Legend of the Sea - SOLO BSN

Legend of the Sea (2007)
for unaccompanied bassoon
by Xinyan Li - Chinese composer

Bassoon solo work Legend of the Sea is composed as a bassoon drama. In this work, I consider bassoon an actor, who acts several characters by one single actor, include the young girl, the young girl's husband, and the whale etc. It tells a story of the fight between a young girl and a whale that swallowed her. To flourish the tone color and intensify the contradiction of bassoon, I use the "Tiger sound" and "Dragon sound" which are typical sounds in the role "Painted Face" in Beijing Opera, the false sound in the role "Xiao Sheng", the percussive sound in "Wu Chang"(Percussion Ensemble in Beijing Opera), as well as crying tune used in "Bride Crying Songs" in Chinese Minority "Tu Jia" Nationality. It is an expressive, creative and dramatic piece that combines both the western instrument bassoon's character and Chinese cultural features.

--Xinyan Li