Chou Wen Chung: Clouds

Chou Wen-Chung met Edgard Varse in 1949. Chou became Varses apprentice and a lifelong friend by assisting him in editing and revising his music, while sharing interests that included classical literature, sculpture and geometric aspects of music. Chou later completed unfinished works by Varse, including, Nocturnal. Unfortunately, Chous own music is less known and Mode is pleased to release this CD of relatively recent works, deeply contemplative music for string quartet and double trio; not unlike Beethovens late string quartets. Chou grew up in China. In 1946, he turned down a scholarship in architecture at Yale University in order to pursue music, studying with Nicholas Slonimsky and with Edgard Varse and Otto Luening in New York. In 1954, he became the first technical assistant at Columbias Electronic Music Laboratory and was concurrently appointed the director of Chinese music and drama. He has been a tireless champion of bridging Eastern and Western music and composers. Chou developed compositional techniques for achieving what he calls the re-merger of Eastern and Western musical elements. This technique deals with the ancient Chinese concept that each single musical tone is capable of a wide range of expression by itself; as well as the creation of a musical correlate to the beauty of Asian calligraphic brushstrokes. Regarding String Quartet No.1 Clouds, Chou comments that the title refers literally to the quality shared by cloud formations and calligraphy: the continual process of change."" String Quartet No.2 Streams can be seen as Chous homage to Bachs 'Art of Fugue' and an attempt to extend the traditional scope of fugal writing by constructing an elaborate contrapuntal system derived from Chinese theories of yin and yang