Máng Gǔ

for ssaattbb (2022)

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commissioned by NYCGB

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Máng Gǔ, meaning the fullness of millet is also the name of a tribal dance in Yunnan, China. 

The song consists of two parts, “the dawn mountain song” and “the tribal dance of the harvest day in the fields”. My initial inspiration for the first section came from the form of mountain songs in ethnic minority areas of China. In the days before modern technology, people who wanted to communicate would sing to each other through the echoes of the mountains. The second part of the creation came from my fantasy of tribal dances that would occur in millet fields. Traditionally, Máng Gǔ dance is the main activity of praying for crops, grain harvest, or the celebration of happy holidays.

This song is dedicated to my grandmother, whom I miss during these years of not being able to travel. I wish her a long and healthy life.

 

(No lyrics)

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