WEI CUI

by Wei Cui

SSA a cappella – CP 1936 – duration 4:35

This stunning composition was written in 2014.  The Shanghai Spring Children’s Choir gave a wonderful performance (please listen).  Wei says, “With this composition I hope to arouse people’s consciousness of environmental protection”. This pertinent message is expressed simply and clearly with pentatonic sonorities. The lyrics includes both non-lexical vocables and sentences in Mandarin, which repeat often enough for all singers to learn quickly. We feature a very approachable speech tutorial.

by Wei Cui

SATB a cappella – CP 2335 – duration 4:45

Wei Cui’s composition on Christina Rossetti’s poem is a compelling match. This poem laments the transition from summer to winter, capturing the loss of warmth, beauty, and vitality. It reflects the cyclical nature of seasons, emphasizing the inevitability of change. The verses move from the fading of summer to the onset of winter, evoking a sense of nostalgia and regret.

by Wei Cui and Kirsty Campbell

SATB a cappella (double choir) – CP 2424 – duration 4:45

This poem reminds readers that no matter their struggles, life goes on. And not in a callous or unsympathetic way, but in a way that we all deal with grief or adversity, it is a part of life, and even though it feels like it, grief does not stop our life. We will eventually move forward.

The wild geese in the poem symbolize exuberant freedom, especially freedom from the struggles and burdens of everyday life. This kind of freedom, the poem implies, can come from recognizing the beauty of nature.