Spring Dawn at the Jade Tower

Like the two previous pieces, Tune of Utmost Joy and Three Repetitions at Yang Pass, Spring Dawn at the Jade Tower 玉樓春曉 is based on the RuiBin 蕤賓 tuning mode. The origin is from the MeiAn school of guqin playing 梅庵琴派, which is part of my teacher’s tradition.

The tune employs numerous plucked unisons and octaves, combining the pure tones of open strings with the movement of stopped notes. The four sections—harmonic introduction, short melody, a longer counter melody, and the harmonic coda—depict enjoying the dawn of a fine spring day from the Jade Tower.

Comments are closed.