The Moon on High

Introduction

A classic civil-style pipa suite whose earliest known version survives in a Ming manuscript dated 1528.

Yue'er gao is a large civil-style suite of the traditional pipa repertoire, and its composer and date of composition are unknown. Its earliest known version is a manuscript pipa score titled Gaohe Jiangdong, dated to the seventh year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming, 1528. The piece later appears in Rongzhai's Xiansuo beikao of 1814, in Hua Qiuping's printed pipa score of 1819 and in Li Fangyuan's collection of thirteen great suites of the northern and southern schools. The version handed down by Wang Yuting is called the Greater Yue'er gao, and his score divides it into twelve sections named after the moon as it rises and travels across the night sky. Peng Xiuwen later adapted the piece for Chinese orchestra.