Chen Qigang

• Born: August 28, 1951, Shanghai, China

(c) Wang Hong

Wu Xing ("The Five Elements")

• Composed: 1998-99, commissioned by Radio France
• Premiere: May 21, 1999, Paris, Didier Benetti conducting the Orchestre National de France 
• Instrumentation: 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, harp, celeste, piano, strings
• CSO notable performances: These are the first CSO performances of The Five Elements.
• Duration: approx. 10 minutes

The “Five Elements” describes a system of thought originating in ancient Chinese Daoist philosophy. These elements represent five basic stages along the Yin-Yang developmental process: water, fire, metal, wood and earth. Ancient Chinese philosophers used this concept to explain the form of everything on earth and the mutually interdependent relationship between all objects and beings. This way of seeing the world emphasized unity and described the changeable quality of matter as well as the transformations it could undergo. This is China’s oldest theoretical system.

In this work, I wanted not only to express the individual character of each element, but also the logical series of transformations that connects them. I sought to use music to explore the interdependent evolution that connects human beings to the physical world. These two domains at times seem completely separate, while at other times they seem to complement one another. Finally, they coalesce into a unified vision of the world, boundless and encompassing both domains of existence.

I also decided to express my personal view of the relationship between these elements, to propose a musical interpretation of what I consider each element’s symbolic meaning, and thus to suggest an ordering of the five elements based on their successive generation. I decided on the order of water, wood, fire, earth and, finally, metal.

For me, water is the strongest element, but it is also characterized by tranquility. Wood is the richest element, and the most varied. Fire represents life and warmth, but it is not aggressive. Earth is the basic substance, a starting point, a generative principle. Metal refers to strength and light.

—Chen Qigang