Imagining the experiences of WW1 Chinese Labour Corps in my piano composition, Missing Parts 遗落断片 (Lost Fragments)

In 2016, I composed a piano piece (which can be watched above) exploring the experiences of WW1 Chinese Labour Corps (CLC). It was part of Project New Earth in which four diverse artist projects used music, film, dance, song, drama, animation to educate and inspire about the CLC, commissioned by Chinese Art Space (CAS).*. As it’s Remembrance Day, for I collected together some information about the project including audio links and some unseen photos of the creative process and performance!

Who were the Chinese Labour Corps?

My mother tells me that she learned about The Chinese Labour Corps at school but when mentioned, many poppy-wearing white British people looked blank. They were around 140k Chinese men recruited by the British and French Armies to work behind the Western Front in WW1. This 4-part solo piano version of a soundtrack for contemporary dance piece "Missing Parts" was commissioned by Chinese Arts Space* in 2016 performed at The Southbank Centre (London), Folkstone , Liverpool and Plymouth.

Intro 00:06 Journey 02:45 Monotony 4:27 Revolt 07:41 Nostalgia 10:33

Many came from such remote farms that when they reached the tall buildings and busy waterfront of Shanghai, they thought they had arrived in Europe. In fact it was only the start of an appalling journey on which many died – by ship across the Pacific, six days crossing Canada in sealed trains to avoid paying landing taxes, on by ship to Liverpool, by train again to Folkestone, and on to France and Belgium, where they lived in labour camps and worked digging trenches, unloading ships and trains, laying tracks and building roads, and repairing tanks. (The Guardian)


At the time of the project in 2016 there were 43,000 WW1 memorials in Britain, and not one commemorated the CLC. Having been previously painted out of a WW1 commemoration painting, in 2019, “a 30-tonne marble column cost 250,000 pounds to make and is ready to be shipped from China, where it was carved. But the group behind it has run into problems finding a suitable site for it to be erected, despite having the backing of London’s mayor".

PREFER AUDIO ONLY? Where to lISTEN TO MISSING PARTS

SPOTIFY | BANDCAMP - Re-issued as individual movements with new artwork

SPOTIFY | BANDCAMP - Original (1 long track)

ABOUT THE MUSIC

In researching this, I was inspired by traditional Chinese music, the beautiful lines of Pipa music, the compositions of Chinese composer Doming Lam, and of course, articles and film footage of the CLC. I worked together with Choreographer Lucia Tong, improvised with virtuoso Pipa instrumentalist Cheng Yu, and experimented with a number of different musical ideas and it has undergone several stages of development. One of the main instructions was to keep my role in the music the same in order to provide the dancers with a structural framework.

By contrast, the Pipa performer was to embroider and embellish with additional textures and its idiosyncratic timbre.

COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURE

The lush, lyrical opening (D major) paints a scene from a Chinese watercolour, while the nostalgic melody of the main theme conjures up moody Wong Kar Wei films, conveying the CLC's reluctance to leave home for the unknown (D major/B minor)

Gradually, we are drawn into dark chaos. The sinister machine-like rumble and spooky dissonance in "Monotony" (Eb min/E min) is repeated three times symbolising the CLC's three year labour camp stay under the British leads to a Björk-fuelled revolt with convulsive rhythms (five-beat with a "missing part"!).

Out of this emerges a teardrop mist, the delicate and dreamy "Nostalgia" (C major/A minor), in which memories of home are encountered, a restrained yet brooding climax, and then bells revealing the sweet seven-beat tread and a tender finish.

You might hear Debussy lurking in the waves, and also one or two national anthem music "quotes" as comment on imperialistic coercion.

THE SHOW

Two contemporary dancers (Sonja Perreten and King San Lo), the magical presence of a live Pipa (Chinese Lute) instrumentalist (Cheng Yu) and atmospheric piano accompaniment (Angelus Marr - aka The Mollusc Dimension) tell this intensely poignant story choregraphed by Lucia Tong. "Missing Parts" premiered in London at The China Exchange on September 8th 2016, appeared as part of "Project New Earth" at the Black-E (Liverpool), The Quarterhouse (Folkestone), The Theatre Royal (Plymouth) in October 2016, and at the Southbank Centre, London in December 2016.

Photo taken by me at a rehearsal with Sonia, King San Lo and choreographer, Lucia Tong at The Southbank Centre, London, UK.

Although I scored the composition to learn it and memorised it, I have not yet gotten around to digitising and releasing it. I hope to do so one day!

Cheng Yu (right) and myself (a younger version!) before our performance at The Southbank Centre in 2016.

The project was a brilliant experience for me from start to finish - from working with live dancers for the first time, to exploring Chinese British history, to working with th gentle, nurturing creative artist Lucia Tong. Before the performance she gifted each of us a yellow rose with some encouraging and appreciative words.

As a child who attended many piano recitals and music concerts in London, including ones at The Southbank Centre, it was hugely thrilling to perform there and be in the artist dressing rooms, thinking of the performers I had seen over the years. Back in the day, we used to refer to it as The Royal Festival Hall.

Here’s one of the pieces of artwork on the wall that I recognised by the music cartoonist Gerard Hoffnung (1925-1959). As a young musician I was fascinated and entertained by his music cartoons (although I have since realised that some of it is questionable…)

During the rehearsal in the performance space, I was mystified by the extra piano keys and at the time, nobody could tell me why they were there!

As you may be able to tell from the blurry photo below, the piano was a Bösendorfer. So if anybody out there knows why there are extra keys, please drop me a line!

research

As part of my research, I decided to travel to Folkestone to see if I could find the graves of some Chinese Labour Corps. It was a tremendous experience and an enjoyable trip. The photos I took are now on Wikimedia Commons. Please note clicking on this link will take you to a photo of the CLC gravestones.

Below are some other photos I took while in Folkestone.

MISSING PARTS Credits

PRODUCTION CREDITS

  • Produced by: Chinese Art Space (CAS) under David Tse. Chinese Arts Space later became Chinese Arts Now (CAN), which was renamed Kakilang.

  • Choreographer: Lucia Tong

  • Dancers: Sonja Perreten and King San Lo

  • Live Pipa Traditional Instrumentalist: Pipa: Cheng Yu (London)/ Sherry Min (Liverpool, Folkestone, Plymouth)

  • Composer/Performer: Angelus Squid Marr (Live for London show)s,

  • Motion Graphics: Charlie Taillard

  • Costume Designer: Robin Harvey

  • Sound Editing and Mastering for Production Track: The Sound Mechanic (used in Liverpool, Folkestone and Plymouth)

SOUND RECORDING CREDITS

  • Composed and Performed by Angelus Squid Marr

  • Sound Engineer: The Sound Mechanic

  • Piano Tuned by: Joe Dodd

SOURCES

  • CLC Image: Chatham House London, CCA 2.0https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3022697/memorial-chinese-labourers-who-helped-allies-world-war-i

  • https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/the-world-today/2014-06/chinas-forgotten-foreign-legion

  • https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/call-for-first-memorial-to-chinese-in-great-war-9669946.html

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Labour_Corps

  • https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/news/commemorating-the-chinese-labour-corps/

  • https://www.sirwilliamorpen.com/chinese-labour-corps-ww1-by-sir-william-orpen/

The copyright of the audio tracks and video belongs to Angelus Squid Marr.

music, storytelling, composing, ESEA, grief, performance, britishcolonialismThe Mollusc Dimension