KJ Wong: The Five Elements Piano Recital

EVENT DESCRIPTION

The concept of the Five Elements was used by ancient Chinese philosophers to describe the formation and relationships of all things in the world. The Five Elements are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Singly or in combination, they are the five major constituents of all things. The ancients related the Five Elements to different things in the world such as the Five Constant Virtues and Five Body Organs, which are unique Chinese cultural characteristics. Music also has its corresponding Five Notes. Traditional Chinese music uses a pentatonic scale, consisting of Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, and Yu, similar to the Western music notes Do, Re, Mi, So, La. Each note was imbued by the ancients with the attributes of one of the Five Elements: Metal (Shang), Wood (Jue), Water (Yu), Fire (Zhi), and Earth (Gong).

For the Five Elements recital, the selection of music pieces is based on the concept of the interaction between the Five Elements generating and controlling one another, as in Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, and Wood generates Fire. Pianist KJ Wong selects not only pieces of Western classical music, in which he excels, but also traditional Chinese music and modern music. When selecting the pieces, KJ emphasizes on the “feeling”, especially feeling his connection with the Five Elements and all things on Earth. Through this solo concert, the audience will experience the beautiful fusion of Chinese and Western cultures, and feel the charm of the Five Elements and Five Notes.

Repertoire
“Earth”
Sonata in B minor, K.87 – Scarlatti
Sonata in E major, K. 135 – Scarlatti
Prelude and Fugue in E major, BWV 878 – Bach

“Metal”
12 Notations – Boulez
“Water”
Aqua – Ryuichi Sakamoto
Reflets dans l’eau (Reflections in the Water) – Debussy

“Wood”
Bāng Chhun-hong (Pining for the Spring Breeze) – Teng Yu-hsien, arr. by Stephen Hough
The Butterfly Lovers – He Zhanhao, Chen Gang

“Fire”
Vers la Flamme (Toward the flame), Op. 72 – Scriabin
Ballade No. 2 in B minor, S.171 – Liszt