Zhong Kui’s Journey - Duo Chinoiserie
Duo Chinoiserie’s debut album ends with French composer Mathias Duplessy’s Zhong Kui’s Regrets and Zhong Kui’s Journey. Both of these newly commissioned works are inspired by the tragic story of Zhong Kui, a character from Chinese mythology known as a demon hunter and the king of ghosts who is depicted in traditional paintings and art. Although Zhong Kui is a deity still honored in Chinese households to this day as the protector of humankind, his story is one of rejection because of his unsightly appearance, suicide, and the unique bestowment of immortality.
The following paragraphs contain the composer’s brief introduction about the piece:
“What if I, a Frenchman, wrote a Chinese composition? That’s what came to my mind when Duo Chinoiserie asked me for a commission and gave me carte blanche.
“I could not have been more excited to compose for them: their duo is very original (I had never heard the Guzheng mixed with the classical guitar) and very sharp musically thanks to their virtuosity and eclecticism.
“While looking for a source of inspiration a memory surfaced: A few years before, a character from Chinese mythology caught my attention while I was walking in the corridors of a Palace during a tour in Taiwan.
“The character was Zhong Kui, the demon hunter with his ungainly and humorous head and a shaggy beard, his epicurean and charismatic bonhomie, his little bat that follows him in his adventures … but anyhow, there I was, I had found my inspiration!
“I did some research to get a feel for it, then a gimmick (a very short melodic phrase) came to mind, and so, this leitmotif would personify Zhong Kui, like Morricone when he composes for Westerns. All I had to do was to develop and weave a musical story around these few notes. The fast movement depicts Zhong Kui riding in pursuit of demons like a Chinese Western…Adventure, humor, fights and heroism! For the slow movement, on the other hand, I imagined the character at rest, nostalgic, immersed in the reverie of a love lost during his first life. In this second movement, my French compositional style is more present in the harmonies and the form with Ravelian tonalities and Debussy-like chords resonating with romantic lyricism. Finally, in the fast movement, it is the guzheng that has the beautiful part because of its mad virtuosity, which contrasts with the slow movement, since it is the guitar which sings from the bottom of the Chinese mountains.”
— Kathy Acosta Zavala