Untitled for piano solo (2008)

Void  虛·逸    2008 (excerpt)

（NB: This is a compressed format and so some transient material will appear distorted.）
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Eastern Han Taoist priest Kai ZHANG said:
        “With great energy, one can produce a thick fog (for miles around).”


The creation process of Vague Image is based on the use of two different shapes of sonic material coming from the Shakuhachi's flute, "spitted" sounds and prolonged sounds.
The air sound and its overtones evokes the mysterious and dense fog, in order to reproduce a hazy sense of elusiveness, thus also representing a characteristic of the Eastern aesthetic, the euphemistic language of metaphor.

The structure is based on the Shakuhachi’s own acoustic characteristics: from the vibrating air emerges the sound, air and sound melt together, and finally sound returns air. The morphology of the sounds becomes the key element in controlling the structure.


The piece is also an homage to the acousmatic music pioneers who explored Musique concrète.

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1. transcription to Acousmograph by Thomas Gorbach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKF78DizLC0

https://youtu.be/qWAs7Vl-sS0?t=2m40s


2. Graphic Transformation by Tomonari HIGAKI

http://www.musicircus.net/post/98551764979/bihe-wen-vague-image-2012-806-graphic

五里霧 Vague Image (2011)

Dye
flute and electronics
Duration: 10:55 min

The materials used in this work are derived from flute.
Through the expressive mean of sounds this piece recalls multiple variations of colors: unification and separation, compression and diffusion, collision and fragmentation, stillness and gradual changes are nothing but colors' relationships in movement.
Like a double-layer cell, based on the contraposition and dialogue between western and eastern musical languages, the piece elaborates the concept of "dye".

”Dye” for flute and electronics (2013)

Regression

acousmatic work (stereo)
duration: 7:16 min

The sounds in Regression are entirely derived from the “Udu.”
This African clay instrument had its origins as a water and food container with ceremonial functions, and so still serves to evoke the primordial texture.

In composing this work, I was searching for an organic musical language with which I could compose a piece whose structure resembled a living organism in all its dynamism. On the smallest scale, the textures of sounds that may at first seem very different often reveal close relationships. I have sought to reveal these relationships in my composition through various transformations of these different sounds. I have also attempted to embody in this work an improvisational spirit that reflects the rhythmic freedom of the original sound material.

Finally, the philosophic and poetic motivation for this piece was my desire to have the sounds of the “Udu” regress back to their watery origins, not only to evoke the water that the instrument was originally made to carry, but also to honor the water and earth that together made its construction possible.


Regression (excerpt)

Bihe Wen was born in China in 1991. His works include instrumental, electroacoustic music, and collaboration work of audiovisual installation. He is interested in the relationship between traditional aesthetics and music language of sound composition.

In 2010 he began studying at Central Conservatory of Music, majoring in electroacoustic music at the Center for Electronic Music of China. While there he studied electroacoustic music with Prof. Xiaofu ZHANG and Prof. Peng GUAN. 

He was awarded First Prize in 2011Musicacoustica-Beijing competition, First Prize in Monaco International Electroacoustic Composition Competition CICEM 2014, Jury Special Mention in XXVIII Luigi Russolo Contest 2015, Leibniz’s Harmonies Prize and Finalist in MÉTAMORPHOSES 2016. His acousmatic work has been selected as the designated work to be performed and analyzed by the participants in Concours de Spatialisation 2012 in Brussels. 

His works have been performed at concerts and festivals in Beijing (MUSICACOUSTICA-BEIJING), Shanghai (Electronic Music Week 2015), Brussels (L’Espace du Son 2012, 2016), France (UN SON PAR LA Festival 2012), Vienna (ElectroAcousticProject), Stockholm (Sound and Music Computing Conference 2013), New York (2014 NYCEMF), Monaco (Monaco Electroacoustique 2015), Texas (41st International Computer Music Conference 2015), Switzerland (Swiss Contemporary Music Festival Forum Wallis 2016) and Italy (2016 Matera Intermedia Festival).

He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in composition at the University of North Texas.

Bihe Wen

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