Monk I
For Flute, Bb clarinet (bass clarinet), cello, and piano
Monk is a legend word in every Asian’s Fantasy. People who not only meditate everyday but also train very hard, and do martial arts. The most famous of them are from Shaolin Sect. Martial art is not only about fighting, but fighting it’s actually the last thing they would encounter. Monks try to understand the world through meditate, chanting, and giving kind. Moreover, the most important about the martial art is about “Balance” and Yin-Yang.
Yin-Yang could refer to anything that’s opposite. Most common example would be life & death / Light & Dark. As a result, in this piece, I’m taking every passages, structures, and even pitches into the consideration of the comparison of “Yin-Yang”, and the thing I want to offer for audience is the feeling of “Balance”. Here in the piece, all the players are becoming a single monk, to perform the “Tai-Chi” martial art
Premiere: 2014 Bartok Festival, Hungary by Alter Ego under the direction of Peter Eotvos.
Second performance: September 23rd 2014, Jordan Hall, Boston
Third performance: Moderna Conservatory, Italy
Forth Performance: New England Conservatory, Boston
Fifth performance: June 13th, 2015, Taipei Cultural Center, New York by Mise-En Ensemble.
sixth performance: March 14th, 2016, SF, Earplay ensemble
Seventh performance: June 14th, 2016, Knoxville, TN, Nief-Norf Festival
Description: written for Bartok Festival composition course. This piece is about balance, meditation, and the flow of “Qi”
Inspired by the legendary Chinese martial art “T’ai Chi”
