NEW WORK “HOOK” SELECTED FOR INCLUSION IN 2023 TAIPEI INTERNATIONAL NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL (Aug. ’22)
Categories -Last week I received confirmation that my new nine-and-a-half minute piece for solo guzheng, titled Hook, has been selected in the B category (plucked instruments) in the latest call for works of the Taiwan Branch of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM). It will receive its premiere in the 2023 edition of the Taipei International New Music Festival.
The piece was quite a challenge to write, because it incorporates material from six of the main schools of guzheng playing. It took a lot of listening, score study/copying, sketching and thinking to assimilate the various characteristics of the different schools and channel them into one solo piece. I’m thrilled that it will be heard.
Programme Note for Hook:
“Hook” for guzheng solo was created from May to June 2022, with a total duration of about nine and a half minutes.
The inspiration for this work is taken from the poem written by Li Yu, a poet of the Southern Tang Dynasty, using the tune “Xiang Jian Huan”.
Two images in the poem were particularly influential. Firstly, the simile describing the moon as a “hook” struck the me as a potent indicator of the imprisoned poet’s state of despair. Second, mention of the parasol tree in the deep courtyard, to the composer’s mind, prompted the metaphor that follows: “Cut it, and it will not break; tidy it, and it returns to chaos; that is the pain of separation”. In other words, the poet’s emotions, like the ill-kept courtyard, tend towards chaos, and blessed ataraxia is only a fleeting state. In general terms, the piece can be taken as an evocation of both the atmosphere of the courtyard, and of the poet’s mental state.
Specifically, the piece is tri-rotational, comprising three wordless settings of the poem, which run through the piece as a cantilena. Each of the three settings is divided into two sections, each section modified (transcribed) to varying degress by the application of playing styles from six different traditional schools of Guzheng playing, namely, Zhejiang, Chaozhou, Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong and Hakka. In addition, the musical material for each line of the poem is characterised by limited utilisation of different sets of strings, which function like vertical sets in defining the harmonic “space” of each line, in the manner of Webern, Carter or Lutosławski.
我上週收到通知，我的九分鐘半的古箏獨奏作品《鉤》在中華民國現代音樂協會最新的徵曲中入選B類（彈撥樂器），並將於2023年台北國際現代音樂節首演。
這首曲子的寫作難度很大，因為它融合了六個最大的箏派之素材。 需要大量的聆聽、樂譜分析、抄譜、草稿寫作與思考，才能吸收不同箏派的各種特徵，並將它們整合成一首獨奏作品。 我很高興它可以有一個公開演出。
作品介紹：
古箏獨奏作品《鉤》創作於2022年5至6月，總時長大約九分鐘半。
本作品的靈感取自南唐詩人李煜使用詞牌《相見歡》寫作的詞，「無言獨上西樓」。這首詩中有兩個形象對作曲家的創作特別有影響力。 首先，將月亮描述為“鉤子”的明喻，對作曲家而言，是被囚禁的詩人絕望狀態之有力象徵。 其次，提到深院裡的梧桐樹，作曲家認為在詩人的腦海中提示了以下隱喻：「剪不斷，理還亂，是離愁」。情緒，就像破敗的院子一樣，趨於混亂，心神寧靜轉瞬即逝。 總的來說，這部作品既是對庭院氛圍的喚起，也是對詩人精神狀態的喚起。
具體來說，這首曲子由三個循環組成。隱藏在每一個循環裡頭有完整詩詞的「無聲之歌曲」，此歌曲作為一種線索在貫穿整首曲子。三個循環另外可以再分為兩個部分，每個部分分別應用不同箏派特有的演奏方式來轉換，或轉錄（transcribe）上述歌曲的旋律。總共有六種箏派出現，即浙江、潮州、河南、陝西、山東和客家。
此外，藉由韋伯恩、卡特和盧托斯瓦夫斯基等作曲家所運用的定位序列之技術，每個詩行的音樂材料有固定使用一套不同的琴絃來定義此段落的「和聲空間」或「和聲色彩」。
Here’s the message from the secretary of ISCM Taiwan, listing the chosen and commissioned works for 2023:
以下是中華民國秘書組的通知信：
各位會員好。
2023年臺北國際現代音樂節，選曲委員會討論後，
斟酌音樂會安排，選出下列作品：
A. 室內樂 -投件共11件，選出5件。
黃祈諺 ：《…towards Bisosilin》、詹雅蘭 ：《Sand aSH》、趙立偉 ：《C. V. A. E》、廖子堂 ：《雨菸》、邱妍甯 ：《閾限如儀》
另委託陳瓊瑜、羅芳偉譜新曲。
B. 彈撥 – 投件共2件，選出2件。
潘家琳：《噪靜交響》、盧長劍：《鉤》
邀請演出作品：楊祖垚：《厄科》
另委託蔡承哲、任真慧、張譽馨、陳欣蕾譜新曲。
恭喜以上入選作品及會員，也感謝所有投件會員，
後續工作，秘書組會與入選作品作曲家聯繫。
兩場音樂會檔期，確認後再公告周知。
中華民國現代音樂協會秘書組
Secretary, ISCM-Taiwan
My piece Moon was chosen in last year’s ISCM Taiwan’s call for works. Read about it here:
我的作品《月》在去年中華民國現代音樂協會的徵曲中也有被選上。想了解更多的朋友，請點擊這裡：
New work “Moon” selected for inclusion in 2022 Taipei International New Music Festival (Oct. 2021)