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Programme Note

Composer Note:
A playful, dance-like piece, Concerto for Six evokes the joy of a village ritual. Traces of classical Chinese instrumental music are nonetheless evident in this one-movement work, which is constructed as a set of variations upon the number series 7-6-5-4-3-2-1. This numerical sequence governs the piece’s metrical scheme and affects it rhythm and tempo as well. (In fact, the musicians’ chanting of “Qi-Liu-Wu-Si-San-Er-Yi” is Chinese for “Seven-Six-Five-Four-Three-Two-One.”) Contrasting with this strict formal structure are cadenzas and sections of free improvisation for each of the six players, as one might expect in a concerto.

— Tan Dun