Coming full circle: there’s probably no better way to describe Chou Wen-Chung’s lifetime of dedication to music. His cultural impact is immense. Born in Shandong, China in 1923, he moved to the United States in 1946, studied under Edgard Varèse and went on to become a pioneering figure in bridging East and West through composition, writing and teaching. By the time of his death in 2019, he had he paved the way for generations of musicians and artists to explore and embrace cultural diversity even in turbulent times of war and uncertainty. Marking Chou’s centenary year, the compilation Long May the Water Flow, brought to fruition by the Beijing-based label bié Records, is a tribute to the visionary composer’s legacy. “Chou has made enormous contributions to the fusion of Eastern and Western music and culture,” label founder Meng Jinhui tells Apple Music. “Through this project, we hope that more people will know his name. In addition, we hope to spark ongoing discussions about how music and culture should flow between different regions and people.” The nine artists collected on this album create a spectrum of sound inspired by Chou’s life, work and aesthetic philosophy that’s expansive but yielding. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun’s “Reservoir of Memory”, inspired by the breadth of Chou’s work, pays tribute to both Chou and his mentor Edgard Varèse and incorporates elements of Indian classical music. “One of the most interesting instruments is the shehnai, which is the predecessor of the Chinese suona,” she says. “Through the evolution of instruments you can observe the interplay of peoples and cultures.” Similarly, Shanghai-based multi-instrumentalist Gooooose (Han Han) was inspired by Chou’s boundary crossing to experiment with sampling a gong in each pentatonic mode for his track “Long Gong”. “I used to deliberately avoid using these clichéd sound symbols. But for this piece, I thought, why not use them differently? We might end up with some intriguing listening,” he says. Spatial Audio technology, employed throughout the album, adds new dimensions to the listening experience—and to the music-making experience as well. “It’s like a gaining a new dimension—it used to be 2D but now it’s 3D,” Hu Chao of the Wuhan-based rock band Hualun tells Apple Music. “It’s more powerful and immersive for the listener. And because of the additional dimension, some sounds that can be overlooked in the stereo mix are easier to capture.” Berlin-based ambient composer Yoann Pisterman finds the technology essential and sees it as a game changer. “I think Spatial Audio can transport listeners to another world, to make them feel like they’re truly inside the music and part of the experience,” he says. How these nine artists came together—and how their work fuses together elements that at first glance might seem incompatible—demonstrates music’s ability to cross boundaries and bridge gaps. Chou Wen-Chung’s lasting impact is his conviction of the fluidity of musical idioms and lineages. Below, some of the album’s contributing artists share their own thoughts on the composer’s significance: Du Yun: “I expanded upon Mr Chou’s worldview, seeking to explore its deeper meanings. Where and what exactly is the East? This is the wall I want to break through to find more answers.” Gooooose: “The biggest inspiration for me is Mr Chou’s view on opposing sides—basic and complex, East and West. As he suggests, these concepts should not be seen as binary. Instead, they interact, merge and evolve together.” 33EMYBW: “Underlying Chou’s fusion of east and west is his long practice and deep understanding of western and eastern music and culture, as well as his thoughts on identity in his era. This gives me lots of inspiration…. With the addition of technology and globalisation, ‘fusion’ brings about new problems and possibilities that deserve attention and thought.” Yoann Pisterman: “Ultimately, I think Chou's ideas about polyculturalism are more relevant now than ever, as we continue to grapple with questions of identity, culture and belonging in an increasingly globalised world.”