Little Sisters

A duo for piano and pipa

Some years ago I played a concert in Vancouver, Canada with my dear friend Celso Machado, who plays guitar and percussion, plus pipa (a Chinese lute) virtuosa Qiu Xa He. Here is a Chinese piece we did as a duo with piano and pipa: Little Sisters of the Grassland, jointly composed by Wu Zu Qiang, Wang Yan Qiao and Liu De Hai. The music is about two Mongolian girls protecting their sheep in a thunder storm.

This was my first time collaborating with Chinese musicians, and Qiu Xa was a joy to work with. It was a discovery of new sonorities for me, especially in the strings blend with the piano and the pipa lute. I had never heard this music before, so I had to imagine the accompaniment to the pipa melodies:

The piece is very cinematic. It tells a dramatic story of the sisters Lung Mei and Yu Jung, and the music follows the action as they herd sheep in the Mongolia prairie, struggle in the storm, move in the cold darkness, and see thousands of red flowers blossoming. If 11 minutes of music might feel long, remember that if this was be a video it would be a short film. Please take some time to listen, imagine the story that the music tells you, and tell me what you hear.

Little Sisters was recorded live in Vancouver, Canada in 2002. Qiu Xa He on pipa, Jovino Santos Neto on piano and arrangement.

Thanks for listening!