Composed for the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music “48 hours Composition Symposium”.
Premiered by Prism Quartet on November 06, 2022; Indiana University, Merrill Hall

The Wall - for saxophone quartet (2022)

Premiered by Ruoyang Xiang at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Auer Hall 3/23/2023

Program notes: 
“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans”.  
-James Harriot  
To all creatures great and small,  May you always stay the ways you are…

To All Creatures Great And Small - for piano (2023)

Comissioned by the Sydney Conservatorium Clarinet Ensemble
The first performance was given by the Sydney Conservatorium Clarinet Ensemble directed by Peter Smith on June 2nd, 2021

Mvt titles:
I. Curiosity II. Sleep III. Grooming IV. Food

Program notes:
The title 'Cunicular' is originated from Latin which means 'rabbit-like' or 'characteristics of a rabbit'. This work is dedicated to my pet rabbit Bobo and is divided into four short movements corresponding to four characterristcs of Bobo: 'Curiosity' is capture by the elastic semiquavers and ever changing metres; 'Sleep' is full of both static and gradually moving 'dream-like' harmonies; 'Grooming' is based around a repeating rhythmic pattern to potray the twisting of the body; 'Food' utilises a drum kit to depict the rabbit's sheer excitement over a delicious treat.

Cunicular - for Clarinet Octet and drum kit (2021)

Premiered at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Auer Hall 4/17/2023

Program notes:
Wars are remembered by the banks of two rivers,
by the ocean waves that swallow the metallic taste of swords and daggers, by the snow-cloaked prairies pockmarked with the hooves of cavalry
as the mountains weep above.
去年战，桑乾源，今年战，葱河道
洗兵条支海上波，放马天山雪中草

Each weary mile of the soldiers’ march only brings them closer to their final beds. The Huns till the yellow soil with corpses, growing desolation.
On the Qin’s fortress walls, the beacons burn an endless red,
never resting until the bloodshed ends.
万里长征战，三军尽衰老
匈奴以杀戮为耕作，古来唯见白骨黄沙田
秦家筑城避胡处，汉家还有烽火然
烽火燃不息，征战无已时

Soldiers fall in barren fields, never to rise again,
their last cries drowned by the screams of their horses. Their bodies are looted by crows, who take the intestines as their war spoils.
野战格斗死，败马号鸣向天悲
乌鸢啄人肠，衔飞上挂枯树枝

The generals gain nothing but this portrait of battle, of wild grass painted with blood.
They say soldiers are weapons,
The Saint has no choice but to use them. 
士卒涂草莽，将军空尔为
乃知兵者是凶器，圣人不得已而用之

- Original Poem by Li Bai 李白, English Translation by Chelsey Zhu

Zhan Cheng Nan 战城南 - for wind quintet, percussion and tenor (2023)

Performed and Recorded by Hub New Music at the 2023 Del Mar International Composers Symposium

The title of the piece comes from a modern poem written in 2022 by Yuanxiang Huang. The poem was a response to the ‘Chained Woman Incident’ that was reported in Xuzhou, China. The victim of the incident, Yang, who gave birth to eight children, was found chained up by her husband in the basement. As investigations went on, it was unfolded that Yang was also a victim of human trafficking, who at the time of the investigation, suffer from severe mental health issues.

The Poem The Funerary (陪葬), was written to address the social issues reflected by the
‘Chained Woman Incident’ in a dark and sarcastic manner. The poem was banned and censored in China very shortly after it was published, along with the silencing of any criticism or anger towards the incident or its corresponding social issues. This piece which uses the same name as the poem is not meant to be a direct musical translation of the poem, but rather a personal interpretation of it, along with my frustrations towards the current social issues and censorship of my home country China.

The poem that inspired this piece:

The Funerary
Someone kept the posture of dancing in their graves
Someone's grave, a guitar, with songs loud and rave
Someone's bones lie sloppily, like matchstick figures in children's picture books
in life with pains unspecific, in death with abstract forms paved
Someone's burial articles, are unconsumed expensive imported medicine
papers rotten, handwriting in ophryon engraved
till I saw, a daughter,
with an iron chain buried with her in graves, died of natural causes,
twenty years, the chain has been nourished by the body, fine and smooth
only to find, the chain has long been tied to my neck and throat
like a pube from a large family, venereal diseases passed down from generations buried deep, effective prevention of hanging yourself, no hindrance of spreading your legs The other end ties to this yellow earth, simple and honest, thriving population

- Original poem by Yuanxiang Huang (黄远翔), English translation by Zhiyi Wang

Daniel Cui

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