“TaleSpin was commissioned by the Mead/Montague Piano Duo. It is a short musical fantasy, written in a quasi-romantic style. It has something of a program, too, whose subject may be apparent from some of the section titles: Telltale, Hot Topic, Blissful Ignorance, Morning After Songs, Still Spinning, and Picking up the Pieces. Many of the electronic sounds are processed recordings of a series of strange noises made by composer Stephen Montague, caught fooling around inside an acoustic piano during a recording session in 1995.”
— Russell Pinkston
Luciano Berio's 6 Encores offer a captivating journey through a landscape of imagery and emotion, each piece a miniature masterpiece in its own right. Composed between 1965 and 1990, these encores showcase Berio's mastery of composition and his ability to evoke vivid imagery through music.
Brin, a delicate and introspective piece that serves as a prologue to the set. Despite the title suggesting flashy encores in the style of Chopin, Brin subverts expectations with its liquidity and sparse nature. Its stillness is intoxicating, drawing listeners into a world of tranquility and contemplation.
In contrast, Leaf bursts forth with chirpy energy, conjuring images of birds darting among the leaves. Busy and bustling, this piece presents a challenge for performers with its rapid-fire passages and fleeting gestures. Yet, amidst the flurry of activity, there is a sense of ephemeral beauty, punctuated by moments of climax that pierce through the nebulous texture.
Wasserklavier, the earliest of the set, transports us to a different era altogether. Here, Berio captures the essence of water with remarkable clarity and refinement. The music flows effortlessly, conveying a sense of softness and fluidity that is both captivating and pianistic. With its evocative imagery and precise execution, "Wasserklavier" stands as a testament to Berio's ability to paint with sound.
“Eight Memories in Watercolor was written when I left Hunan to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. It was my opus one. The Cultural Revolution had just ended, China had just opened its doors, and I was immersed in studying Western classical and modern music but was also homesick. I longed for folksongs and savored the memories of my childhood. Therefore, I wrote my first piano work as a diary of longing. The work is subdivided into eight short pieces: Missing Moon, Staccato Beans, Herdboy's Song, Blue Nun, Red Wildemess, Ancient Burial, Floating Clouds, Sunrain.
In the set, Staccato Beans, Herdboy's Song, Blue Nun, Sunrain are based on my favorite folksongs from my childhood in Hunan. I composed the melodies of the other four. Since then, choreographers Chiang Ching and Muna Tseng set this work to modern dance. Pianist Fou Ts'ong got to know this work through Chiang and performed four of the pieces. In 2001, I met Lang Lang, and he told me he wanted to premiere the complete Eight Memories in Watercolor in his concerts, for which I am very grateful. I made slight revisions to the work by renaming titles, reordering the pieces, and amending the overall structure according to Lang Lang's suggestions.”
— Tan Dun
"Starlit Whispers: The Hummingbird's Journey" is a musical piece that starts with a simple question: Have you ever seen a hummingbird flying at night? This isn't just about birds; it's about us, too. It's about our dreams, our search for new beginnings, and our journey towards a brighter future.
This composition draws you in, inviteing you to think about how, just like hummingbirds embark on their unseen night journeys, we're all on a quest. We're searching for opportunities, chasing survival, and longing for a place where we feel we truly belong.
Identity was inspired by a video installation titled The Visitors at SFMOMA. The creator, Ragnar Kjartansson, is a contemporary Icelandic multidisciplinary artist.
Identity traces my own experience of finding myself through the whole, fragmented, or implied thought forms, and finding our existence in the world, both as an individual and a part of the community. In the piece, the cell slowly expands the music via dynamic expansion, pitch material expansion, and rhythm expansion throughout the entire piece in a series of wavelike gestures. On the other hand, the flute draws the fragmented thoughts of the whole piece via grace notes and short melodic materials.