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This piece describes the
famous military campaign in the Chinese
history, “the Battle of Red Cliffs”. In 208 AD,
warlord General Cao attempted to invade the Wu Kingdom, bringing his
troops over 200,000 soldiers southbound. General Sun of the Wu Kingdom
and General Liu combined their forces, fighting Cao with only 50,000
soldiers. The alliance positioned themselves on land and water,
fighting with few against many, and converging at the decisive battle
site of Red Cliffs. In the end, Cao was completely defeated at Wulin,
resulting in the three-way division of the country. The music is
consisted of the following parts:
1. Overture – Zhuge Liang prodded General Sun into an
alliance with General Liu
against Cao’s invasion.
2. The Battle of Changban – impending danger, thunder of the
war drums.
3. The Qiao sisters – beauties and the heroes.
4. The Battle of Wulin – burning of the chained war ships,
Cao’s defeat at Wulin.
5. The Battle of Jiangling – Cao’s escape from the
Wuarong passage, beginning of
the Three Kingdoms era.
This piece was world-premiered at the National Concert Hall in Taipei,
Taiwan on October 17, 2007. It was performed by the Taiwan Wind
Orchestra, with Prof. Lian-Chang Kuo conducting. This piece was
commissioned by the Taiwan Wind Orchestra in 2007.
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