Composer: Man-Ching Donald Yu

Breakthrough for accordion and flute. Premiere: Flute, Nataliia Kozhushko-Maksymiv; accordion, Bohdan Kozhushko. The 29th Contrasts International Festival of Contemporary Music "Pulse Marathon/Intermedia. S. Lyudkevych Concert Hall, Ukraine. (October 7th, 2023)

Breakthrough is a dramatic process in which an obstacle or a barrier has been physically broken through. It can also refer to the sudden prominent discoveries and advancements achieved by humankind in science and technology. Yet, it is extremely crucial that our civilization could only be advanced with continuous breakthroughs of knowledges within our world. The music is delineated into two parts, the first part is more atmospheric in character. The material initiates with static pitch C, it then gradually unfolds and juxtaposes with different pitches while at the same time transforming into faster rhythmic gestures with more compact textures during the course of the first part. The music soon reaches its climax signifying the breakthrough process before beginning the next section which is characterized by fast moving gestures with sustained lines---various layers intermingling together as a continuous whole for generating different sound effects which are distinct from the previous section. Approaching the end of the piece, the music fades out fragmentally at extreme registrations.

Breakthrough (2021) for flute and accordion

Character: Ivana (soprano)
Composed back in 2012. (semi-staged concert version) Premiered on 14th August 2025 by Sinfonietta Senza Sforzando; conductor, Oleksandr Perepelytsia; soprano, Tetiana Muliar. The 30th International Festival of Modern Art Two Days and Two Nights of New Music. Odessa Philharmonic Theatre, Ukraine. (14th August 2025)

About the plot:
The libretto is written by American librettist Gene Tyburn, and later revised by me, and adapted from the play "On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco" (Chekhov, Anton). In the story the main role of the play Ivana, upon being insisted by her domineering husband, delivers a dry and scientific lecture on the harmful effects of nicotine though she herself smokes, which makes the plot even more comically ridiculous. She delays addressing the topic, instead of talking about the bitterness and cruel treatment she suffers from her husband. The play’s message goes beyond the harmful effects of nicotine and tobacco on an individual; it also explores how a person's soul can be destroyed by the oppressive conformity of miserable existence in marriage. Despite the short length of this mono-opera, various dramatic moments with contrasts are highly condensed within the drama for reflecting and organically connecting different emotional and psychological states of the character.

Mini-mono-opera "Nicotine" (2012)

Premiere: Khmelnytsky philharmonic. Conductor, Taras Martynyk. Khmelnytsky Philharmonic Hall, Ukraine. (September 22nd, 2014)

Symphony of Winds "Heavenly Justice" (2013)( excerpt)

Flaming Passion (2012) for piano trio (excerpt)

Premiere: Pipa, Lingling Yu; Cello, Georgy Gusev. II International Festival "Master of Music". The Myaskovsky Hall Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Russia. (Septem-ber 14th, 2014)

Snow (2013) for pipa and cello (excerpt)

Piano, Donald Yu, St. John Cathedral, Li Hall (2012 January)

Quantum Myticisim (2011) for piano (excerpt)

https://manchingyudonald.wixsite.com/donaldyumusic

Breakthrough (2021) for flute and accordion

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