DG China artist Xiaofu Ju releases new album Mist Without

Deutsche Grammophon China (DG China) proudly presents Mist Without, the new album by pianist and poet Xiaofu Ju, available worldwide on 10 July 2026. The recording is Xiaofu Ju’s first new release since joining DG China and marks DG China’s continued commitment—following its signing of young China-based musicians in this April—to presenting the distinctive, resolute voices of a new generation of Chinese artists with an international outlook and contemporary sensibility.

A Hearable Obscurity: From Misty Poetry to Musical Narrative

Mist Without originates in Xiaofu Ju’s long-standing resonance with the tradition of Chinese “Misty Poetry” (朦胧诗)—a poetics in which reality is not stated directly, but appears as an atmosphere surrounding language; meaning is not declared, but slowly emerges between images. In this sense, obscurity becomes a necessary strategy: not a departure from reality, but a way for reality to reveal itself differently.

In shaping the album’s concept, Xiaofu Ju drew inspiration from the German word Weltschmerz—a lucid awareness of the world’s suffering and fractures, and the sustained melancholy and empathy that follow. Placed into a Chinese context, “without” points to the world outside the self, while “mist” suggests a mode of seeking: at once the experience of thoughts tangled within, and a helpless summation of a vast, indistinct reality. Thus, Mist Without becomes a kind of “hearable obscurity”—remaining clear within uncertainty, and approaching the contours of the inner self between silence and resonance.

Memory, Time, and Return: A Cross-Era, Cross-Language Journey

“This particular act of translation also becomes the prelude to the album’s narrative. From the homophonic shift of ‘thing’ (物) to ‘mist’ (雾), the weight of reality gradually transforms, within language, into an image tinged with mono no aware; and from ‘mist,’ the music naturally leads to Janáček’s In the Mists.” —— Xiaofu Ju

Centered on a theme of memory and time’s return, Mist Without spans diverse musical languages and periods: from the subtle shadows of Central European modernism to the searing intensity of Russian mysticism, to the light, texture, and chiaroscuro of French impression. The album also incorporates cross-cultural transcriptions and contemporary forms of expression, creating tension and echo between tradition and the present, writing and improvisation, private narrative and public emotion.

The programme traces a carefully constructed narrative arc. It begins with the haze and drift of Leoš Janáček’s In the mists, then moves into the sharper, more direct “foreboding” and “death” of Janáček’s Sonata 1.X.1905. From there, the music enters the nocturnal labyrinth of Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit—the call of Ondine, the tolling of Le Gibet, and the claustrophobic, fevered press of Scarbo—an ordeal of fear, illusion, and the limits of the self.

As the “ghosts” recede from Ravel’s score, an inner mourning and placement arrives: Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem, in Xiaofu Ju’s solo-piano arrangement, is stripped of grand choral and orchestral forces and transformed into a more intimate, breath-close piano monologue.

Along this deepening path, the repertoire repeatedly pushes time back toward earlier eras and contexts—tracing from near-modern laments to Renaissance darkness. The unresolved final chord of Xiaofu Ju’s transcription of John Dowland’s In Darkness Let Me Dwell then leads into the almost combustive intensity and ascending will of Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 7 (“White Mass”), bringing the album to a final reversal: not sinking, but shattering the accumulated downward pull of the preceding works with light and density.

An Invitation to Listen: Distance, Clarity, and the Moment of Opening

Xiaofu Ju’s programming and interpretation point to a particular mode of listening: when boundaries are gently blurred, the details of emotion and memory often become clearer. Mist is both distance and a state of “about to open”—an invitation for listeners to enter the inner time, light, shadow, and breath of the music.

In addition to digital release, Mist Without will also be issued simultaneously in CD and vinyl editions. The physical album booklet will feature three new poems by Xiaofu Ju, allowing music and language to mirror one another within a single work: the piano sounding through time, the poems resonating in stillness—fully presenting Xiaofu Ju’s creative identity as pianist and poet.

FULL TRACKLIST

Leoš Janáček - In the Mists

I. Andante

II. Molto adagio

III. Andantino

IV. Presto

Leoš Janáček - Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 “From the Street”

I. Foreboding

II. Death

Maurice Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit

I. Ondine

II. Le Gibet

III. Scarbo

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Lacrimosa from Requiem, K. 626 *

John Dowland - In Darkness Let Me Dwell *

Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 64 “White Mass"

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* Transcribed by Xiaofu Ju