Tang Tang Tang Tang
(My Farewell to Hong Kong, two days before ending my 24 years living there):

27 February 2001, City Hall Recital Hall, Hong Kong

"Qin Recital by Tong and John Thompson"

In the Chinese title of this recital, "Tang Tang Tang Tang", the Tangs stood for Tong Kin-woon (Mandarin: Tang Jianyuan), for my Chinese name (Tang Shizhang), for the Tang dynasty qin Dr. Tong played (with metal strings), and for the melodies with a Tang dynasty connection that I played (on a modern instrument but using silk strings, as would have been the custom in the Tang dynasty).

Here is an outline of my contribution to the performance:

First half, the five pieces in Shen Qi Mi Pu, Folio I, which use Yellow Bell tuning:

1. Opening Fingering
2. Autumn Moon Shining on a Reed Pavilion
3. Amidst Mountains Thinking of an Old Friend
4. Nomad Reed Pipe, Short Version
5. Nourishing One's Natural Character

1. Melody of Wind and Thunder (Fengxuan Xianpin, 1539)
2. Autumn Thoughts at Dongting Lake (Xilutang Qintong, 1549).
3. A Drunken Fisherman Sings in the Evening (1549)
4. Fisherman's Song (1549)

Tong Kin-Woon played modern versions of some of these pieces and excerpts from reconstructions of other early pieces with Tang connections.

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