Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, (OSESP), known as The São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra in English, is the primary orchestra of São Paulo, Brazil. During a visit this past March, PhD in composition candidate Rafael Borges Amaral performed in and premiered an intercultural chamber piece for chromatic sheng, guitar, and string orchestra with sheng virtuoso Wu Wei.
Sheng– the mouth organ originating in China– is a polyphonic free-reeded aerophone, usually tuned in a diatonic scale. Wei and his professor, Weng Zhenfa, created a custom sheng that allows him to play about three octaves of the chromatic scale- from D3 to G6. The resulting capabilities of the instrument in the hands of Wu Wei demonstrate his propensity for playing many different styles and genres. Featured in a weekend of performances were three pieces for the chromatic sheng: Hymn for Everyone by Jessie Montgomery, Concerto for Sheng by Ursuk Chin, and Rafael Borges Amaral’s chamber piece for sheng and string quartet called “Imaginary dances in the waters of forró“.
Both a musical genre and an intimate, rhythmic, and often very energetic partner dance from north-eastern Brazil, forró inspires the rhythmic propulsion throughout Amaral’s composition. “The piece originated from my interest in folkloric music– not only Brazilian, but also Asian,” Amaral explained in an video interview in Brazilian Portugese by OSESP. “That led me to contact Wu Wei, who is a magnificent instrumentalist of the sheng.” In 2022, Amaral had the opportunity to meet the instrument maker and player. “He has his own ensemble in Berlin, and it was there that I worked with him and his ensemble, and it was an amazing experience. Him and the other musicians, starting from that point on, we felt a connection between what I wrote and how he plays.”
It wasn’t until Amaral collaborated with Wei and his ensemble that the idea to synthesize Brazilian and Asian folkloric music traditions was born. “The richness [in the piece] is not only from the instrument, but from Wu Wei’s musicality. He inspired me to form a bridge with [another] style of music that I am in love with, which is forró. I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to play forro for some years, and to bring that with a string quartet, it’s almost like a dream.” And as the name “Imaginary dances in the waters of forró“ suggests, the piece really does sound like a dream– a vivid one. Wu Wei expressed, “this piece has a lot of fantasy, a lot of rhythm, and you have to drive… It’s very exciting. There’s a lot of dance inside… accents, direction, and also a lot of very beautiful melodies inside.”
Click here to watch “Danças imaginárias nas águas do forró”.
