The Civitas Ensemble goes for the gold on ‘Jin Yin’

The Civitas Ensemble performs world-premiere works by contemporary composers Yao Chen, Vivian Fung and Lu Pei, along with new arrangements of pieces from Zhou Long and Chen Yi, on the disc “Jin Yin,” released by Chicago-based label Cedille Records. 

The album’s title, which means “Golden Tone” in English, refers to the clarity of musical expression heard in each work. In addition, the element of gold has an important role in Chinese tradition, and the element is referenced on some of the album’s tracks.

Established in 2011, Civitas consists of Yuan-Qing Yu, assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a founding Civitas member; Kenneth Olsen, CSO assistant principal cello, and Winston Choi, head of the piano department at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. Also featured on “Jin Yin” are retired CSO clarinet J. Lawrie Bloom, a founding Civitas member, and guest artists Emma Gerstein, CSO second flute; Cynthia Yeh, CSO principal percussion, and pipa virtuoso Yihan Chen.

“Jin Yin” consists of Yao Chen’s rhapsodic Emanations of Tara, named for a revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism and written expressly for the Civitas Ensemble; Vivian Fung’s Birdsong, a virtuosic piece for violin and piano that opens and closes with evocations of bird calls, and Lu Pei’s vigorous yet lyrical Scenes Through Window, imbued with American minimalist rhythms and Chinese folk influences.

Leading off the disc, Zhou Long’s Five Elements evokes realms of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, while Chen Yi’s ethereal Night Thoughts was inspired by a Tang Dynasty poem. Both tracks feature the composers’ own arrangements made specifically for the Civitas Ensemble.

“All five compositions have in common the bridging of two cultural musical traditions — that of the legacy of Chinese classical and that of Western new music as developed and practiced over the years, and of course coming into present-day developments,” observes the Classical Modern Music Review. “Each work invents that bridge for itself. No two creative solutions are alike and what stands out is how each has real originality, a pronounced lack of formulaic solutions, and how well the Civitas Ensemble takes on the implications of each work and does a supremely imaginative and fully musical job bringing the music to life.”