Since its beginnings in the 1930s, Chinese piano music has grown and blossomed into a genre with its own history and unique character. The early Chinese composers, returning from the conservatories of Europe and Russia, drew inspiration from the numerous folk sources of China, as well as their foreign schools, to create a new and nationalistic class of music. As in other fields of art, the Cultural Revolution dealt a heavy blow to the members of this movement. But their momentum continued and has since picked up speed.

More than half a century later, anthologies of pieces have been compiled and essays written about the composers of Chinese piano music. Unfortunately, most of this material is not available outside of China, and the literature is in Chinese. Much of the music, once published, are now out of print and hard to find. Only a select few pieces have been reprinted in new collections.

After a visit to Shanghai when I collected some Chinese piano pieces, I presented a concert of Chinese and Russian piano music at MIT in April of 1996. I quickly realized that my collection of Chinese piano music was far from complete and I knew next to nothing about the pieces or their composers.