Into a Woman's Lunacy - for soprano (2021) - 8'30''
Blackmud - for Contralto and Piano (2020) - 4'
Commissioned by Art Song Lab (2020)
Poem by Kim Trainor
Lynne McMurtry, contralto
Alison d’Amato, piano
Poem by Kim Trainor
Lynne McMurtry, contralto
Alison d’Amato, piano
About Solitude - song cycle - for Soprano and Piano (2016-2019) - 20'
|
Peiqi Huang, soprano
Yi-Ning Lo, piano |
Mvt. 1 - Solitude I - 0'00'' Mvt. 3 - The Lake Isle of Innisfree - 3'19'' Mvt. 5 - Solitude II - 6'50'' Mvt. 7 - Thoughts Come and Go in Solitude - 12'10'' Mvt. 9 - Alone - 15'17'' |
This song cycle uses five different poems by Anna Akhmatova, William Butler Yeats, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Edgar Allan Poe, with four Matsuo Basho's haikus inserted between them. Performer can choose to perform all of them (including the haikus) consecutively, or independently perform any number of them from the five poems in any order without the haikus.
1. Solitude I
2. The Old Pond
3. The Lake Isle of Innisfree
4. Shaking the Grave
5. Solitude II
6. On This Road
7. Thoughts Come and Go in Solitude
8. Won’t You Come and See
9. Alone
1. Solitude I
2. The Old Pond
3. The Lake Isle of Innisfree
4. Shaking the Grave
5. Solitude II
6. On This Road
7. Thoughts Come and Go in Solitude
8. Won’t You Come and See
9. Alone
The Tune of Ru Meng Ling - for Soprano, Flute, Violin, Cello, Classical Guitar, Percussion (2019) - 8'30''
Maurice Cohn, conductor
Eric Bergeman, flute
Andrew Lauler, percussion
Andrew Gomez-Ramirez, classical guitar
Peiqi Huang, soprano
Justin Zeitlinger, violin
Joëlla Becker, cello
Eric Bergeman, flute
Andrew Lauler, percussion
Andrew Gomez-Ramirez, classical guitar
Peiqi Huang, soprano
Justin Zeitlinger, violin
Joëlla Becker, cello
The piece is based on Li Qingzhao's poem "The Tune of Ru Meng Ling". Li Qingzhao is a Chinese female poet from the Song Dynasty. Her early works are full of passion, youth and brightness. After her husband's death and the demise of her country, her poetry began to explore feelings of sorrow, misery, and suffering.
In the poem, the poet was immersed in her own sorrow despite the indifferent response of the maid. The color "red" in Chinese poetry is usually a symbol of flowers or women. The destroyed begonia flowers represent the oppression women had to go through during that time. The color "green", on the other hand, refers to "leaves", which also symbolizes the poet's surroundings. This could entail social expectations or tragic incidents that happened to the poet.
In the poem, the poet was immersed in her own sorrow despite the indifferent response of the maid. The color "red" in Chinese poetry is usually a symbol of flowers or women. The destroyed begonia flowers represent the oppression women had to go through during that time. The color "green", on the other hand, refers to "leaves", which also symbolizes the poet's surroundings. This could entail social expectations or tragic incidents that happened to the poet.