entends, entends le passé qui marche…
“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time,
like the dew on the tip of a leaf”
Rabindranath Tagore
entends, entends le passé qui marche…for piano and soundfiles is the third of a eleven-piece cycle Voices in Time (1989-2011), a musical perspective on the idea of time. The abstract time zones of present, past, future - expressed in the music score by using different notation or gesture, co-exist, and interact continually and constantly in our minds and daily experiences. My interest and exploration into time in Voices in Time cycle led to a conjunction of music and artistic responses in several interdisciplinary activities. The accumulated experiences working with visual artist, choreographers, dancers lead to the creation and production of a large collaborative project one thousand curves and ten thousand colours.
The tape part was realized at the electroacoustic studio at the University of Calgary, based on material recorded from inside the piano and vocal chant. This work was commissioned by Quebec pianist Rita Gauthier with a project grant provided by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
_________________________
Fei Yang (Chinese: driven by the wind) is the sixth piece in the Voices in Time cycle. Since 1979, I have been studying Chinese music, medieval and classical poetry, in particular the ideology, philosophy and notation of guqin (Chinese 7-string zither) music. The knowledge absorbed and material collected have integrated and become an important part of her creative voice and to-date, ten pieces have been completed in a projected eleven-piece cycle, with each reflecting on a particular time in Chinese history which in turn, echoes our own existence. All the compositions in the cycle seeks for a balance between elements of continuity and elements of change and is a reflection of "heaven, earth, and men are one" in Chinese philosophy. Accordion has been used in many works to resemble the Chinese shoeing, a wind instrument used widely in both folk and ceremonial music.
The large part of this work was composed during the four weeks stay at Die Höge in Germany where I was composer-in-residence in 2000. The summer countryside filled with the whispers of the wind, and the stimulating environment at the artists colony were great sources of inspiration.
Fei Yang was commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and New Music Concerts in Toronto.
_________________________
Flake upon flake… is a collection of piano pieces for young pianists from primary up to intermediate level, composed as a special project to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects in 1990. The 'theme', a descending scale introduced in the very first piece First March of Robot O, serves as the building block for all pieces.
Descriptions of the 13 pieces are as follows:
Title Duration Level Focus
First March of Robot O 1'05" Primary learning clefs, basic note value,
duet playing, listening to 'theme'
Let's Stick Together 40" I 2 hands co-ordination, dynamic contrast, wrist staccato & rotation (horizontal flexibility,
"Mirror, Mirror, 45" I legato/portamento touch, contrary
Who is that in the mirror?" motion, prepared piano (optional)
Shadow Play 35" II-III finger staccato
Second March of Robot O 1' II-III ostinato, shifting finger position,
dynamic envelopes, vertical flexibility of wrist
Two Bees Visiting a 1'15" IV-V independence of fingers, velocity,
Blooming White Rose blocked keys
See-Saw 1'10" IV-V wider keyboard range, grace notes,
clusters, changing meters
They Say 1'55" IV-V dotted rhythm, flexible tempi
"Now Say Goodnight"
Flake Upon 1'30" VI-VII spatial notation, sustained
Flake Upon ---- pedal, arm weight
Sloping 1'15" VI-VII flexibility of arm movement, glissando
Slipping accelerando within rhythmic unit
Sliding----Gliding
Two Dreams and a Nightmare ca.8' VII-IX various kinds of clusters, cluster glissandi, body weight, crossing
hands, trills & thrills, sostenuto pedal
precision in 'tuplets' (irregular rhythmic groupings), small intervals
Flake Upon Flake Upon--- was commissioned by the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects with the assistance of a grant from the Ontario Arts Council.
_________________________
Flashing into the dark
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
William Blake
In a time and place where contemporary music is excluded from people’s daily life and is treated with indifference, or even with hostility, the action of creating and presenting music of our time is like a flash soon disappearing into darkness. But it is my hope that in this short instant of flashing, the world and heaven, infinity and eternity, can be sensed by those few who are seeking.
Flashing into the dark was written for Guido Arbonelli’s special project, “60 seconds for 60 composers. It was premiered at the New Music Festival in Rome, 1999.
_________________________
Flower Drum Dance is based on a Chinese folk tune, Fong Yang Flower Drum. War and famine refugees from Anhui Province supported themselves and their families by performing this joyful and exuberant song on the streets in their neighbouring provinces. When my nine-year-old daughter heard about my participation in the New Music for Young Musicians Project, initiated by the Canadian Music Centre Prairie Region, she requested a piece like Béla Bartok’s Swine-Herd’s Dance, her favourite piece she was playing at the time. Her wish became my inspiration.
This work was premiered by Claire Eagle at the Steinway Hall, Calgary.
_________________________
forever after was written for flautist Carin Levine for the opening gala at Die Höge, Germany. The material is based on a previous work ….I,Laika…(1989) for flute, cello and piano, dedicated to the memory of my father, Colonel Luke S. S. Lee, an airforce pilot who was reported missing during a mission to Laos in 1961. While….I,Laika….evokes a requiem, forever after is a song of remembrance. Those whom we remember, live forever.
_________________________
Four Winds from Heaven is the ninth piece in the Voices in Time cycle. Since 1979, Hope Lee has been studying Chinese music, medieval and classical poetry, in particular the ideology, philosophy and notation of qin (Chinese 7-string zither) music. The knowledge absorbed and material collected have integrated and become an important part of her creative voice and to-date, nine pieces have been completed in a projected eleven-piece cycle, with each reflecting on a particular time in Chinese history which in turn, echoes our own existence. All the compositions in the cycle seeks for a balance between elements of continuity and elements of changes and is a reflection of "heaven, earth, and men are one" in Chinese philosophy.
Four Winds from Heaven consists of eight songs:
I (the breath of the earth that nobody sees)
II O wind, a-blowing all day long (from The Wind, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
III Blow willow Blow wind
IV Laughing, dancing, sunny wind (from Wind, by Amy Lowell)
V Nan Feng …the warmth of the South wind
VI Wind o’the Autumn (by Will. H. Ogilvie)
VII (the blowing of the North Wind that everybody hears)
VIII it turns and turns again
There is one unified theme – wind. Each piece focus on one aspect of the wind: the invisibility, the direction, the motion, the sound. A particular vocal technique and relationship between words and music were sought to reflect such features.
_________________________
gently rings in autumn wind was commissioned by organist Karen Holmes for a PRO ORGANO OTTAWA concert in 1995, presenting organ and harpsichord works by women composers.
A distant ring, rushing water and swirling leaves in autumn wind were aural images which came to my mid while composing this work, along with the phrase ‘gently down the stream, life is but a dream’ from the children’s rhyme.
The registration is according to the specification of the Casavant organ of the First Baptist Church in Ottawa, based on the suggestion from M. Holmes. To Karen Holmes and to the memory of Michael Hambræus this work is dedicated.
_________________________
Hsieh Lu Hsing is the title of an ancient Chinese poem, meaning 'brevity of life is as morning dew on the shallots'. This is the second piece in the Voices in Time cycle. Since 1979, Hope Lee has been studying Chinese music, medieval and classical poetry, in particular the ideology, philosophy and notation of guqin (Chinese 7-string zither) music. The knowledge absorbed and material collected have integrated and become an important part of her creative voice and to-date, ten pieces have been completed in a projected eleven-piece cycle, with each reflecting on a particular time in Chinese history which in turn, echoes our own existence. All the compositions in the cycle seeks for a balance between elements of continuity and elements of change and is a reflection of "heaven, earth, and men are one" in Chinese philosophy.
The piece is in three parts:
1. Looking back where visions blur
2. Ancient lament
3. Away the autumn geese fly
Hsieh Lu Hsing was commissioned by Zhang Yan & Liu Qi-Chao with the assistance of a Canada Council grant. The world premiere was given by the Academy Music Chamber Ensemble, 16 October, 2002 at the ISCM World Music Days Hong Kong.
“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time,
like the dew on the tip of a leaf”
Rabindranath Tagore
entends, entends le passé qui marche…for piano and soundfiles is the third of a eleven-piece cycle Voices in Time (1989-2011), a musical perspective on the idea of time. The abstract time zones of present, past, future - expressed in the music score by using different notation or gesture, co-exist, and interact continually and constantly in our minds and daily experiences. My interest and exploration into time in Voices in Time cycle led to a conjunction of music and artistic responses in several interdisciplinary activities. The accumulated experiences working with visual artist, choreographers, dancers lead to the creation and production of a large collaborative project one thousand curves and ten thousand colours.
The tape part was realized at the electroacoustic studio at the University of Calgary, based on material recorded from inside the piano and vocal chant. This work was commissioned by Quebec pianist Rita Gauthier with a project grant provided by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
_________________________
Fei Yang (Chinese: driven by the wind) is the sixth piece in the Voices in Time cycle. Since 1979, I have been studying Chinese music, medieval and classical poetry, in particular the ideology, philosophy and notation of guqin (Chinese 7-string zither) music. The knowledge absorbed and material collected have integrated and become an important part of her creative voice and to-date, ten pieces have been completed in a projected eleven-piece cycle, with each reflecting on a particular time in Chinese history which in turn, echoes our own existence. All the compositions in the cycle seeks for a balance between elements of continuity and elements of change and is a reflection of "heaven, earth, and men are one" in Chinese philosophy. Accordion has been used in many works to resemble the Chinese shoeing, a wind instrument used widely in both folk and ceremonial music.
The large part of this work was composed during the four weeks stay at Die Höge in Germany where I was composer-in-residence in 2000. The summer countryside filled with the whispers of the wind, and the stimulating environment at the artists colony were great sources of inspiration.
Fei Yang was commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and New Music Concerts in Toronto.
_________________________
Flake upon flake… is a collection of piano pieces for young pianists from primary up to intermediate level, composed as a special project to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects in 1990. The 'theme', a descending scale introduced in the very first piece First March of Robot O, serves as the building block for all pieces.
Descriptions of the 13 pieces are as follows:
Title Duration Level Focus
First March of Robot O 1'05" Primary learning clefs, basic note value,
duet playing, listening to 'theme'
Let's Stick Together 40" I 2 hands co-ordination, dynamic contrast, wrist staccato & rotation (horizontal flexibility,
"Mirror, Mirror, 45" I legato/portamento touch, contrary
Who is that in the mirror?" motion, prepared piano (optional)
Shadow Play 35" II-III finger staccato
Second March of Robot O 1' II-III ostinato, shifting finger position,
dynamic envelopes, vertical flexibility of wrist
Two Bees Visiting a 1'15" IV-V independence of fingers, velocity,
Blooming White Rose blocked keys
See-Saw 1'10" IV-V wider keyboard range, grace notes,
clusters, changing meters
They Say 1'55" IV-V dotted rhythm, flexible tempi
"Now Say Goodnight"
Flake Upon 1'30" VI-VII spatial notation, sustained
Flake Upon ---- pedal, arm weight
Sloping 1'15" VI-VII flexibility of arm movement, glissando
Slipping accelerando within rhythmic unit
Sliding----Gliding
Two Dreams and a Nightmare ca.8' VII-IX various kinds of clusters, cluster glissandi, body weight, crossing
hands, trills & thrills, sostenuto pedal
precision in 'tuplets' (irregular rhythmic groupings), small intervals
Flake Upon Flake Upon--- was commissioned by the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects with the assistance of a grant from the Ontario Arts Council.
_________________________
Flashing into the dark
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
William Blake
In a time and place where contemporary music is excluded from people’s daily life and is treated with indifference, or even with hostility, the action of creating and presenting music of our time is like a flash soon disappearing into darkness. But it is my hope that in this short instant of flashing, the world and heaven, infinity and eternity, can be sensed by those few who are seeking.
Flashing into the dark was written for Guido Arbonelli’s special project, “60 seconds for 60 composers. It was premiered at the New Music Festival in Rome, 1999.
_________________________
Flower Drum Dance is based on a Chinese folk tune, Fong Yang Flower Drum. War and famine refugees from Anhui Province supported themselves and their families by performing this joyful and exuberant song on the streets in their neighbouring provinces. When my nine-year-old daughter heard about my participation in the New Music for Young Musicians Project, initiated by the Canadian Music Centre Prairie Region, she requested a piece like Béla Bartok’s Swine-Herd’s Dance, her favourite piece she was playing at the time. Her wish became my inspiration.
This work was premiered by Claire Eagle at the Steinway Hall, Calgary.
_________________________
forever after was written for flautist Carin Levine for the opening gala at Die Höge, Germany. The material is based on a previous work ….I,Laika…(1989) for flute, cello and piano, dedicated to the memory of my father, Colonel Luke S. S. Lee, an airforce pilot who was reported missing during a mission to Laos in 1961. While….I,Laika….evokes a requiem, forever after is a song of remembrance. Those whom we remember, live forever.
_________________________
Four Winds from Heaven is the ninth piece in the Voices in Time cycle. Since 1979, Hope Lee has been studying Chinese music, medieval and classical poetry, in particular the ideology, philosophy and notation of qin (Chinese 7-string zither) music. The knowledge absorbed and material collected have integrated and become an important part of her creative voice and to-date, nine pieces have been completed in a projected eleven-piece cycle, with each reflecting on a particular time in Chinese history which in turn, echoes our own existence. All the compositions in the cycle seeks for a balance between elements of continuity and elements of changes and is a reflection of "heaven, earth, and men are one" in Chinese philosophy.
Four Winds from Heaven consists of eight songs:
I (the breath of the earth that nobody sees)
II O wind, a-blowing all day long (from The Wind, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
III Blow willow Blow wind
IV Laughing, dancing, sunny wind (from Wind, by Amy Lowell)
V Nan Feng …the warmth of the South wind
VI Wind o’the Autumn (by Will. H. Ogilvie)
VII (the blowing of the North Wind that everybody hears)
VIII it turns and turns again
There is one unified theme – wind. Each piece focus on one aspect of the wind: the invisibility, the direction, the motion, the sound. A particular vocal technique and relationship between words and music were sought to reflect such features.
_________________________
gently rings in autumn wind was commissioned by organist Karen Holmes for a PRO ORGANO OTTAWA concert in 1995, presenting organ and harpsichord works by women composers.
A distant ring, rushing water and swirling leaves in autumn wind were aural images which came to my mid while composing this work, along with the phrase ‘gently down the stream, life is but a dream’ from the children’s rhyme.
The registration is according to the specification of the Casavant organ of the First Baptist Church in Ottawa, based on the suggestion from M. Holmes. To Karen Holmes and to the memory of Michael Hambræus this work is dedicated.
_________________________
Hsieh Lu Hsing is the title of an ancient Chinese poem, meaning 'brevity of life is as morning dew on the shallots'. This is the second piece in the Voices in Time cycle. Since 1979, Hope Lee has been studying Chinese music, medieval and classical poetry, in particular the ideology, philosophy and notation of guqin (Chinese 7-string zither) music. The knowledge absorbed and material collected have integrated and become an important part of her creative voice and to-date, ten pieces have been completed in a projected eleven-piece cycle, with each reflecting on a particular time in Chinese history which in turn, echoes our own existence. All the compositions in the cycle seeks for a balance between elements of continuity and elements of change and is a reflection of "heaven, earth, and men are one" in Chinese philosophy.
The piece is in three parts:
1. Looking back where visions blur
2. Ancient lament
3. Away the autumn geese fly
Hsieh Lu Hsing was commissioned by Zhang Yan & Liu Qi-Chao with the assistance of a Canada Council grant. The world premiere was given by the Academy Music Chamber Ensemble, 16 October, 2002 at the ISCM World Music Days Hong Kong.