The Cloud River
- Wenchen Qin

Sheng is a reed pipe wind instrument which has a history of over 3,000 years in China. It has been extensively used in the performance of folk music throughout the dynasties in the Chinese history. The Cloud River, composed for sheng and orchestra, considerably expands the technique of playing the instrument. Those latest improvements in playing the sheng have resulted in the creation of new timbres and, in combination with the orchestra, have succeeded in producing interestingly new sound effects. Clouds are in a perpetual condition of infinite changes in the boundless sky and the rays of light shower on Earth with great exuberance in all directions, conveying immense energy to all forms of life on Earth. With the clouds drifting and scuttling across the vast sky, the mountains over the distant horizons seem also a oat. The Cloud River articulates the composer's infinite imaginative thoughts and emotions about clouds.

Wenchen Qin