Military Band of the People’s Liberation Army of China | Fissure |Hugo | China

Before I popped Fissure: Symphonic Works for Band by Chen Qian into the CD player, I really had no idea what to expect. The disc cover only served to mystify me. Symphonic Band? Performed by the Military Band of the People’s Liberation Army of China? I briefly entertained ideas of pentatonic Sousa-esque marches performed with jingoistic over-enthusiasm, but these misconceptions were quickly dispelled with the first frenetic trumpet call that opens the “Double Concerto for Trumpet and Band.”

Fissure draws the listener into strange aural landscapes, where cinematic swells and driving percussion suddenly transform into melancholic, jazz-influenced harmonies, and strident voices are abruptly abandoned by all but a few ghostly chimes.

Far from any notion of simplistic marches or patriotic brashness, Chen’s compositions are both intriguingly complex and emotionally unsettling. Halfway into "Exploits," an overture that is described by the liner notes as "the composer’s mourning for dead contemporaries," there is an eerie chittering of flutes and oboes that sends chills up my spine. At times reminiscent of a Carmina Burana-like revelry, Chen’s pieces are often pushed by a driving percussive tattoo, which is offset by lazy jazz interludes that oddly invoke images of film noiric street corners and empty alleyways.

The PLA Band does not seem at all limited by the lack of strings (though, I spied some upright double basses in the jacket photo), and in fact employs such a wide range of tonal experimentation, that I found myself surprised with each new musical statement. This is not the CD to pull out as background music for your next dinner party—Chen’s pieces are both aggressive and contemplative, and demand a certain level of energy from the listener. In the liner notes, each track is presented as a struggle or a journey, where ideals and civilizations are challenged and souls are forced into rebirth. While these themes may seem a bit grandiose, even the most skeptical listener will find Chen and the PLA Band an impressive force that is not easily dismissed.