United Kingdom Beijing to Belfast: Connections Through Culture: Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble (Aisling Agnew [flute/piccolo], Sarah Watts [clarinet/bass clarinet], Marie Schreer [violin], David McCann [cello], Daniel Browell [piano]), Paul McCusker (conductor). Harty Room, Queen’s University, Belfast, 30.5.2026. (RB)
This concert was a celebration of cross-cultural exchanges between Northern Ireland and China, funded through the British Council’s Connections through Culture programme. Following Hard Rain’s performance at the Beijing Modern Music Festival in 2025, the ensemble collaborated with eminent Chinese composers on several new compositions written especially for them. These works included music inspired by poetry, tales of legendary Chinese heroes and depictions of firecrackers at Dragon Carnivals. A number of these works featured on the programme for the concert. All the works on the programme were receiving either world premieres or Irish premieres.
The concert opened with Yue Song’s Iron Horses which tells the story of Huo Qubing, a celebrated young Chinese military general. The composition was inspired by the folk songs of nomadic people, reflecting the vast landscape and untamed spirit of the Chinese Steppes. Hard Rain did an excellent job evoking the sound of traditional instruments and conjured up new and interesting sonorities. Ni Chenkang’s Exploding Dragon Carnival depicted the Dragon Dance at the eponymous Carnival. This was a more fragmented, spiky, avant garde work for piano trio. Hard Rain gave a typically committed performance evoking the composition’s distinctive sound effects. Yu Pingfei’s Birds was inspired by avian legends recorded in Zhang Dai’s Night Sail. It is written for clarinet and piano and is in three continuous movements. This work used more conventional tonal language and was beautifully played by Sarah Watts and Daniel Browell. They captured brilliantly the gathering of birds depicted in the first movement (Jingwei’s Resentment) while bringing out the dance-like characteristics of the second (Peacock before the Mirror). The third movement (The Fate of the Snowy Maiden) was a gorgeous meditation on life’s impermanence and predestined fate. The piece would work very well in recital, and I can see it being incorporated into concert programmes.
Zhang Shuhao’s Five Chants takes its inspiration from Ma Yuan’s Fishing Alone on a Cold River and depicts five images from Chinese Classical poetry. It contained some striking and original effects although I did not find the piece particularly appealing. Richard Causton’s Phoenix had unusual contrasting sonorities, and I enjoyed the piano writing which reminded me a little of Messiaen. Shi Fuhong’s Mandala No.2 was a meditation on some lines from William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence. It was another avant garde work with some interesting contrapuntal writing although the link with Blake’s poetry was not immediately clear.
Bai Chao’s Melody II is written for piano trio and takes its inspiration from the Qin melody of the Guanzhong region. This was a very engaging piece, and I liked the way in which it fused Chinese folk melodies and opera with more traditional Classical music forms. Simon Mawhinney’s Music Book I was a slow, disconnected piece which I did not find particularly memorable. The concert concluded with Ziaogang Ye’s Selin Cuo which is one of the nine great sacred lakes in Tibet. The work depicts the legend of Guru Rinpoche subduing the demon king Selin and imprisoning him at the bottom of the lake forever. Hard Rain gave a technically accomplished and vivid performance. They conjured up some startling and original sonorities and succeeded in conveying the seismic battle depicted in the work.
It was good to see so many Chinese visitors at the concert enjoying this important cross-cultural celebration. Bravo to Paul McCusker and the Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble for introducing so many new pieces to the world and for performing them so well.
Robert Beattie
Yue Song – Iron Horses (2020)
Ni Chenkang – Exploding Dragon Carnival (2022)
Yu Pengfei – Birds (2026)
Zhang Shuhao – Five Chants (2026)
Richard Causton – Phoenix (2006)
Shi Fuhong – Mandala No.2 (2024/2026)
Bai Chao – Melody II (2026)
Simon Mawhinney – Music Book 1 (2026)
Ziaogang Ye – Selin Cuo