Alice Ping Yee Ho：Rebirth (Commissioned work, World Premiere)

Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble / Chih-Sheng Chen / National Recital Hall, Taipei, Taiwan 2019.12.11

The idea of this composition is “Rebirth”, it is about the creative process of transformation from the initial discovery to the final metamorphosis. As artists, we not only create art products, we are also being created by the artistic process. The rebirth is for the artist. The composition shares a similar hypothesis of a contemporary Chinese poem “Song of the Stone” 石頭的歌 written by Chinese Canadian writer Lien Chao趙廉. The poet imagines the life of a stone through time and space, the moulding of the stone by nature and humans signifies resurrection: new life and meaning are bestowed to the stone and the creator behind it without destroying its original beauty. Conceived as a one movement work for mixed Chinese instruments with percussion, clarinet and violin, this work fuses electronics with live performance to unfold illusive images of cosmic nature in the poem. Besides showcasing the virtuosity and expressive quality of both the Chinese and Western instruments, the music has nostalgic references to Chinese Kunqu opera and dance traditions from China and ancient Europe. These special music elements are weaved between colourful orchestration and electronic sounds to instigate imaginary scenarios across cultures, time, and space, celebrating human spirit through a poetic journey of progress and variation.

~Alice Ping Yee Ho

Excerpt from Song of the Stones by Lien Chao

石頭的歌 趙廉 你想講故事 Imagining yourself a story-teller

講頭石的故事 you revive the stone’s past

它過去是一座山, 是一颗星 as a mountain, as a star

或者來自海底的岩層 or from the bottom of the ocean

你識得古老的自然元素 you read ancient elements

金, 木, 水, 火, 土 mineral, wood, water, fire, soil

宇宙的各種呈現 the presence of the universe

空氣, 風, 雨, 冰, 雪, air, wind, rain, snow, ice

日, 月, 星辰…… the sun, the moon, the star….

你要用“思想者”的智慧 with a Thinker’s intelligence

農民的耐心 a farmer’s endurance

石匠的技藝 a stone carver’s skills

愛人的激情 a lover’s passion

順著石意 you bring out

再现它的无然生記 the original birthmarks of the stone untamed