Lluor. Désir d'étoiles
commission of "Rencontres Contemporaines" with Mica et Francis Salabert Foundation and Sacem fundings.
by Constance Ronzatti and Marie Ythier at L'Antiquaille, Lyon, september 2025

Lluor. Désir d'étoiles

Solisten, Chor und Orchester des Theaters Freiburg, Ltg. Friederike Scheunchen

Jozef Koffler  - Alles durch M.O.W. (Orchestration)

SAMMLUNG for 6 voices, ensemble & electronic

SAMMLUNG -1rst Part (2025)

TEST

Müller Chamber Choir
Conductor: Peng, Meng-Hsien

自我實現──惟形之微

唵嘛呢叭咪吽
我的心睜開了眼
我看到了善
也看到了惡
我看到了苦
也看到了樂
善惡苦樂開出了花朵
片片花瓣又隨風飄落
原來花朵不是我
善惡苦樂不是我
沒有了我
只有真實的自由
唵嘛呢叭咪吽

【樂曲解說】

此曲受木樓合唱團之委託，由李陳福老師作詞，樂曲完成於2018年九月。

原詞架構藉始末之六字大明咒祈求聽見自我內心的聲音，以尋求內在之覺醒。對我而言這是個非常抽象且極具挑戰的過程：曲中不斷重覆的字句「善惡苦樂」迫使我深入內心去思考人生所經歷的點滴，譬如美好或是火樹銀花的曾經，以及眾多不可言喻的醜惡與苦悶等等。「我」的想法為何、「我」在人世與時間洪流中的角色定位為何、「我」的內在本質又為何……都是在思考如何用音樂具象化表達「自我實現」的概念之前，需要試圖釐清的項目，同時也是每個人生來世上所面臨的課題。

在曲中我使用許多層聲音來表述如此一個內在與外在紛歧的「我」的本體：在整體而言分為三組、多聲部的男聲合唱織體中，以男中音獨誦作為外在的、男高音獨唱作為內在的「我」的主要角色，並各自加入迴聲、延遲等呼應，與合唱共構成獨特而超脫的時空，以呈現如此深入尋求並體悟的過程。我將六字大明咒唱誦發音的聲韻頻譜加以分析，轉化為合唱著色的聲部，並拆解中文歌詞中重要的聲母與韻母，加以延長或重覆等，以求打破梵文經咒、中文語調、語音與聲響、以及音色之間的界限，一切在整體音樂組織中融合，進而展現「無我」、「內在及萬物本為無形」之思想境界。

Program Notes

The Müller Chamber Choir, commissions this work with the text by Alf Li, as one of the works for the ensemble's large project "Oriental Prayers and Wishes".
The text is about seeking to hear and to awaken one's inner voices, through the Sanskrit mantra of Om mani padme hum at the beginning and the end. This abstract idea to me was an extremely challenging process: the repeating words "virtue" (shàn), "evil" (oè), "agony" (kŭ), "ecstasy" (lè) forced me to think into my deeper thoughts and experiences, such as glimpse of beautiful memories, and many wordless sorrow and ferocity. I thought again and again before planning how to musically interpret such profound ideas in this work: what is my mind, what is my role in the time in the mankind world, as well as what is the essence of myself... while these are also topics for everyone.
In this piece I represent an inner and outer conflicting "self" with multilayered voices in generally three groups with divisions. A solo baritone speech and a solo tenor singing reflect the outer aspect and the inner aspect of self, each echoed and responded by the chorus and form such unique aura that unravels the process of seeking and awakening. I analyzed the sound spectrum of the mantra chanting and deconstruct the consonants and vowels in the original Chinese text, color the choral texture, and integrate the Sanskrit mantra, Chinese language, speech, sound, and timbre in a liminal space, as a reflection of "selfless" and "everything is essentially formless".

as though formless inside (2018) for Male Chorus

Chen-Hui Jen is a composer, poet, and pianist, whose music presents an imaginative, spiritual, and poetic space with subtlety and sophistication. She writes music works that reflect an angle of contemporary art music that integrates time, sound, color, and poetry.

as though formless inside (2018) for Male Chorus

Chen-Hui Jen, Composer

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