Pingsha luoyan 平沙落雁
Played by Tao Zhusheng 陶筑生
Recording by Robert Garfias
Seattle, 1977
Commentary
The following excerpt is part of Lieberman’s analysis of the composition in his work A Chinese Zither Handbook - the Meian Qinpu (pages 112 to 118 of the 1983 print edition).
Pingsha luoyan 平沙落雁 is one of the most widely known and performed compositions in the current qin repertory. It is considered a representative composition in the Fanchuan 泛川, Zhucheng, Guangling 廣陵, Jiuyi 九嶷, Xinzhe 新浙, and Pucheng 浦城 schools of qin playing (Zha 1958:6). Composition of this work has been attributed to Prince Ning 宁 (personal name Zhu Quan 朱权) sixteenth son of the first Ming Emperor, Taizu 太祖. Prince Ning’s literary name was Quxian 臞仙; he was a scholar of the qin and other elevated subjects and wrote numerous books including the valuable early collection of qin scores Shenqi mipu 神奇秘譜 (1425).