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Mistress-Art Song by Li Tai-Hsiang (情婦-李泰祥)

I.    Lyrics (translated from Chinese)

In a green stone made small city, it is where my mistress lives.
And I do not leave anything to her.
Only a stretch of golden-line chrysanthemum and, a high window.
Maybe, to allow a bit of loneliness in the sky to come in.
Maybe, gold chrysanthemum is good at waiting.
I think, loneliness and waiting, are good for a woman.
So, when I go there, I always wear a blue shirt.
I want her to feel, that is season.
Or maybe the coming of a migrating bird, because I am not that kind of person, who goes home often.

Lyrics written by Cheng Chou-Yu (鄭愁予)

在一青石的小城 住著我的情婦
而我甚麼也不留給她
只有一畦金線菊 和 一個高高的窗口
或許 透一點長空的寂寥進來
或許 而金線菊是善等待的
我想 寂寥與等待 對婦人是好的
所以 我去 總穿一襲藍衫子
我要她感覺 那是季節
或侯鳥的來臨 因我不是常常回家的那種人
 

Audio
Li Tai-Hsiang (李泰祥)
http://lth.e-lib.nctu.edu.tw/data/sound/lied-009-sd19710001a-t.mp3

II.    About this Song

Exposition of the music:
In continuous trying, Li Tai-Hsiang hoped to achieve the expressive syntax of contemporary folk song, but he modified it to be purer, profounder, and simpler. At last, the presented style and features are: an area that contains the style of Chinese Kunqu (opera) and has resonant and deep feelings in Western operas. 
He said, “Mr. Cheng’s poem has layers. Generally people often look at the superficial image but neglect the deep meanings. If a composer is unable to sense the deeper meanings of a poem, his work will be too shallow.”

III.    Manuscript

Handwritten manuscript of “Mistress in D minor” for violin I (1984) Handwritten manuscript of “Mistress in D minor” for violin II (1984)

        

IV.    Music Score
PDF: http://lth.e-lib.nctu.edu.tw/data/pdf/009.pdf


To view the story of Li Tai-Hsiang, please go to Li Tai-Hsiang, the Native Musician of Taiwan.
Text and images are provided by The Native Musician of Taiwan-Tai-Hsiang Li Digital Archive, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan