Tune of Mulberry《秦桑曲》– Zhou Yanjia (1979), Arr. Lan Tung (2007)
－ zheng accompanied by erhu & percussion
This piece is an interpretation of a poem, by the same name, of the great poet Li Bai (Li Po) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A. D.), describing a woman’s longing for her beloved’s safe return from the western frontier. The music is composed in the wanwan qiang style, a form of regional opera of Shaanxi, the capital region of the Chinese Tang Dynasty.
春思－李白
燕草如碧絲，秦桑低绿枝。
當君懷歸日，是妾断腸時。
春風不相識，何事入羅幃？
The northern territory and grass sprouts new green
down here in your homeland I am already surrounded by lush mulberry trees
You have just started to plan for your return
while I go on waiting with an aching heart
Spring breeze, I do not know you
why have you come into my chamber and blow through my bed curtains?
— Longing in Spring, Li Bai (701-762)