30 Famous Chinese Piano Pieces, 中国钢琴名曲30首

30 Famous Chinese Piano Pieces, edited by Wei Tingge. 中国钢琴名曲30首. Publisher: The People's Music Publishing.

Several of the pieces in this collection have garnered attention due to Lang Lang's recording, Dragon Songs. Be careful of what iTunes lists as the composers as the information is inaccurate or incomplete. It only lists the original composer of the tune and not the composer who transcribed the pieces. Below are the correct piano composers/transcribers for the pieces.
1. Autumn Moon On Calm Lake, Chen Peixun
2. The Cowherd's Flute (aka A Buffalo Boy Playing His Flute), He Luting
3. Colored Clouds Chasing the Moon (aka Silver Clouds Chasing the Moon), Wang JianZhong

There is a piece which Lang Lang performs, which from the Mermaid Suite, called "Straw Hat" by Du Mingxin. This book does not have the piece but has two other movements from the same suite, "Dance of the Coral" and "Dance of the Waterweeds." They would be late intermediate to early advanced levels.

Some other nice pieces in this collection are:
1. Flower Drum, Qu Wei. This is the famous Anhui folk song. There are English lyrics to this song too.
2. The Second Spring Bathed in Moonlight, Abing/Chu Wanghua. Originally composed for erhu.
3. A Hundred Birds Paying Respect to the Phoenix, Wang JianZhong. I believe this was a pipa solo
4. Ode to Plum Blosson, Abing/Wang JianZhong.
5. Music at Sunset, Li YingHai.

There are two transcriptions of music from the revolutionary ballet of the Cultural Revolution, "The Red Detachment of Women" by Du Mingxin. They are aptly titled, "The Happy Women Soldiers" and "Forging Ahead." Some day I will be as brave as these women and will program them on a recital.

I also want to update some information regarding where to purchase this piano collection. It is no longer available at China Sprout. Amazon.com has a few very overpriced copies, but I have found another seller, Science Press USA.The book is priced at an affordable $12.00 plus shipping at this website.

If you are just intending to browse the collection, I do have a pdf copy. Please leave me a comment and I will email that copy to you. For my friends near Kansas State or Wichita State, there are genuine copies at their libraries. I believe the copy at Wichita State was donated by yours truly. I have annotated dates for the pieces and the composers in my own copy. Please do not hesitate to ask for that information if you need it for a program.

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June 2005:
This book offers a good selection of Chinese piano music by current composers. The score for the pieces I chose for my senior and graduate recital are found here. The paper quality of the book is rather poor. It would be advisable to make photocopies when learning a new piece. Markings would easily damage the score. I'm sorry I don't know whether it is an acid-free edition since it is published in China.

I do intend to talk about each piece and composer in brief, with the hopes that this would be a source of information for pianists and teachers alike. In my research I have found that the little information is scattered in many different websites and references. And of course it would also help me keep track of the information I have found. There is just too much note paper scattered in my apartment too.

The only website that sells this book for a decent price is China Sprout. While you are at this site, check out some of their other offerings. I will be investing in a couple more books later this year.