Original Music by Elena Fortin
The Chinese Zodiac is a suite of 12 miniature original compositions that evoke the musical characteristics of each animal.
In Chinese culture, we have a rotation of 12 zodiac animals that cycle: each year represents a different animal, each with unique characteristics and attributes!
The cycle of animals happens in this order:
- The Rat
- The Ox
- The Tiger
- The Rabbit
- The Dragon
- The Snake
- The Horse
- The Goat
- The Monkey
- The Rooster
- The Dog
- The Pig
Growing up, it was always fun to look up the zodiac animals, and friends were always asking, “Which animal am I?!”. I enjoyed the challenge of creating music that conveyed characteristics of each animal through sound and music. Sometimes the animal’s movement would introduce an insistent musical idea, sometimes it was the characteristics associated with the animal, and sometimes it was the animal’s zodiac description that gave me ideas.
About the arrangement
This piece is written for the late intermediate to early advanced player. You can perform this suite as individual pieces or as a collective whole. (The full suite takes about 8 min 30 sec to perform!)
Each piece has a few words that describe that zodiac animal’s characteristics to help you set the mood for your performance!
The suite explores different tempos, different keys, rapid finger passages, expressive pieces, grace notes, articulation (staccato, accents, slurs, tenuto, legato), ornaments, challenging rhythms, doubled note passages, glissandos, dexterity on black keys, ragtime, boogie boogie, tremolos, swing rhythm, hand crossovers, and jazzy chords as well as more traditional harmonies.
Video Performance
In the video:
- 0:11 The Rat (Quick-witted, smart, charming, and persuasive) – fast and scrappy! This piece is written in 3/4 time in the key of C minor. It has varying articulations: staccatos, slurs, tenutos, and short (three-note) trills that start on the main note.
- 0:33 The Ox (Patient, kind, stubborn, and conservative) – played with heaviness and weight. The key to playing this is to use your arm weight and not force. Think heavy and slow but powerful!
- 1:20 The Tiger (Authoritative, emotional, courageous, intense) – this piece is slinky! Think of a tiger stalking powerfully through the jungle. Try to follow the dynamics to create waves of power. The music is asking: Will the tiger pounce? Or will the tiger melt away into the jungle?
- 2:00 The Rabbit (Popular, compassionate, and sincere) – this piece is so fun to play. You are aiming for being quick and nimble! Written in 6/8 time, the left hand has a very characteristic “hop” to it! Try to follow the articulation to really bring that out. The ending is really fun with lots of hops that are changing direction and going all over the piano.
- 2:26 The Dragon (Energetic, fearless, warm-hearted, and charismatic) – this is the only zodiac animal that is not a “real” animal, so I let my imagination run wild. The left hand grace notes (accaciaturas) are played before the main note: rapidly to imitate dramatic drums. I felt like the Dragon should be a very majestic creature, but at the same time light and nimble in flight (which you will hear in the middle section!)
- 3:23 The Snake (Charming, gregarious, introverted, generous, and smart) – This piece is in A minor and uses the top of the harmonic scale to make a mysterious, smooth, and sinuous Arabian-nights-like kind of melody. The little grace notes in this one are the opposite of the ones in The Dragon: they are played slowly and languidly, before the main note which should land on the beat! The left hand ostinato pattern should be quiet but present.
- 4:21 The Horse (Energetic, independent, impatient, and enjoy traveling) – This piece is written in 12/8 time and should be played with precision! The left hand sets up the galloping motif which continues throughout the piece. I pictured a herd of wild horses running with wild abandon. The ending glissando on black keys is really fun to play and mimics the sound of a horse giving a final “neigh!” To play a black key glissando, use the upper part of your second, third, and fourth fingers and run them lightly (palm side down) across the black keys. Your hand will have to be angled towards the right as you swipe down. (Check out the video if you want to see how I do it!)
- 4:58 The Goat (Mild-mannered, shy, kind, and peace loving) – This piece is written in E flat major in 3/4 time. Writing The Goat was an interesting challenge–I ended up thinking of the goat’s environment and an Alpine melody came to mind!
- 5:34 The Monkey (Fun, energetic, and active) – The monkey’s mischievousness comes to the forefront with this swinging 4/4 piece. It is rooted in jazz chords, smooth right hand runs, and triplet/swing eighth rhythms that make it very fun to play.
- 5:57 The Rooster (Independent, practical, hard-working, and observant) – The rooster has a lot of frenetic kind of activity with spiky staccatos that bring hen-pecking to mind. I thought about how the Rooster rules the farm and this translated into a short little boogie-woogie piece, with the odd squawk here and there, and a final strut to the finish!
- 6:33 The Dog (Patient, diligent, generous, faithful, and kind) – I knew that the Dog had to be a love song! There is nothing more loyal and faithful than my dogs. In fact, I figured I got it right when I was playing through this piece and my dog came to lay her head on my lap while I was playing it! The piece is a 3/4 sweet ballad in D major.
- 7:22 The Pig (Loving, tolerant, honest, and appreciative of luxury) – What is more luxurious than a slow, bluesy jazz piece that wallows?! It brings to mind the pig’s favourite activity of digging down and having a mud bath! In this piece, the grace notes are drawn out and played slowly, and the melody is always brought out above that of the left hand chords. The left hand chords have lots of common notes–so keep low to the piano so your fingers become “placeholders”. Lots of pedal in this piece helps to keep the left hand smooth (legato)!
Purchase Information
Clicking on the link below will bring you to a new site: Sheet Music Plus. This piece is an original piece and is under copyright by Elena Fortin Music.
Sheet Music Plus – The Chinese Zodiac
Sheet Music Sample
