On & Between: New Music for Pipa & Western Ensembles

This suite of pieces by New York-based pianist and composer Zhen Chen is a musical tribute to Chinese immigrants to the US, and the instability they face in a treacherous political climate. The pipa (lute), played here by award-winning virtuoso Lin Ma, serves as a representation of an unnamed female protagonist, newly emigrated from China, navigating her way through the tumultuous vibrancy of New York. The tone of the compositions, particularly in the first half, is largely optimistic, with a sweeping sentimentality that reflects the young woman's nostalgia for home, as well as the unfamiliar romance of her new environment. Subtle references to Dvorak sit comfortably alongside hints at Chinese folk melodies.

While focus rarely shifts away from the exquisitely delivered pipa, there are some especially beautiful chamber orchestrations, with the oboe and cello being given some of the album's most striking themes. Pizzicato strings effectively evoke the frenetic nature of the city in ‘Dancing in the Rain’, and the opening French horn of ‘Arrival’ sets a mood that is both mournful and hopeful in equal measure. The cultural diversity of New York is celebrated via the integration of disparate styles of music. This is most successful on the agitated tango of ‘Lost in the Midtown’, though less so in the use of blues and lounge jazz, falling back on the generic stylistic tropes of both. However, the suite as a whole succeeds as a hopeful comment on culture and identity – a welcome sentiment in a divided time.