20th Century Famous Chinese Works have many interesting and unfamiliar pieces. Tradition Chinese music is played on Guzheng which is Zither with 12 strings (Goto in Japanese), Dizi (flute). Pipa (string instrument with 4 strings), Erhu (string instrument with 2 strings), Yangqin (Dulcimer). Piano is a Western import after the 19th century. The names of composers tend to be less well-known compared to Western Classical composers.
For much of the 20th century, China was in turmoil from war & revolution. My parents' generation would listen to songs about China defending against Japan. Modern pieces composed after the 1950s would be unfamiliar. I've heard "Color Clouds Chasing Moon" 彩云追月 before. Some of these are traditional songs arranged for piano.
Traditional Chinese music is based on the pentatonic (5-note) scale instead of the the common diatonic (7-note) scale. C major is a diatonic scale C-D-E-F-G-A-B. A pentatonic scale would be C-D-E-G-A skipping 4 & 7. 4 & 7 is sometimes used as passing notes. "Morning Song" from Pictures from Bashu is written in C major. Looks like the 2nd page has a key change to F (with 1 flat). Do all the pieces start in C major or in different scales?
