Category:   ETHNIC MUSIC
Composer:   Folk Song
Arranger:   Chien Shan-Hua
Publisher:   earthsongs
Edition:   S-134
Voicing:   SSAA
Setting:   A Cappella

Reviewer:   

Kathy Romey
University of Minnesota 2003
R&R Chair Ethnic Music

This lively pentatonic folk song from northeastern Taiwan exists in many different arrangements. The text describes the noises of the train as it travels from the I-Lan farm county into Taipei. The highly rhythmic setting uses onomatopoeic sounds to depict a train starting up slowly, gaining speed and reaching its destination with an “uuu” of the whistle.