A piano piece based on the folktale of the Cowherd and the Weaver-girl.
“Magpie Bridge” is a piano piece based on the East Asian folktale of the Cowherd and the Weaver-girl. This folktale is based on the three stars of the Summer Triangle asterism (Altair, Vega, Deneb). Variations of the story appear in different cultures across East Asia and is celebrated during festivals between July 7th to August 25th (Tanabata in Japan, Qixi in China, Chilseok in Korea, Thất Tịch in Vietnam, and others).
The common elements of the folktale tell the story of a cowherd (represented by the star Altair) and a weaver-girl (represented by the star Vega) who fall in love and neglect their duties (taking care of the cows and weaving, respectively). The weaver-girl’s father (who happens to be the Emperor of Heaven) is upset that they are neglecting their duties and banishes them to either side of the river (represented by the Milky Way). They are allowed to meet with each other only once each year on the 7th day of the 7th month when a flock of magpies (represented by the star Deneb) creates a bridge for them to cross the river only if it does not rain. During the festivals, people pray for there to be no rain.
Some of the sounds I tried to incorporate into this piece include the repetitive sound of a weaver's loom, the heavy feet of cows trudging through mud, the rushing waters of the celestial river, the twinkling of stars and the longing that people feel for those that they miss.
Because this song was to be a gift to my parents, I wrote it based on an East Asian folktale that also incorporates astronomy. My mother loves folktales from around the world but especially the ones she grew up with in Asia. She would tell me the story of the cowherd and the weaver-girl. My father loves astronomy and used to build his own telescopes from scrap material. He taught me about the stars of the summer triangle. Over the course of the summer, Deneb appears to drift across the Milky Way and by contrast Vega will seem closer to Altair. This is all because of the Earth’s rotation, not because the stars are moving 🤓.
I also wrote this piece in the middle of the pandemic around the time that people were starting to really feel the effects of being separated from their friends and families. I wanted to have this song completed by July 7th, 2021 as a prayer and a wish for people to be able to safely gather together again this summer.
“Magpie Bridge” will be released onto Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and iTunes on June 20th, 2021 (Father’s Day). (I was injured during Mother’s Day so I couldn’t release it then. Don’t be jealous 😊.)