Moon Over Guan Mountains, 2000

Zhao Jiping
China

Instrumentation:
pipa (plucked lute), sheng (mouth organ), cello, tabla (Indian drums)

Moon Over Guan Mountains, Zhao Jiping's commission for the Silk Road Project, deftly combines Eastern and Western instruments in a spirited multicultural conversation. The sheng [sheng], a 3,000-year-old Chinese mouth organ, complements the cello, pipa [PEE pah](Chinese short-necked plucked lute) and tabla [TAH blah] (set of drums used in North Indian classical music). The title of Zhao's piece refers to a mountain range in northwest China through which the ancient Silk Road caravans traveled on their way from the desert.