Guo Yue (musician)
Encyclopedia
Guo Yue is a renowned virtuoso of the dizi (Chinese bamboo flute) and bawu
(Chinese free reed pipe). He was born in Beijing
, China
and as a young boy experienced the Cultural Revolution
. In 1982 Yue left China and, with the help of his third sister Yan who was living in England
, he studied the silver flute
at the Guildhall School of Music. He plays many kinds of the bamboo flute
and currently lives in London, recording for Peter Gabriel
's Real World
label. His other great love is cooking, and he often combines cookery with flute playing at his concerts.
. His name is a revolutionary one: Guo meaning Kingdom, Yue meaning Leap Forward. His family lived in a traditional courtyard in the maze of old alleys known as the Hutongs, between the beautiful Drum and Bell Towers and the river where he played as a child. His courtyard housed the families of five traditional musicians, mostly from the countryside. From these musicians who (unlike his father) had received no formal musical training, he learned how to put not just his breath but his whole body into playing the flute.
(a bamboo mouth organ), they made a Real World album called 'Yuan', which also features the voice of his second sister Xuan. As the Guo Brothers, they performed at international festivals and concerts, including WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festivals worldwide. Since 1990 Yue worked as a soloist, writing his own music, and from 2003 he has worked in "Shan Qi" with Giovanni Amighetti
, Helge A. Norbakken, Guido Ponzini
, Wu Fei
, and Gjermund Silset.
Yue has not confined himself to traditional Chinese music, and has worked with Peter Gabriel, Sinéad O'Connor
and Hothouse Flowers
. He has also collaborated with musicians and composers from Africa
, Italy
and Japan
. In 1992 he made the album Trisan (Real World) with the Japanese taiko
drummer Joji Hirota, and the Irish singer/composer Pol Brennan
; this won an American instrumental award. Then in 1995 Yue and Joji recorded the album 'Red Ribbon'. In 1999 Yue performed his bamboo flutes concerto 'My Peking Alley' with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the WOMAD Festival in Reading.
's Oscar-winning The Last Emperor
and The Killing Fields
. He also played the soundtrack theme, composed by George Fenton, for the Emmy award-winning Channel Four television documentary Beyond the Clouds which was directed by Phil Agland who commented: 'In the magical hands of Guo Yue, the bawu flute creates sounds that haunt the soul'.
Horse and Bamboo Theatre
and Barefoot Books
are collaborating with Guo and his wife, Clare Farrow, on a theatre production based on Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing, the story of his childhood; this show toured the UK in the summer of 2009 and is expected to do the same in 2010.
, and gives cookery workshops in cookery schools and food festivals worldwide, often combined with music. 'Music, Food and Art' is held in Beijing, and groups of 8 to 10 students travel with him to stay in the hutongs where he grew up, visiting local markets and learning food preparation and cookery techniques, and the relationship of food to health, culture and music.
Yue has written 'Music, Food and Love' with Clare Farrow, which was published in 2006. It tells the story of the Chinese Cultural Revolution through the eyes of a musical child. Yue had very little schooling, but an instinctive love of music, nature and cooking enabled him to find a means of self-expression at a time when freedom and individuality were suppressed by the policies of Mao Zedong.
Yue recounts his childhood before and during the Revolution. In sensual detail he evokes the colours, smells, tastes and sounds of a world that no longer exists. Among the most moving passages are those written about his mother, from whom he was separated during the Revolution.
His newest book is entitled Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing (Barefoot Books).
Bawu
The bawu is a Chinese wind instrument. Although shaped like a flute, it is actually a free reed instrument, with a single metal reed. It is played in a transverse manner...
(Chinese free reed pipe). He was born in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and as a young boy experienced the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. In 1982 Yue left China and, with the help of his third sister Yan who was living in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he studied the silver flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
at the Guildhall School of Music. He plays many kinds of the bamboo flute
Bamboo flute
Flutes made of bamboo are found in many musical traditions.Some bamboo flutes include:Flute Country of Origin Atenteben Bashi Bansuri Chi Dizi Daegeum...
and currently lives in London, recording for Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's Real World
Real World Records
Real World Records is a record label started in 1989 by Peter Gabriel to record and produce world music.-Overview:The label grew up alongside the success of the WOMAD festivals and Peter Gabriel's exploration of music from other cultures, and helped push world music into the general public's...
label. His other great love is cooking, and he often combines cookery with flute playing at his concerts.
Background
Yue was born in 1958, the youngest of 6 children, the year of Mao's Great Leap ForwardGreat Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
. His name is a revolutionary one: Guo meaning Kingdom, Yue meaning Leap Forward. His family lived in a traditional courtyard in the maze of old alleys known as the Hutongs, between the beautiful Drum and Bell Towers and the river where he played as a child. His courtyard housed the families of five traditional musicians, mostly from the countryside. From these musicians who (unlike his father) had received no formal musical training, he learned how to put not just his breath but his whole body into playing the flute.
Music
Since relocating to England, Yue has composed, arranged, performed and recorded traditional Chinese music. In 1990 with his brother Guo Yi (郭艺), who plays the shengSheng (instrument)
The Chinese sheng is a mouth-blown free reed instrument consisting of vertical pipes.Traditionally, the sheng has been used as an accompaniment instrument for solo suona or dizi performances. It is one of the main instruments in kunqu and some other forms of Chinese opera...
(a bamboo mouth organ), they made a Real World album called 'Yuan', which also features the voice of his second sister Xuan. As the Guo Brothers, they performed at international festivals and concerts, including WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festivals worldwide. Since 1990 Yue worked as a soloist, writing his own music, and from 2003 he has worked in "Shan Qi" with Giovanni Amighetti
Giovanni Amighetti
Giovanni Amighetti is a contemporary Italian musician.He studied classical piano and began playing with avantgarde band Fondamenta in late eighties...
, Helge A. Norbakken, Guido Ponzini
Guido Ponzini
Guido Ponzini is a young Italian stick-bass player.He works playing his solo compositions and with flute master Guo Yue.Guido plays also in Shan Qi and with bajan virtuoso Vladimir Denissenkov and as guest with Adel Salameh and Ayub Ogada...
, Wu Fei
Wu Fei
Wu Fei is a composer, performer, and improviser from Beijing, China. She mainly performs on the ancient Chinese zither called guzheng, and also sings and plays the piano....
, and Gjermund Silset.
Yue has not confined himself to traditional Chinese music, and has worked with Peter Gabriel, Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
and Hothouse Flowers
Hothouse Flowers
The Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock group that combines traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel and rock.-Career:The group first formed in 1985 when Liam Ó Maonlaí and Fiachna Ó Braonáin began performing as street musicians, or buskers, on the streets of Dublin,Ireland as "The...
. He has also collaborated with musicians and composers from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In 1992 he made the album Trisan (Real World) with the Japanese taiko
Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
drummer Joji Hirota, and the Irish singer/composer Pol Brennan
Pól Brennan
Pól Brennan is an Irish singer, songwriter and producer. He is the brother of Enya and Moya Brennan. He is a member of the family band Clannad, and co-wrote the hit song "Theme from Harry's Game". He left the group in 1990, but rejoined in 2011...
; this won an American instrumental award. Then in 1995 Yue and Joji recorded the album 'Red Ribbon'. In 1999 Yue performed his bamboo flutes concerto 'My Peking Alley' with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the WOMAD Festival in Reading.
Film and theatre work
Guo has also worked on the soundtracks of several international films, including Bernardo BertolucciBernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
's Oscar-winning The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures...
and The Killing Fields
The Killing Fields
The Killing Fields are a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War ....
. He also played the soundtrack theme, composed by George Fenton, for the Emmy award-winning Channel Four television documentary Beyond the Clouds which was directed by Phil Agland who commented: 'In the magical hands of Guo Yue, the bawu flute creates sounds that haunt the soul'.
Horse and Bamboo Theatre
Horse and Bamboo Theatre
Horse and Bamboo Theatre or Horse + Bamboo Theatre is a British theatre company founded in 1978 by Bob Frith. The company works with a commitment to strong narratives but using visual, physical, and music-based forms rather than text. In particular it uses distinctive full-head masks...
and Barefoot Books
Barefoot Books
Barefoot Books is an independent children's book publisher based in Bath, UK and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.The company began as a home business in 1992. It is now an international business, with offices in the United States and in the UK...
are collaborating with Guo and his wife, Clare Farrow, on a theatre production based on Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing, the story of his childhood; this show toured the UK in the summer of 2009 and is expected to do the same in 2010.
Cookery
Guo is also a specialist in authentic Chinese cookingChinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
, and gives cookery workshops in cookery schools and food festivals worldwide, often combined with music. 'Music, Food and Art' is held in Beijing, and groups of 8 to 10 students travel with him to stay in the hutongs where he grew up, visiting local markets and learning food preparation and cookery techniques, and the relationship of food to health, culture and music.
Writing
"There was a saying in my childhood that you could always tell when it was six o'clock in the evening, because at that moment the entire city would begin to vibrate with the force of everybody's chopping. And in the courtyards you could always tell what your neighbours were preparing, simply by listening to the speed and rhythm of their chopping."Yue has written 'Music, Food and Love' with Clare Farrow, which was published in 2006. It tells the story of the Chinese Cultural Revolution through the eyes of a musical child. Yue had very little schooling, but an instinctive love of music, nature and cooking enabled him to find a means of self-expression at a time when freedom and individuality were suppressed by the policies of Mao Zedong.
Yue recounts his childhood before and during the Revolution. In sensual detail he evokes the colours, smells, tastes and sounds of a world that no longer exists. Among the most moving passages are those written about his mother, from whom he was separated during the Revolution.
His newest book is entitled Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing (Barefoot Books).
Discography
- Yuan (Real World)
- Trisan (Real World)
- Red Ribbon (Riverboat Records)
- 2006 - Music, Food and Love (Real World)
Books
- Guo, Yue, and Clare Farrow (2008). Music, Food and Love. Piatkus. ISBN 100749950781.
- Guo, Yue, and Clare Farrow (2008). Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing. Illustrated by Helen Cann. ISBN 1846861144. ISBN 9781846861147.
External links
- Shan Qi - http://www.arvmusic.org/Shan%20Qi.html
- Guo Yue website - http://www.guoyuemusic.com/