Tunes From My Home

Description

Violin, Violoncello, Piano — I have known Mr. Xun Pan, the excellent pianist of Newstead Trio since he was a child. xa0I have watched him growing up with great accomplishment in his professional career. xa0In recent years I have had the privilege of listening to the newly released recordings of the Newstead Trio.xa0 I love their passionate and polished performance in both classical and contemporary repertoires, and admire the three musicians tremendously. xa0I feel very honored to be commissioned by the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, to write my new trio for Michael Jamanis, Sara Male and Xun Pan, to celebrate the grand opening of the Pennsylvania Academy of Music’s new facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on 6/11/08.Both Xun Pan and I are Cantonese in origin (Southern China). xa0It’s natural for me to speak in my native tongue in our trio, to make him smile and feel “home”. xa0I got the inspiration from the folk Cantonese Music for my work. xa0The pitch materials of my motives are drawn from Summer Thunder, Prancing Horses, and Racing the Dragon Boat. xa0The first movement serves as the introduction of all pitch materials, the music is happy, energetic and celebrating, with a quiet middle section featuring harmonics and lyrical counterpoint in the strings as a contrast; the second movement, Nostalgia, is a fugue in delicate and sensitive expression; and the final movement, Happiness, in the textures of dialogues and smooth moving passages, is a celebration to happy occasions, particularly to the one with the Pennsylvania Academy of Music.—Chen Yi