Jeffrey Ching
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey Ching is a British contemporary classical composer, born in the Philippines of Chinese parentage. His rich and complex musical language, irreducible to a single style, explores the correspondences and contradictions between the traditions of Europe and Asia, and between the music of past centuries and the present. His most recent large-scale work was Das Waisenkind (The Orphan) (see below), which was premiered in 2009 in Theater Erfurt, the most modern opera house in Germany. This opera won the Zuschauerpreis (Audience Prize) for Best Opera Production of 2009-2010, a rare triumph for a contemporary composition, and also earned unanimous praise from European critics.
, and received a Catholic
education while growing up next door to his grandfather's private museum of ancient Chinese scrolls. He began composing before he was ten and remained self-taught until the age of seventeen, when his first opera Rendezvous in Venice was premiered. He went to the United States to study music and Sinology
at Harvard University
, there receiving the John Harvard Scholarship for “academic achievements of the highest distinction“ twice, and the Harvard Detur Prize, the university’s oldest prize for academic excellence. He graduated with a double magna cum laude, submitting a graduation thesis on the sumptuary laws of the Ming dynasty
based on extensive research into primary sources. Afterwards he went to England to read law, philosophy, and composition at Cambridge
and London Universities. For several years he taught music at the University of London
, and was Lecturer-in-Music there from 1987 to 1991. He took British citizenship in 2004, and now resides most of the year in Berlin with his wife, the Spanish-Philippine soprano Andión Fernández
, for whom the vocal parts in his principal works were created. They have a son and a daughter.
At the opposite pole to such grandiose experiments are satirical miniatures such as the five-minute "Miniklavier" Sonata for piano (premiered by the composer, Makati, 1993), a score written exclusively in graphic notation to indicate the use of fists, arms, elbows, palms, pointed fingertips, and even buttocks, on the keyboard.
, Harvard University) was a meticulously crafted homage to Viennese classicism, the expressionistic Symphony No. 2, "The Imp of the Perverse" (premiered by the Jeunesses Musicales
World Youth Orchestra under Woldemar Nelsson, Manila, 1995) was set down fully orchestrated in a trance-like state lasting around forty days, without any sketches or pre-conceived structural or tonal plan.
It was not until 1998 that Ching's technical versatility was put at the service of his widening ethnographic interests. A Philippine government commission on the occasion of the Philippine centennial resulted in his Symphony No. 3, "Rituals" (premiered by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under Josefino Toledo, Manila, 1998) which fuses Balinese gamelan
, Chinese Ming
, and Spanish Renaissance
elements into a continuous forty-five-minute collage for three orchestras and male chanter. Following this compositional breakthrough, Ching broadened his field of cross-cultural investigation even further, as an examination of his recent works reveals.
Ching's latest works are:
On 26 September 2010 Ching's opera Das Waisenkind (The Orphan) won the Zuschauerpreis or 'audience prize' in Erfurt, i.e., the public voted it by a wide margin the best opera production of the 2009-10 season, an extraordinary accolade for a contemporary work.
Life and education
Ching's distinctive musical language owes much to the diversity of his cultural background and education. He was born to a Chinese Buddhist family in the former Spanish-American colony of the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, and received a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
education while growing up next door to his grandfather's private museum of ancient Chinese scrolls. He began composing before he was ten and remained self-taught until the age of seventeen, when his first opera Rendezvous in Venice was premiered. He went to the United States to study music and Sinology
Sinology
Sinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, there receiving the John Harvard Scholarship for “academic achievements of the highest distinction“ twice, and the Harvard Detur Prize, the university’s oldest prize for academic excellence. He graduated with a double magna cum laude, submitting a graduation thesis on the sumptuary laws of the Ming dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
based on extensive research into primary sources. Afterwards he went to England to read law, philosophy, and composition at Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and London Universities. For several years he taught music at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, and was Lecturer-in-Music there from 1987 to 1991. He took British citizenship in 2004, and now resides most of the year in Berlin with his wife, the Spanish-Philippine soprano Andión Fernández
Andión Fernández
Andiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
, for whom the vocal parts in his principal works were created. They have a son and a daughter.
Early works
Ching's first creative phase was prolific, producing over 200 works in a multiplicity of techniques in which he laid the foundations for the harmonic and contrapuntal assurance of his mature compositions. Some of these exploratory pieces appear to test specific classical models to extreme limits, e.g., the "Superklavier" Sonata for piano (first sketched in the 1980s, withdrawn after its premiere, and revised intermittently over the next two decades). Despite the self-mocking rivalry with the Hammerklavier implied by the title, Ching's single large movement of 1,631 bars has the quantitative edge over Beethoven's 1,167 bars in four movements; and where the Hammerklavier ends with a double fugue not obviously related to earlier material, the Superklavier has a triple fugue that incorporates all the themes and most of the subsidiary ideas of the preceding thirty-seven minutes.At the opposite pole to such grandiose experiments are satirical miniatures such as the five-minute "Miniklavier" Sonata for piano (premiered by the composer, Makati, 1993), a score written exclusively in graphic notation to indicate the use of fists, arms, elbows, palms, pointed fingertips, and even buttocks, on the keyboard.
First three symphonies
While the early Symphony No. 1 in C (first version premiered by the Bach Society Orchestra under James RossJames Ross (conductor)
James Ross MA, MSt, DPhil, is a British conductor and author.-Career:Ross studied at Harrow School, and later at Christ Church, Oxford from where he received an MA in Modern History , an MSt in Music , and a DPhil in French opera...
, Harvard University) was a meticulously crafted homage to Viennese classicism, the expressionistic Symphony No. 2, "The Imp of the Perverse" (premiered by the Jeunesses Musicales
Jeunesses Musicales
Jeunesses Musicales International is the largest youth music NGO in the world, created in Brussels, Belgium in 1945 with the mission to "enable young people to develop through music across all boundaries"...
World Youth Orchestra under Woldemar Nelsson, Manila, 1995) was set down fully orchestrated in a trance-like state lasting around forty days, without any sketches or pre-conceived structural or tonal plan.
It was not until 1998 that Ching's technical versatility was put at the service of his widening ethnographic interests. A Philippine government commission on the occasion of the Philippine centennial resulted in his Symphony No. 3, "Rituals" (premiered by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under Josefino Toledo, Manila, 1998) which fuses Balinese gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
, Chinese Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
, and Spanish Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
elements into a continuous forty-five-minute collage for three orchestras and male chanter. Following this compositional breakthrough, Ching broadened his field of cross-cultural investigation even further, as an examination of his recent works reveals.
Recent works
- Terra KytaorumTerra KytaorumTerra Kytaorum is the title of a monumental work for brass ensemble and percussion by the contemporary classical composer Jeffrey Ching...
for ten brass and two percussionists (premiered by Weltblech, Berlin, 2001), creates an hour-long, pseudo-historical liturgical service for the last Mongol emperor out of the diverse mediaeval traditions—French, Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese—that could have been represented at his court. In this work Ching also first attempted to create musical sculptures out of Chinese calligraphic samples by a precise tabular method of his own invention.
- Symphony No. 4, "Souvenir des Ming" (Jeunesses MusicalesJeunesses MusicalesJeunesses Musicales International is the largest youth music NGO in the world, created in Brussels, Belgium in 1945 with the mission to "enable young people to develop through music across all boundaries"...
commission, premiered by the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitri Jurowski, Shanghai International Arts Festival, 2006) is a passacagliaPassacagliaThe passacaglia is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre....
and fugueFugueIn music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
on fragments of Ming dynastyMing DynastyThe Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
temple hymns, that uses fractalFractalA fractal has been defined as "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
proportions to enable the chromatic polyphonyPolyphonyIn music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
of J. S. Bach and the equal temperamentEqual temperamentAn equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning, in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratio. As pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency, this means that the perceived "distance" from every note to its nearest neighbor is the same for...
discovered by the Ming musicologist Zhu ZaiyuZhu ZaiyuZhu Zaiyu , a prince of the Ming dynasty of China. In 1584 Prince Zhu innovatively described the equal temperament via accurate mathematical calculation...
to engage in a kind of conceptual dialogue. At the Golden RatioGolden ratioIn mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989...
a series of nine fugal episodes begins, each from the third onwards the added lengths of the previous two; the last episode, a fifty-four-part fugueFugueIn music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
in strict eight-part invertible counterpoint, leads to an aleatoryAleatoryAleatoricism is the incorporation of chance into the process of creation, especially the creation of art or media. The word derives from the Latin word alea, the rolling of dice...
strettoStrettoThe term stretto comes from the Italian past participle of stringere, and means "narrow", "tight", or "close".In music the Italian term stretto has two distinct meanings:...
in 105 parts.
- Symphony No. 5, "Kunstkammer" (premiered by Andión FernándezAndión FernándezAndiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
, Trio Neuklang, and the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin under Mikhail JurowskiMikhail JurowskiMichail Vladimirovich Jurowski is a Russian conductor and the son of composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski . He studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Lev Ginzburg and Alexey Kandinsky. He later worked at the Stanislavski Theatre and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow...
, Berlin, 2006) is an encounter between the strict contrapuntal devices of FrescobaldiFrescobaldiThe Frescobaldi are a prominent Florentine noble family that have been involved in the political, sociological, and economic history of Tuscany since the Middle Ages;. Originating in the Val di Pesa in the Chianti, they appear holding important posts in Florence in the twelfth century...
, the Turkish melodies with four quarter-tones notated by Demetrius CantemirCantemir- People :*members of the Cantemirești family:**Antioh Cantemir , son of Constantin Cantemir, Voivode of Moldavia**Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir - People :*members of the Cantemirești family:**Antioh Cantemir (died 1726), son of Constantin Cantemir, Voivode of Moldavia**Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir...
, and the court music of Qing China based on a fourteen-note "octave" with twelve eighth-tones. The middle of the first movement could be described as quintessential Ching: the soprano fits the last Ming emperor's suicide speech to FrescobaldiFrescobaldiThe Frescobaldi are a prominent Florentine noble family that have been involved in the political, sociological, and economic history of Tuscany since the Middle Ages;. Originating in the Val di Pesa in the Chianti, they appear holding important posts in Florence in the twelfth century...
fragments scored with accordion pitch-bends, 'cello harmonics, clarinet multiphonics, harp vibratoVibratoVibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
, and solo strings tuned a quarter-tone sharp and flat. At the climax of the second movement, thirty-six OttomanOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
modes and twelve Ottoman rhythmic cycles are deployed to create an innovative combination of fugueFugueIn music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
and variation form. YouTube (excerpt): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTVuqAPwCtM
- KunstkabinettKunstkabinettKunstkabinett is a chamber work by the contemporary classical composer Jeffrey Ching. It was composed in Berlin on 05-28 June 2007, immediately after the completion of the first draft of the opera The Orphan, with which it shares both compositional approach and musical material . Like its much...
for seven players and soprano (premiered by the Modern Art Ensemble and Andión FernándezAndión FernándezAndiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
, Berlin, 2007) brings together culturally disparate musical objects which share nothing but "the personal taste of their collector". The opening Mozart minuet (KV 576b) is broken up and expanded by piano and quarter-tone-sharp string trioString trioA string trio is a group of three string instruments or a piece written for such a group. The term is generally used with reference to works of chamber music from the Classical period to the present.-History:...
, then gives way to a dissonant collage of ancient Korean, Japanese, and Tibetan sonorities superimposed in turn, before concluding with the Chinese folksong Molihua sung unharmonised by soprano onto the undamped piano strings. YouTube (complete): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4MYeuWXhRU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
- Notas para una cartografía de FilipinasNotas para una cartografía de FilipinasNotas para una cartografía de Filipinas, subtitled Prelude, Toccata, and Fugues for piano and gangsa, one player, is a work by the contemporary classical composer Jeffrey Ching . It was completed in Berlin on 19 December 2007...
for piano and lap-gong (premiered by Kyoko Okuni, Münster, 2008) supplements the strictest keyboard polyphony with palm- and fingernail taps and tremolos, plucked and scraped string effects, and finally a gangsa (northern Philippine lap-gong) to transport the listener from the mediaeval courts of China and Japan through each of the three geographical regions of the Philippine Islands. YouTube (complete): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADHJTt6HNpw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL - The Orphan [in German, Das Waisenkind], commissioned by Theater ErfurtErfurtErfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
, Germany for its 2009-10 season, is an opera based on a 14th-century Chinese play and its European transformations at the hands of VoltaireVoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, Goethe, and other EnlightenmentAge of EnlightenmentThe Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
dramatists. This is a new kind of multicultural music-theatre that is yet rooted in Eastern and Western traditions, and features a libretto in seven languages, a large orchestra of both conventional and electronic instruments, and a mixed cast with opera singers, speaker, mimes, chorus, and dancers. YouTube (excerpts): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i619dumJQPc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Ching's latest works are:
- Spohr's Last Thoughts for clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano, premiered by Quatuor Mistral in the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2009, and revised for the performance by Ensemble TIMFTIMFTIMF is an abbreviated title of Tongyeong International Music Festival . It covers the title of the event concerned and at the same time, a wide umbrella of diversified business branches within categories of the event concerned....
in Münster in 2010. - The Orphan Swears Vengeance on his Ancestral Foe for soprano, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano, premiered by Andión FernándezAndión FernándezAndiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
and Quatuor Mistral in the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2009. - Ayres for Fallen Kings for bass-baritone and piano, premiered by Jonathan de la Paz Zaens and Markus Zugehör in Theater Erfurt in 2010. YouTube (complete): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2894QG-WPw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
- Bombyx mandarina/Bombyx mori for soprano, percussionist, and string quartet, premiered by Andión FernándezAndión FernándezAndiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
and players from the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper BerlinDeutsche Oper BerlinThe Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
at its sixth "Klang der Welt" concert in 2010. YouTube (excerpt): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLZG2pI8KtI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL - Molihua for soprano, two double basses, percussionist, and piano resonance, premiered by Andión FernándezAndión FernándezAndiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
and players from the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper BerlinDeutsche Oper BerlinThe Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
at its sixth "Klang der Welt" concert in 2010. - Seven Preludes to a Prelude for 'cello, premiered by Matias de Oliveira Pinto in Ferch in 2010. (The version with the seven movements of J. S. Bach's 'cello suite BWV 1011 interpolated, was given its Berlin premiere by the same 'cellist at the Potsdam Bachtage 2011.)
- Broken Madrigals for soprano, twelve 'cellos, male speaker, and percussion, premiered by Andión FernándezAndión FernándezAndiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
and the combined 'cello ensembles of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, St Petersburg, and the International Music Academy, Germany, in St Petersburg in 2011. - Concerto da camera for guitar, ‘cello, soprano, and strings, to be premiered by Reinbert EversReinbert Evers-Career:Evers was born in Dortmund. He first studied in Düsseldorf, then in Vienna. He was appointed Professor of Guitar at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, Dep. Münster in 1976, and in 1980 he received the Young Artists Award from the City of Dortmund. In 1998 and again in 2000 he was docent...
, Matias de Oliveira Pinto, and the Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2012. - Horologia sinica for soprano and Chinese instruments, to be premiered by Andión FernándezAndión FernándezAndiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (香港中乐团) at the 40th Hong Kong Arts Festival in March 2012.
Honours and Audience Prize
Although a European resident for over twenty years, Ching's achievements are well recognised in the country of his birth.- In 1990, 1993, and 1997 he represented the Philippines in three major cultural delegations to China.
- In December 1998 Ching was named one of the five outstanding young citizens of the year by the President of the Philippines, on the basis that his "works have expanded the scope and quality of Philippine musical literature".
- In June 2003 he was awarded the newly established Jose RizalJosé RizalJosé Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
Award for Excellence (in the category of Art, Literature and Culture) by the President of the Philippines.
On 26 September 2010 Ching's opera Das Waisenkind (The Orphan) won the Zuschauerpreis or 'audience prize' in Erfurt, i.e., the public voted it by a wide margin the best opera production of the 2009-10 season, an extraordinary accolade for a contemporary work.