Take your audience on a journey through vibrant and versatile China! These ancient traditional melodies tell stories of China's people and lands.

In Jan. 2021, I began taking live Zoom classes in Mandarin at my Alma Mater, Univ. of Calif. San Diego. Of course I had to investigate the music!

The stirring ancient Chinese melodies were originally played on the Dizi (ancient bamboo flute) and the Erhu (2-stringed bowed fiddle).

I combined modern Western harmonies with Chinese tonalities to bring the mood of the timeless human stories of these ancient melodies. I kept the harmonies spread out wide and fairly thin, because the ancient instruments kept it simple and this also works well on carillon, where the bells' sounds overlap.

The arpeggios, glissandi, and tremolandi simulate strumming or plucking the Konghou (ancient Chinese harp), the Guzheng (21-string zither) and the Pipa (Lute). I used these to create mood and build up a story. The glissandi were as close as I could come to the tone bending of the Erhu. You can't bend a bell sound!

The tonalities that I set up in the passages between measures are akin to the tones of the Bianzhong (tuned bronze bells) and the Bianqing (tuned stone bells). The trick was reconciling those overtones with the build up of minor third overtones on today's carillons!

The following songs are included in the piece:

1. "Long Drum Dancing Song of the Yao Tribe" – Traditional Southwest China Song and Dance festival in the moonlight 《瑶族舞曲》
2. "Winter Ducks Playing in Water" – Traditional Chaozhou melody《寒鸭戏水》
3. "Crescent Moon Before Dawn" – Traditional Northeastern China 《月牙五更》
4. "Boys and Flowers" – Traditional Qin Hai melody – Young men and women picking spring flowers, exchanging them as love gifts. 《花儿与少年》
5. "Raise the Red Lantern" – Traditional Shangxi melody – Young woman dreams of spending a joyous new year with her lover after seeing red lanterns hung on the doors of houses. 《挂红灯》
6. "Jasmine Flower" – Traditional Jiang Su melody – The beauty and sweet smell of the Jasmine Flower charm a young girl's heart.《茉莉花》
7. "See a babbling Brook" – folk music from Yunnan Province.《小河淌水》

—Frances Newell