Four Seasons—Chinese Landscape, Poetry and Sound at Manchester Museum

Four Seasons — Chinese Landscape, Poetry and Sound is a composer-led multimedia chamber music project initiated and curated by Yingfei Yang, and presented as part of the programme of the Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery. It is developed by three contemporary Chinese composers in collaboration with three media artists, and performed by musicians from the Valette Ensemble.

Drawing on the imagery of the four seasons in classical Chinese poetry, rooted in Tang dynasty verse, the project brings together newly composed chamber music and moving image to explore shifting relationships between human presence and the natural world through sound, space, and image. It is also included as part of the engagement activities accompanying the museum’s new temporary exhibition Human Nature.

Unfolding across the four seasons — Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter — each work is inspired by a Tang dynasty poem, evoking shifting landscapes, atmospheres, and states of mind. Audiences are invited into an immersive audiovisual environment exploring the intersection of Chinese landscape aesthetics, classical literature, and contemporary music.

SPRING

HUNG (World Premiere)

Inspired by Wang Wei’s Birdsong Valley 王維《鳥鳴澗》

Composer: Ruitao You Media Artist: Xizhe Li

Viola: Jeanette Szeto Cello: Cillian Hennessy

“HUNG” is both the Cantonese romanisation of the Chinese character “空” — suggesting emptiness, void, and suspension — and the past participle of the English word “hang”. Inspired by Wang Wei’s Birdsong Valley, the work explores a suspended space between motion and stillness, where birdsong, silence, and atmosphere gently linger within the spring mountains.

SUMMER

Cruel Summer (World Premiere)

Inspired by Wang Wei’s Cruel Summer 王維《苦熱行》

Composer: Yijia Zhang Media Artist: Xizhe Li

Cello: Cillian Hennessy

Inspired by the emotional atmosphere of Cruel Summer (Ku Re Xing), this work explores the overwhelming heat and agitation of summer. Dense textures, harsh gestures, and percussive sounds gradually intensify the sense of physical and psychological exhaustion caused by the oppressive climate.

AUTUMN

Mountain Dwelling in Autumn Evening (World Premiere)

Inspired by Wang Wei’s Autumn Evening in the Mountains 王維《山居秋暝》

Composer: Yingfei Yang Media Artist: Lei Huang

Violin: Angus Findlow Cello: Cillian Hennessy

Inspired by Autumn Evening in the Mountains (Shan Ju Qiu Ming), the work unfolds as a dialogue between violin and cello shaped through Chinese musical language, including speech-like inflections and timbral gestures inspired by traditional instruments. This interaction builds the musical narrative, shifting between vivid, concrete imagery and more elusive, abstract landscapes, suggesting a quiet coexistence between human presence and the natural world.

WINTER

River Snow

Inspired by Liu Zongyuan’s River Snow 柳宗元《江雪》

Composer: Yingfei Yang Media Artist: Meixi Pan

Violin 1: TBC Violin 2: Angus Findlow Viola: Jeanette Szeto Cello: Cillian Hennessy

Inspired by River Snow (Jiang Xue), the work evokes a vast and desolate winter landscape. Fragments of Chinese folk melody emerge within low, turbulent textures, suggesting the fragility of human presence against the overwhelming stillness of nature. As the music gradually dissolves into suspended, weightless sound, the boundary between human presence and the landscape becomes increasingly blurred.

Project Credits

Project Concept & Artistic Direction: Yingfei Yang

Composers: Yingfei Yang, Ruitao You, Yijia Zhang

Media Artists: Xizhe Li, Lei Huang, Meixi Pan

Performers: Musicians from the Valette Ensemble (TBC)

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester, United Kingdom

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