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Hao-fu ZHANG

Composer of Chinese origin who became Belgian. He is a professor in the Royal Conservatory of Brussels since 1997. Honorary professor in many Chinese Conservatories. He has a degree in composition from the Xi’an Conservatory (1982), the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (1992), and the l’Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris (1992). He was invited to study at the IRCAM in Paris (1992-94). Composer in residence at the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Chinese Radio in Beijing (1982-87) and at the Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles in Belgium (2003). First Prize in the 4th Concours International de Composition in France and the 13th International Composer Competition Valentino BUCCHI in Italy. His works are performed by l’Orchestre de Radio France, les Solistes InterContemporain, the National Opera of Belgium De Munt-La Monnaie, De Filharmonie, l’Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonnie, HongKong Chinese Orchestra, and in many international festivals.

Towards a humanity of light
The sources of Hao-Fu Zhang’s two worlds

Combining modern western writing techniques and oriental spirituality with touching sincerity, Hao-Fu Zhang’s music transports us to the lofty heights of an art form suffused with light and vitality. With his exceptionally precise writing, his use of both conflicting and complementary materials and his constant dialogue with the past masters, Hao-Fu Zhang’s delicate and brilliant intimist artistry guides us to experience humanity at its highest artistic and spiritual level. As a composer and professor at the Royal Brussels Conservatory, Hao-Fu Zhang offers us here five pieces which are typical of his work and his inspiration. Composed in 1996 for Brussels’ Festival Ars Musica, with the support of Belgium’s French Community, and dedicated to Annemarie and Ernest Fergusson, Théâtre pour deux (‘Theatre for Two’) is a work for flute and piano in two movements, and refers to a theatrical convention which originates from North-West China. It is an intimist performance from which all lyricism and refinement is suppressed. The two instruments engage in a subtle dialogue, playing by turns an active or figurative role. In the first movement, the flute predominates whilst the piano repeats a single chord. In the second movement the dynamic is reversed, with the piano playing a variation on the melody of the flute, which plays in the background. In Crépuscule (‘Dusk’), a piece for cello and piano written in 1988, the theme of the poem is inspired by the Chinese poem Le You Yuan by Li Shang-Yin (812-858). Admiring the sublime beauty of a sunset, the poet also expresses his regret at the fleeting, ephemeral nature of the twilight, which mirrors the human life. This is one of the first pieces to have been written by the composer after his arrival in Europe. In order to intensify the lyrical and dramatic aspects of the music, Hao-Fu Zhang explicitly incorporates techniques typical of Chinese instruments, as well as the rhythms of Chinese opera. In Yin-Yang, composed in 1992, the composer’s imagination takes flight by combining ancient Chinese thinking with modern European writing techniques. The resulting piece is fundamentally the product of a culture of tradition, realised with modern techniques. Yin-Yang evokes the dynamic which comes of the resistance and attraction of opposites, the driving force behind the evolution of the universe and humanity’s culture. Here, the composer uses two principal elements which are at once conflicting and complementary: staccato and legato. For the staccato, variations in rhythm, peaks, chords and pace are explored to their greatest potential. For the legato, a huge number of appoggiaturas are used, a technique which the composer refers to as “multiple appoggiaturas”. Generally these are used as embellishments, but here they are the very building blocks of the piece. By increasing both their quantity and importance, their effect is softened. They can either precede or follow the principal notes. The result is a great freedom of musical discourse, but a freedom which is carefully restrained. At the heart of this score’s development, in the guise of a signature, the composer has used the first phrase of a folk tune from his own region, ‘The Song of the Yellow River Boatman’. Le chant du ciel (‘Sky Song’) was written between 2005 and 2006, and was dedicated to two of the composer’s musical friends, namely the spouses Marie Hallynck (cellist) and Muhiddin Dürrüog?lu- Demiriz (pianist); the piece was written with the support of Belgium’s French Community. The piece is composed around two elements. The first is made up of a series of notes which spell the names M(a)ri(e) (H)(a)llyn(c)k and (D)(e)miriz Mu(h)i(dd)in, giving La - Mi - Si - La - Do for Marie Hallynck and Ré - Mi - Si for Muhiddin Demiriz. The piece begins with a dialogue between the two instruments. The cello sings Marie’s motif in a high-pitched register. The piano then responds, in a low register, with Muhiddin’s motif. This dialogue continues throughout the piece. The second element of the piece is made up of a love song from the mountainous Qing Hai province of China, sometimes called the roof of the world, hence the inspiration for the song’s title. In 2002, at the request of another musician friend of the composer, violinist Wibert Aerts, Hao-Fu Zhang adapted his piece Théâtre pour deux for the violin and the piano (it was originally written for flute and piano in 1996). It will be called Théâtre pour deux II.

Edwin Clapuyt
Lecturer at the Brussels Royal Conservatory