2014 · Album · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1My Beloved, in My Heart (I)1:182So Near, Yet So Far Away (I)1:513Coming Home (I)1:404Always on My Mind (I)2:465Arrangement of Song of the Fisherman (I)2:026My Beloved, in My Heart (II)4:567So Near, Yet So Far Away (II)1:048To Meet Again, in Days Gone By5:189My Beloved, in My Heart (III)3:3110My Beloved, in My Heart (IV)4:3411Always on My Mind (II)2:0612So Near, Yet So Far Away (III)2:3813Following in Your Footsteps, Till the End of the World3:2614Silent Conversations4:4915Arrangement of Song of the Fisherman (II)5:4816Coming Home (II)3:3617My Beloved, in My Heart (V)4:3818Always on My Mind (III)2:44" (2014)

Publishers

Gérard Billaudot (Paris, from 1985 to 2007)
Boosey & Hawkes (London, since 2008)
Durand (for La Nuit profonde & Raise the Red Lantern)

General references

BBC NOW/Zhang review – hypnotic, seductive stuff: Qigang Chen's beguiling score was conducted with love and care by Xian Zhang, who also brought grand passion to Rachmaninov's second symphony (Royal Albert Hall, London)
Proms 2015: Prom 15, Prokofiev, Qigang Chen & Rachmaninov, review: 'beguiling'
Prom, 15, review: Qigang Chen's Iris devoilee shows an interesting way forward
Prom 2: A tentative orchestra but a dazzling soloist
BBC Proms: China Philharmonic, review: a triumph of programming. The visit from the China Philharmonic to the Proms was full of shrewd choices says Ivan Hewett
Prom 2: China Philharmonic Orchestra/Yu review – a bit too cool
Memories of son inspire composer Chen Qigang to escape his creative abyss
Konzert West-östliche Klangspiele: Long Yu dirigiert die Münchner Philharmoniker
München/Die Münchner Philharmoniker – Qigang Chen – Gustav Mahler http://der-neue-merker.eu/muenchendie-muenchner-philharmoniker-qigang-chen-gustav-mahler Archived 2016-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
The China NCPA Orchestra is (mostly) brilliant at Koerner Hall in Toronto https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/music/the-china-ncpa-orchestra-is-mostly-brilliant-at-koerner-hall-in-toronto
Beijing orchestra makes impressive showing in Chicago debut
China's National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra is four years old and on tour
Qigang Chen: Works