In 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I started composing settings of Tang Dynasty poetry for orchestra + voices, an outgrowth of my writing for the iSING! Composition Competition. Here are demos of 3 poems. I intend to expand this project and eventually create an album or evening-length set of music. Scores/parts available upon request. Pieces available for licensing and performances. Demos are of live singers over a virtual orchestra rendering.

SINGING OF GOOSE 咏鹅 by Luo Binwang 骆宾王 (619 – 687 CE)
鹅，鹅，鹅，
曲项向天歌。
白毛浮绿水，
红掌拨清波。
Goose – Goose – Goose,
Necks arched, they sing to the sky,
White feather floating on green water,
Crimson webs paddling clear ripples.

The poet, at the age of 7, wrote this short poem with simple words that paint a colorful picture and capture the child’s spontaneous delight at the sight of geese in a pond.

Banlingyu Ban, voice
Ravel Virtual Studios, orchestral rendering

Instrumentation:
Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano
Erhu
Orchestra (Woodwinds 3333, Brass 433, Tuba, Timp+3 Perc, Piano, Harp, Strings)

Live audio version of a choral/piano version available upon request.

SONG OF SNOW 咏雪 by Zhang Dayou 张打油 (Middle Tang)
江上一笼统，
井上黑窟窿。
黄狗身上白，
白狗身上肿。
The river is one sweeping sight;
The well looks like a hole in the night.
Yellow dog is covered with white;
White dog looks swollen all right.

A man named Zhang Dayou — an ordinary scholar by all accounts— was the first to come up with this style: something more like a limerick than a poem, strictly speaking. It is casual, seemingly simple, and often humorous. Here he was describing a snow scene without ever using the word “snow”. In quick broad strokes he tells us the details within this white expanse. His style was later much copied and was named after him to become “dǎyóushī 打油诗”.

I added my own lyrics to the introduction of Song of Snow:
大家看過來！
來～來～來～
我們來猜謎.
看誰能猜中！
誰能猜猜中?
大家專心了！
Everybody listen up! Gather round. Listen to my riddle.
Let's see who can guess correctly. Who will guess right?
Everyone pay attention!

Instrumentation:
Solo Bass + TTBB
Erhu
Orchestra (Woodwinds 3333, Brass 433, Tuba, Timp+3 Perc, Piano, Harp, Strings)

Live audio version of a choral/piano version available upon request.

DEMO OF MEDLEY OF GEESE & SNOW:

UNTITLED (IT’S HARD TO MEET, IT’S JUST AS HARD TO PART) 无题 (相見時難別亦難)
by Li Shangyin 李商隐 (813-858 CE)

The poet was sent away to study under a Taoist master when he was 15, and there he fell hopelessly in love with a young girl. To describe this illicit relationship, he wrote a number of "untitled poems." This one is from the girl’s perspective, and draws parallels between what she sees and how she feels.

相見時難，別亦難
東風無力，百花殘。
春蠶到死，絲芳盡
蠟炬成灰，淚始干。
曉鏡但愁雲鬢改，
夜吟應覺月光寒。
蓬山此去無多路
青鳥殷勤為探看。

Translation:
It's hard to meet, it's just as hard to part,
Weak wind from east makes all flowers wilt.
The silk worm dies when its silk is spent,
Tears run dry when candle burns to ashes.
I check my hair's color in the morning mirror;
I read poetry by night under the cold moon beam.
I know paradise is somewhere not too far away;
Go, little bird, and tell me what you see.

Banlingyu Ban, voice; Ravel Virtual Studios, orchestral rendering

Instrumentation:
Soprano
Orchestra (Woodwinds 2220, Brass 0000, Timpani +3 Percussion, Piano, Harp, Strings)
Woodwinds - flute 2, oboe 2, clarinet 2, piccolo optional

A choral version (piano/vocal) of “Singing of Geese & Song of Snow” was premiered by MPLS (imPulse) choir at “Time In Our Voices”, a concert partnering with the youth of ComMUSICation to present vocal works with texts by children. Performance: Saturday, March 19, 2022 at Wellstone Center, St. Paul, MN

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped with this project so far: iSING! China, James Wordsworth, Roy Hendrickson, Hui-Mei Lin, Kyle Gordon, Ron Artinian, BanBan Yu, Jeremy Siskind, Isamu McGregor, Ronen Itzik, Andy Lin, Kelly Lin, Kenny Wollesen, and more.

Creation of the demo recordings was made possible by the 2021 Jerome Foundation Artist Fellowship Finalist award.