Born in Guangzhou, China, in 1953, Chen Yi learned to play the violin from a young age. However, being raised during the Cultural Revolution, Chen Yi and her siblings' studies were interrupted as they were taken to a work camp in the countryside. She continued to play the violin, but was only allowed to perform revolutionary songs. At age seventeen, she returned to Guangzhou and became the concertmaster of the Peking Opera in Beijing. She later went on to become the first Chinese woman to receive an M.A. in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She spent summers studying Chinese folk music, which was an important part of her musical development.
Her compositional output is vast, with a blend of Western and traditional Chinese instruments featured in her works, including music for the pipa, zheng, sheng, dizi, sanxian, liuqin, and erhu.
Chen Yi Sheet Music
Chen Yi: Si Ji (Four Seasons)
Study Score
Chen was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition Si Ji (Four Seasons), a work combining Western and Chinese traditions.
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Chen Yi: Chinese Folk Dance Suite
Violin & Piano
Inspired by Chinese tradition, this concerto-like dance suite includes three movements which draw from melodies and rhythms characteristic of various regions of China many centuries ago.
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Chen Yi: Xian Shi
Viola, Percussion, and Piano
A tone poem for viola and orchestra, arranged here for viola, percussion, and piano.
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Chen Yi: Duo Ye
Piano
Duo Ye is an old traditional dance music form of Dong Nationality from the Guangxi Province in China. The lead singer sings impromptu in music, words, and tempo, while others dance harmoniously in a circle with a bonfire set in the middle.
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Chen Yi: Three Bagatelles from 'China West'
Flute & Piano
Chen Yi’s trio of Chinese folk songs entitled Three Bagatelles from China West, written for flute and piano. Chen was inspired by authentic folk music from China West and this work consists of exploratory compositions drawn from folk songs such as Shange Diao, written for a wind instrument called the Lerong, Nai Guo Hou, written for a different wind instrument called the Bawu, and Dou Duo, a folk song meant to evoke the sounds of Lusheng ensemble playing of the Miao People.
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Chen Yi: Sparkle
Chamber Ensemble
In Sparkle, the material of pitch, rhythm and form are drawn from the tune and the structural method of traditional Chinese Bā Bǎn (Eight Beats) rules of the grouping of notes.
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Chen Yi: Ba Ban
Piano
In Ba Ban, Chen Yi reaches back through the centuries for inspiration, creating a challenging concert work for advanced pianists with a distinctive Eastern environment.
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Chen Yi: Qi
Flute, Cello, Percussion, and Piano
In Qi, Chen Yi has used a mixed combination of Western instruments to create sounds from the East. The work is dedicated to Professor Chou Wen-Chung for his 75th birthday in 1998.
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Chen Yi: Spring Dreams
SSAATTBB chorus
Commissioned by the Ithaca College School of Music, Spring Dreams was premiered by the Ithaca College Choir on November 15, 1997, under the direction of Prof. Lawrence Doebler. The music sets the poem Spring Dreams by Meng Hao-ran (689-740, Tang Dynasty) and is sung in Mandarin.
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Chen Yi: Memory
Violin
Truly masterful in her ability to marry Western performance ideals with the folk music of China, Chen Yi wrote this plaintive memorial work in tribute to the passing of her teacher, Professor Lin Yaoji.
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Chen Yi: Chinese Ancient Dances
Soprano Saxophone and Piano
This adaptation of Chinese Ancient Dances for soprano saxophone is an asset to the woodwind catalogue; representing Chen Yi's first work for the instrument. Originally written for B-flat clarinet and piano, the two movements of Chinese Ancient Dances are inspired by the ancient traditional Ox Tail Dance of the Ge Tian Shi ethnic group, and the Hu Xuan Dance as described in the poem "Hu Xuan Lady" by Bai Ju-Yi in the Tang Dynasty.
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Chen Yi: Fire
Ensemble
Chen Yi's Fire for 12 players, commissioned by the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition, was premiered in 2019 by the Grossman Ensemble under the baton of James Baker at the University of Chicago. A short and energetic work, Fire is intended to conjure the image of the element in the listener’s imagination, not only physically, but also in terms of energy and emotional connotations. In spite of the perceived chaos of the musical texture, the line of each instrumental part can be clearly heard for the entirety of the work.
Available Format: Sheet Music
