Bright Sheng was born in China in 1955 but has spent most of his life in the United States. Most notably, he studied composition and conducting under Leonard Bernstein and his music does resonate with that kind of cosmopolitan buoyancy Bernstein was noted for. This manifests most clearly in Flute Moon, a 1999 composition in two parts for both piccolo and flute (here ably performed by Sharon Bezaly on both instruments). There is little in Flute Moon that seems particularly Chinese: no Asian modalities are used, although the notes alert us to the fact that Sheng uses a pentatonic scale here and there. The piccolo/flute passages are simple ascendancies, racing up and down the scales to the pulse of martial drums that move the music along. China Dreams (1995) makes more prominent use of sweeping string passages with the flute and piccolo dancing underneath. The second movement, called “Fanfare”, is more telling with its strongly Bernsteinian midtown-Manhattan hustle and bustle.
Postcards (1997) is a tone poem meant to depict various landscapes within China. But again, it hardly sounds Chinese. Sheng’s music is profoundly tonal and neo-romantic, and his influences are many. Bernstein has been mentioned already, but the stronger influence, oddly, is Shostakovich. There are broad string bass and other lower string passages that carry the melodies and themes; also present is Shostakovich’s overall brooding quality. Postcards reflects these influences and more, with nods also to Howard Hanson, Lou Harrison, William Schuman, and even Ottorino Respighi, of all people. Sheng is still (relatively) young and is clearly in search of a voice, but on evidence of this promising and often engaging program, he’s definitely worth a listen.
