Kai-Young Chan: in search of for violin and fixed media (2021)
(Commissioned by violinist Patrick T.S. Yim)
PROGRAMME NOTES
(Written by the composer)
in search of
for violin and fixed media
Programme notes
The work deals with the idea of struggle by asking the violin to express with a range of timbre that most would consider “unexpressive” and “noisy”. The musical materials are improvised based collected speech samples – questions – in varying shades of intensity, ranging from noise to lyrical notes. The work ruminates on the collective search of…
a question an answer
an exit an entrance
the beginning the end
…in the past year, when normality has been, and will still be, redefined at an unprecedented rate. The piece reveals the questions gradually, but the audience are invited to imagine what questions are being asked by the violin, when the performer is only allowed to “speak” with the instrument. They may also try to fit their own question into the speech rhythms.
The work musically “quotes” an excerpt from the poem “Farewell on Grassland” by Bai Juyi:
The overwhelming grass on the plain
Perish and flourish each year:
Never consumed by wildfire
And ever revived by the wind of spring.
This excerpt is an ode to the vitality of life forces – no matter how many times things perish, they will always be revived.
欲尋
小提琴與固定媒體
作品試以小提琴難以表達情感的噪音音色去表達不同的提問。樂手以收集自各人的提問為基礎即興演奏，反覆思量在「常態」定義變幻無常之時，有甚麼集體的追尋：或是問題、或是答案；或是出口、或是入口；或是起始、或是終結。提問終會揭曉，但解謎之前，聽眾可試想像小提琴手用樂音問了甚麼問題，亦可把自己的提問置於其中。
作品最後以樂音引用了白居易的《賦得古草原送別》：
離離原上草，一歲一枯榮。 野火燒不盡，春風吹又生。
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
A Hong Kong-based composer, Kai-Young Chan focuses on the integration of nuance, relevance, and resonance in music that converses with societies and cultures, and he is particularly drawn to the musicality of Chinese literature expressed through the tonal Cantonese language.
His music is performed across the continents by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, PRISM Quartet, Mivos Quartet, Daedalus Quartet, Dolce Suono Ensemble, International Ensemble Modern Academy, and Hong Kong New Ensemble, among other prominent performers. His selected works are released on Ablaze, innova, and PARMA records, with scores published by Editions Peters (London) and Central Conservatory of Music Press(Beijing).
Chan is part of the first artist delegation of American Composers Forum to the Havana Festival for Contemporary Music in Cuba, a historic tour documented by the National Public Radio. His music is featured in two editions of ISCM World Music Days (2015 in Slovenia, 2012 in Belgium), International Rostrum of Composers (2014 in Finland), June in Buffalo (USA), International Forum of New Music Manuel Enriquez (Mexico), Risuonanze Festival (Italy), Internationalen Ferienkurse Darmstadt (Germany), and Musicarama(Hong Kong).
Chan is a winner of the Keuris Composition Prize, the Emissary Quartet Composition Competition, Dolce Suono Ensemble Composition Competition, the Orchestra Seattle and Seattle Chamber Singers Competition, the Vocal Espoo Choral Composition Competition, Association for the Promotion of New Music Composition Competition, the Audience Prize of the Hong Kong Composer’s Showcase organized by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Speech Choir Young Composer Award, CASH Music Scholarships, among other honors.
As a Benjamin Franklin Fellow, Chan earned his PhD in Music Composition from the University of Pennsylvania, where he worked with Jay Reise, James Primosch, and Anna Weesner. He currently serves as Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he obtained his Master of Music (under the supervision of Victor Chan) and Bachelor of Arts in Translation with first class honours.
陳啟揚於美國賓夕法尼亞大學完成作曲博士學位，由富蘭克林研究學人獎學金全額資助，並先後於香港中文大學取得一級榮譽文學士及作曲音樂碩士，師隨陳偉光教授。現為香港中文大學音樂系作曲助理教授。
陳啟揚的作品曾獲美國匹茲堡交響樂團、奧爾巴尼交響樂團、西雅圖樂團、寇蒂斯音樂學院樂團、坦帕灣交響樂團、Daedalus弦樂四重奏、Mivos弦樂四重奏、Mise-en樂團、俄羅斯Cantando四重奏、德國國際現代合奏音樂學院、香港管弦樂團、香港小交響樂團等樂團演奏，並先後入選國際現代音樂節2012 (比利時)、華人作曲家音樂節2013(香港)、Risuonanze 音樂節 (意大利)、國際作曲家交流會議2014(芬蘭)、2015國際新音樂論壇（墨西哥）、國際現代音樂節2015 (斯洛文尼亞)、2015夏灣拿現代音樂節(古巴)、2016埃斯波聲樂節(芬蘭)、2016 soundSCAPE（意大利）、2017中國東盟音樂節（中國）、2017 華倫西亞音樂節（西班牙）、2018水牛城六月音樂節（美國）、2018西北室內音樂節（美國）等國際音樂節。其樂譜出版商包括Edition Peters、香港兒童合唱團等，而唱片則由PARMA、Innova、Ablaze等唱片公司全球發行。
陳啟揚曾獲荷蘭克瑞斯國際作曲比賽首獎、美國艾美薩利長笛四重奏國際作曲比賽首獎、芬蘭埃斯波聲樂節作曲獎、香港管弦樂團作曲家巡禮之聽眾大獎、香港作曲及作詞家協會獎學金等殊榮。
Patrick T.S. Yim, violinist 