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Orchestral
Fantasy for Flute (or Chinese Flute) and Orchestra (after the Chinese Folk Tale “The Magic Whip”)
Flute (or Chinese flutes), orchestra; co-composers Ying Zhang, Jan Gilbert
Duration: 15:00
Year Written: 2010
Theme: Multicultural/Chinese; Collaboration
DEVELOPED BY DUMASTAR

Commissioned and Premiered By
St. Paul Civic Symphony; Ying Zhang, Chinese flute; Landmark Center, St. Paul, MN, 2010
Notes
Fantasy for Flute and Orchestra was premiered by the St. Paul Civic Symphony with Ying Zhang as soloist. With permission from Ying Zhang, the solos from this performance have been transcribed and added to the score, creating a flute part that may be performed either by solo flute or solo Chinese flute. However, the solos that are unaccompanied by the orchestra may also be adapted “ad lib” by the soloist.
"The Magic Whip" is an ancient Chinese folk tale that tells the story of a farmer's daughter who confronts an evil emperor and tricks him into giving back to her a magic whip (made of hair from a mysterious old woman.) The whip has the power to move even a mountain with the slightest tug, and was stolen by the emperor. Shamed and disgraced, and powerless to destroy the land without the magic whip, the emperor returned to his palace. The kingdom and sea were spared from such evil intentions. The mountains haven't moved for centuries.
Ying Zhang's solos are on the following flutes:
QUDI- a transverse flute made of bamboo
HULUSI- a vertical gourd free-reed flute normally with one or two drone pipes
XUN- a clay globular flute
BAWU - a transverse free-reed flute
Instrumentation: 2 (pic)-1+EH-2-2/4-2-2-1/2per/harp/str and flute or Chinese flute
Preview this score
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