Leyou Wang

• Born: 1992, Beijing, China

Impression from Tianqiao

In 2020, Leyou Wang was accepted on full scholarship into the DMA program of the University of Missouri Kansas City and, during his study, several of his orchestral pieces have been performed, under his baton, by professional orchestras including the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. His symphonic piece The Battle of Shantsuguan won the 2015 Winter Kompolize Award for composition, and he led the premiere given by the Lietze Orchestra in the Linden Church, the Berlin Broadcasting House (Große Sall des BBR). Since then, multiple orchestral pieces of his have been performed by professional orchestras in Germany, mostly under his direction, and recent awards include the Lei Cine Film Scoring Competition (2021) and the Dr. Gerald Kemner Prize for orchestra composition (2022). 

Composer’s Note: With Impressions from Tianqiao, the composer tries to paint a picture of Beijing Tianqiao marketplace in the olden days, where street artists and buskers would present a wide variety of performances, from singing and talking (quyi shuochang) to acrobatics.

The piece is in traditional sonata form. The primary theme is melodious and was inspired by the singing of Chinese quyi. The secondary theme is a dance movement and imitates the acrobatic performances. The exposition ends in a fiery Allegro that demonstrates the lively atmosphere at Tianqiao. The three themes presented in the exposition are then freely developed. The recapitulation begins with the secondary theme and the primary theme, which appears later, becomes the climax of the entire piece. The recap of the Allegro brings the piece to a sudden and violent stop.