Tears In My Bowl

Note

This work was written as part of a set of pieces requested by the Ningxia Culture Bureau to explore the idea of using hua’er, the traditional folksongs of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, as material for symphonic works.  These pieces were created as part of a much wider project to try to adapt Ningxia’ hua’er to other media and rekindle interest in an art form that was once an essential part of life but is now under threat from modern technology. 

Tears In My Bowl uses two melodies in a way that keeps them recognizable for someone from that tradition, almost to the point of being able to sing along.  The words to the first melody describe the desperation a herdsman during a period of drought as he leads his cattle to the edge of a Yellow River so depleted they cannot drink (their nose rings could not touch the water).  As he picks up his bowl to eat, he thinks of the misery this will cause his loved ones and his tears fall into his bowl.  I imagined not only his misery in the beauty of the landscape, but also the noises of the cattle.  The words of the second melody are those of a wife whose husband has been conscripted to the imperial army as she begs to be allowed to accompany him.  Her final plea as he drags himself away I believe speaks for itself.