Qin - Lin Youren

Music for Qin Zither

Lin Youren
Nimbus NI 5656

Contents:

1. Yu qiao wenda "Dialogue of fisherman and woodcutter"
2. Zuiyu changwan "Evening song of the drunken fisherman"
3. Liangxiao yin "Ode to the fine night"
4. Yi guren "Remembering an old friend"
5. Yangguan sandie "Three variations on the Yang pass"
6. Pingsha luoyan "Wild geese descending on the sandbank"
7. Qiufeng ci "Lyric on the autumn wind" (w/ voice)
8. Improvisation for Michael Owen
9. Changmen yuan "Lament from the Changmen palace"
10. Liushui "Flowing waters"

Instrument: Qin "Hearing the bell on a snowy night" (Ming Dynasty)

Playing time: 70'

Recording date: July 1998 (Nimbus Foundation)

Lin Youren (b.1938) studied early in his life with Liu Shaochun (1901-71), famous for his unaffected style. Later, he entered the conservatory system, and so is a product of the conservatory setting. However, despite a scholarly bent, he has not embraced the concert setting. He prefers the qin in a more solitary setting, as per its history. This is among the calmest, most understated, recitals available.

This will be one of the most readily available qin recitals, and a quality production, if not overwhelmingly so. The typical distance of the Nimbus style of recording makes the nuances of the qin sound somewhat more difficult to hear than in the more "present" Asian recordings. However, the truly English (as opposed to some rather cursory translations) discussion will be welcome for many.

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