Performers

Wu Wei, sheng

Holland Baroque:

Violin

Judith Steenbrink

Chloe Prendergast

Viola

Emma van Schoonhoven

Cello

Tomasz Pokrzywinski

Double bass

Michał Bąk

Lute

Christoph Sommer

Organ and harpsichord

Tineke Steenbrink

Percussion

Matteo Rabolini

Programme

Jean-Fery Rebel  

Chaos for Wu Wei        

Melante/J. Steenbrink  

Polonois Chinois

J. Steenbrink     

Rigaudon for Wu Wei       

J. Steenbrink                                            Silk Rondeau                                                

Impro Wu Wei            

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)                                                                                

Harlequinade

Traditional/J. Steenbrink     Silk Song  

Mao Yuan  

Dancing song of the Yao Tribe                                        

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) / Georg Philipp Telemann     

What about some bells                                

Interval

Jean-Marie Leclair       

Gavotte en rondeau                                

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Concerto in C major, BWV 595 

(based on the 1st movement of a Concerto in C major by 

Prince Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar) 

 Johann Sebastian Bach               

Andante in A minor BWV 1003

Johann Sebastian Bach

Gigue in G BWV 577                                            

Chinese traditional  

Abendmusik 

J Steenbrink                 Dragon Dance                      

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) /Johann Sebastian Bach 

La Follia                                                    

  Programme Notes

Good things stay, New things come

By Judith and Tineke Steenbrink, the artistic team of Holland Baroque

The sheng, a magical miracle of harmony

Silk Baroque is a musical encounter between Wu Wei and Holland Baroque, playing a programme influenced by both Eastern and Western music. Wu Wei has brought his sheng, an extraordinary ancient Chinese mouth organ. It looks like a bundle of bamboo reeds, cased in a metal bowl. The sheng is a miracle of harmony, melody and rhythmic possibilities. However, it was not Wu Wei’s instrument that inspired us to create this album, it was Wu Wei himself. Like a siren, his magical playing enchants audience and musician alike. Wu Wei’s abilities bring out the sheng’s beauty: whispering, charming, and compelling. Get ready to be enthralled.

How it all started, the first encounter

We met Wu Wei for the first time at Amsterdam Central Station. Timidly, we drank a cup of green tea and talked a little. We were too shy to get the conversation started, but then Wu Wei said, “Come, I will play you something.” With his eyes closed he played like an angel, sometimes silky soft and sometimes mind-blowingly energetic. We were moved and overwhelmed at the same time, this moment of sheer joy stunned us. Wu Wei played so fluently and powerfully that his sound seemed to arise directly from the baroque and at the same time he improvised in an inimitable way. It was abundantly clear that he is a great musician. Effortlessly, he navigated between centuries and continents. One year later, we met in Potsdam. At the invitation of a luthier friend, we played together in a summer house by a lake for two days. Once in a while, the luthier would walk in to listen. We tried out some compositions, explored each other’s ideas, and had a wonderful time. It was an idyllic meeting in which the music dispelled the shyness between us. It got easier to talk; a little bit of English, a little bit of German. All in all, we understood each other just fine, but gradually talking became unnecessary because we connected on a musical level. 

Repertoire

The programme began to take shape, and both sides contributed compositions. We looked at the material from all angles: how does the sheng fit with Rameau and Leclair, and much more important, do the composers fit Wu Wei? He showed a great preference for some compositions, for instance Tristes Apprêts from Castor et Pollux by Rameau. It was a perfect fit the first time we played it and it stayed that way ever since. We kept searching: is there room for improvisation? And if so, where exactly? At the same time, we started to gain more knowledge about the Chinese repertoire, the music Wu Wei was raised with. 

Judith Steenbrink

“On a trip to Shanghai, I listened to classical Chinese orchestras, because I wanted to know how the composition structure of the orchestral sound was made. Remarkably, it sounded almost the same to me as Western music, however different the classical Chinese orchestra may be. Traditional Chinese music is full of counterparts and bass lines, which make for a kind of classical sound."

However, due to the pentatonic scale, that typical Chinese tone sequence, classically orchestrated pieces still have their own unique sound. We started to orchestrate the pieces ourselves and found room for improvisation. The pentatonic scale became our friend. As time went by, we started noticing the delicacy and elegance of the eastern melodies even more. The more we became absorbed by it, the more beautiful it got.

Cherish what needs to be kept, and be open to new sounds

The result is an album with unprecedented sounds. On the one hand European baroque music, and on the other hand traditional Chinese music. Wu Wei is a contemporary musician who propagates an age-old tradition. He is one of today’s most important sheng players worldwide. Just like Holland Baroque, Wu Wei is a guardian of ancient traditions and a sound innovator at the same time. It is not for nothing that his sheng case has a sticker on it that says: ‘Gutes bleibt, Neues kommt’ (Good things stay, new things come); something Holland Baroque fully supports. 

If the essence of baroque aesthetics is preserved, baroque can be found in many places. For instance, we recognised it in Abendmusik. This could have been a slow movement out of a solo concerto for oboe or harpsichord. With Wu Wei, Baroque is not limited to the 18th century. It is about gesture, the way the notes take shape, the sound architecture, each individual instrument, and the ensemble as a whole. Wu Wei and our Baroque ensemble share the same love for phrasing, resonance, and expression. All these elements are our tribute to the 18th century.