Ge Gan-ru


Ge Gan-ru is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music.

Biography

Ge Gan-ru was born in Shanghai, China. His early years were spent in the Chongming Island during the Cultural Revolution. In 1974, he was originally enrolled by the Shanghai Conservatory, majoring in violin. In the third year, he switched to composition major.
Ge Gan-ru's personal composing style was developed during the years back in Shanghai. In 1983, his first representable work Yi Feng came out being commissioned by Frank Huang, who was still a student major in cello that year. Yi Feng, though arranged for solo cellist, has a chamber-like character. The strings are retuned a tri-tone lower than regular pitch and the body of cello is considered as four separated parts. The composer requires the soloist to play on those four parts in order to create percussive timbres. The premiere took place in the same year by Huang. Its avant-generation aesthetic caused a burst of discussion nationwide.
Also in 1983, Ge Gan-ru was recommended by Chou Wen-chung to Columbia University for his doctorate in composition. His work has been performed by The New York Philharmonic, BBC Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Lyon National Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Kronos Quartet, Shanghai Quartet, Miami Quartet and many other ensembles. The copyright of his oeuvre are all kept by himself. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians describe him as 'China's first avant-garde composer'.

List of major works

Chamber

  • String Quartet No. 1, Fu
  • String Quartet No. 2
  • String Quartet No. 3
  • String Quartet No. 4, Angel Suite
  • String Quartet No. 5, The Fall of Baghdad
  • Four Peking Opera Studies, for piano and string quartet
  • Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!, for toy piano etc.
  • Hard! Hard! Hard!, for toy piano etc.
  • Yi Feng, for cellist
  • Gu Yue, for pianist
  • Duration Instant, for pianist

    Orchestral

  • Six Pentatonic Tunes
  • Chinese Rhapsody
  • Shanghai Reminiscences
  • Fairy Lady Meng Jiang
  • Loves Besieged
  • Butterfly Overture, dedicated to teacher Chen Gang

    Concertos

  • Wu, for piano and orchestra
  • Yi Feng II, for cello and orchestra