The Twelve Beauties of Jinling ?????

Text by Cao Xueqin (ca 1715 - 1763)
[sung in Mandarin]

Premiered on 03/30/03 in Morphy Recital Hall, UW Madison.
Elaine Niu - soprano
Alan Berquist - flute/piccolo
David Dettman - pipa
Tim Kamps - violin/viola
Yu-Hsien Wu - cello
Mina Hung - piano
Jerry Hui - conductor

Performance on 04/03/05 in Society of Composers 6th Student National Conference
     Clapp Recital Hall, University of Iowa (Iowa City IA).
Performance on 04/28/05 in St. Francis House, Madison WI.
Elaine Niu - soprano
Angela Krainz - flute/piccolo
David Dettman - pipa
Tim Kamps - violin/viola
Ryan DeYoung - cello
Pavel Polanco-Safadit - piano
Jerry Hui - conductor

Recording of the premiere ensemble is available through my CafePress store.

These 12 poems are taken from Chapter 5 of the Chinese Classics Literature "Dream of the Red Mansion" (???), a story of two rich feudal families, and how their fortune spiraled down with their decaying morality. Each poem tells the fortune of one of the main female characters with vivid images and a surreal sense.

The entire song cycle is based on a 12-tone row. To me in using a serial system, what matters is not the uniform use of all twelve chromatic pitches, but rather different ways to traverse through the row in the specified order. In this piece various ways of traversals are used to finish one row form and connect to another. Also special attention was given particularly to the voice line to make it easier on the singer.

An ensemble slightly modified from Schoenberg's Pierre ensemble, pipa - a 4-string Chinese lute - is used, which gives a distinct ethnic sound. Throughout many instances of the piece I tried to provoke the image of traditional Chinese music, be it with singing style, rhythm, form or texture.

Listen:  Prelude | I. | II. | III. | IV. | V. | VI. | VII. | VIII. | IX. | X. | XI. | XII. | Postlude

Lyrics and translation

I.
?????:
??????
?????,
??????

Alas for her wifely virtue,
Her wit to sing of willow-down, poor maid!
Buried in snow the broken golden hairpin
And hanging in the wood the belts of jade.
II.
???????,
???????;
????????
????????

For twenty years she arbitrates
Where pomegranates blaze by palace gates.
How can the late spring equal the spring's start?
When Hare and Tiger meet, from this Great Dream of life 
	she must depart.
III.
???????,
???????;
???????,
????????

So talented and high-minded,
She is born too late for luck to come her way.
Through tears she watches the stream
	on the Clear and Bright Day;
A thousand li the east wind blows,
But her home in her dreams is far away.
IV.
??????
???????;
?????,
???????!

Nought avail her rank and riches,
While yet in swaddling clothes an orphan lone;
In a flash she mourns the setting sun,
The river Hsiang runs dry, the clouds 
	over Chu have flown.
V.
?????;
?????;
?????,
?????!
 
Chastity is her wish,
Seclusion her desire;
Alas, though fine as gold or jade
She sinks at last in the mire.
VI.
?????!
?????!
?????,
?????!

For husband she will have a mountain wolf,
His object gained he ruthlessly berates her;
Fair bloom, sweet willow in a golden bower,
Too soon a rude awakening awaits her.
VII.
???????,
???????!
???????,
????????

She sees through the transience of spring,
Dark Buddhist robes replace her garments fine;
Pity this child of a wealthy noble house
Who now sleeps alone by the dimly lit old shrine.
VIII.
???????,
???????;
???????,
????????

This bird appears when the world falls on evil times;
None but admires her talents and her skill;
First she complies, then commands, then is dismissed,
Departing in tears to Jinling more wretched still.
IX.
?????,
?????;
?????,
??????

When fortune frowns, nobility means nothing;
When a house is ruined, kinsmen turn unkind.
Because of help given by chance to Granny Liu,
In time of need she is lucky a friend to find.
X.
???????,
????????
???????,
????????

Peach and plum in spring winds finish seeding,
Who can bloom like the orchid at last?
Pure as ice and water she arouses envy,
Vain the groundless taunts that are cast.
XI.
???????,
???????!
???????,
????????

Love boundless as sea and sky is but illusion;
When lovers meet, lust must be king.
Say not all evil comes from the Jung Mansion,
Truly, disaster originates from the Ning.
XII.
?????:
??????
?????,
??????

Alas for her wifely virtue,
Her wit to sing of willow-down, poor maid!
Buried in snow the broken golden hairpin
And hanging in the wood the belts of jade.