The poetry of prose in music

With a repertoire spanning symphonies, chamber music, dance dramas and opera, Ye is now the chairman of the Chinese Musicians' Association, a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, and the founding dean of the School of Music at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.

Symphony No. 5 Lu Xun intertwines multiple musical genres and ideas drawn directly from themes in the writer's work. It is structured in nine movements, each representing a different facet of Lu Xun's writing. The composition for orchestra, soloists and narrator incorporates direct excerpts from Lu Xun's novels, with lyrics written by Chen Qinzhi based on the original texts. Its intricate relationship between text and music explores the depths of the writer's complex world.

The symphony was recorded in Berlin, Germany, with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by Stefan Malzew. It features distinguished actor Pu Cunxin as the narrator, along with soprano Song Yuanming, tenor Shi Yijie, baritone Liu Songhu, and bass baritone Shen Yang, and a number of renowned traditional musicians, including pipa virtuoso Jiang Yang, and sanxian player Zhang Liumeng.

The symphony premiered at the NCPA in Beijing on Sept 25, 2017, with the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lyu Jia.

The nine movements bring to life the themes and characters that have solidified the writer's enduring legacy. These range from his satirical portrayal of Chinese society in The True Story of Ah Q, to his poignant exploration of rural life in The New Year's Sacrifice.

"His writing resonated with the struggles of ordinary people and offered profound insight into China's cultural and national identity during a period of immense change and upheaval," Ye says. "As a composer, I used orchestral color to bring Lu Xun's literary universe to life. It was very difficult, because his themes of humanity, struggle and transformation are so vast that it was challenging to invite listeners to immerse themselves in his complex emotional and intellectual world through music."