Written for a solo performer who can vocally and instrumentally imitate various actions of a cat, Pawsitivity is a funny musical and dramatic narrative which showcases the animal’s potential ability to create interesting sounds by using its “meows” (the performer’s voice) and “paws” (the performer’s fingers and palms) with the help of various objects presented in a typical concert venue - piano (keys, strings, lid, bench), clarinet (blowing into the mouthpiece, key clicking) and props (music stand and score paper tapping). With the intention of making the audience laugh and alleviating their pain caused by various recent tragic events in the world (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic, warfare), the composer aims to bring more positivity to this world through the humour in this composition, as implied by the pun of the title.

Special thanks to Professor Larysa Kuzmenko and Professor Gary Kulesha from the University of Toronto, whose 3 pet cats (one of them, Koko, is shown in the thumbnail of this recording) inspired the creation of this composition. Their tutelage as well as co-facilitation of the Arts & Letters Club concert on 4 May 2022 along with Mr. Denis Kulesha, among many professional engagement opportunities that they offered, largely supported the composer in his career development and are greatly appreciated.

Ian Chan Music ©2022
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Pawsitivity

As the national flower of Japan, Sakura (cherry blossom in Japanese) is a symbol of renewal, hope and optimism as its emergence represents the commencement of spring, the first season of a new year. Also, the brief blooming season of Sakura represents the brevity of the human life cycle and the philosophy of treasuring every moment. There are always ups and downs, and our time should be spent on embracing good memories and practising empathy instead of resenting trials and tribulations. These concepts are reflected in the following 3 wakas (a form of short Japanese poems) by 3 different Japanese poets - Ki no Tomonori, Ono no Komachi and Motoori Norinaga - that this music composition is mostly based on:

紀友則 - Ki no Tomonori (Translated by Clay MacCauley)

ひさかたの
光のどけき
春の⽇に
しづ⼼なく
花の散るらむ

Hisakata no
Hikari nodokeki
Haru no hi ni
Shizu kokoro naku
Hana no chiru ra n

In the cheerful light
Of the ever-shining Sun, 
In the days of spring;
Why, with ceaseless, restless haste falls
the cherry's new-blown bloom?

⼩野⼩町 - Ono no Komachi (Translated by Peter McMillan)

花の⾊は
うつりにけりな
いたづらに
わが⾝世にふる
ながめせしまに

Hana no iro wa
Utsuri ni keri na
Itazura ni
Wagami yo ni furu
Nagame seshima ni

I have loved in vain
And now my beauty fades
Like these cherry blossoms
Paling in the long rains of spring
That I gaze upon alone.

本居宣⻑ - Motoori Norinaga (Translated by David Bowles)

しき嶋の
やまとごゝろを
⼈とはゞ
朝⽇にゝほふ
⼭ざくら花

Shikishima no
Yamatogokoro wo
Hito towaba
Asahi ni niou
Yamazakura hana

If someone wonders
How to describe the spirit
Of the Japanese,
Say “mountain cherry blossoms,
Glowing in the morning sun.”

Apart from the exact text of the poems, the title word “sakura” is also frequently reiterated by the mezzo-soprano and baritone parts throughout the music composition with the accompaniment of piano and tape, the latter of which includes processed ambient noises of bird, creek, rain and thunder to enhance the audience’s virtual experience of the nature during their participation in this musical journey.

This composition is premiered during the Hibiki Project (@hibikiproject) virtual recital at 7 pm (EST) on 22 May 2022.

Composer/Producer/Baritone: Ian Chan (@ian_mc_king_i)
Mezzo-Soprano: Chihiro Yasufuku (@chihirosounds)
Piano: Jayne Abe (@jayne.bibi)
Text: Ki no Tomonori, Ono no Komachi, Motoori Norinaga
Image: Grace Qiu (@photographingrace)

Sakura

Here's a remix of "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky Korsakov.


Ian Chan Music ©2018
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Remix of "Flight of the Bumblebee"

Subtitled "Sofia Gubaidulina's 11th Cello Prelude", this composition is designated to be a continuation of the Russian composer's journey on exploring string extended techniques with her cello preludes: apart from conventional practices like portamento, harmonics, sul tasto/ponticello, flautando, col legno and nail pizzicato, there is also a foot-tapping part inspired by the tap dance performances that the composer attended during his youth. In this case, it would be ideal for the cellist to have some knowledge of (or even experience in) tap dance prior to the performance. 

As the title indicates, this scherzo is light-hearted and playful in nature. In this case, there is no such thing as technical errors. All markings in the score are suggestive rather than restrictive, so any discrepancy occurring in the performance is tolerable under the circumstance that the general idea is there. Indeed, the cellist is encouraged to let all mistakes, including the intentional “accident” of hitting the music stand during the bow spinning action in the Vivo section, serve as part of the humour.


Performer:

Cello - Gretchen Lee


Special Thanks:

University of Toronto - Faculty of Music
Audio/Visual Technician - Peter Olsen


Ian Chan Music ©2019
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Scherzo For Solo Cellist

This composition is written in a typical 4-movement classical sonata structure - fast, slow, medium, fast. Allusions to musical works by classical and early Romantic composers, such as Haydn (Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI/50), Mozart (Sonata in A Minor, KV 310), Beethoven ("Pathetique" Sonata, "Moonlight" Sonata, "Waldstein" Sonata, Egmont Overture) and Schumann (Papillons, Op. 2), are featured.


I: Allegro non troppo ma con brio [0:00]
II: Adagio sostenuto [7:23]
III: Allegretto [17:52]
IV: Presto [22:48]


Producer and Photographer: Ian Chan


Ian Chan Music ©2016
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Classical Sonata

Nicknamed "Super Mario Fugue", this electroacoustic composition written for three types of basic sound waves - square, sine, sawtooth - is designated to imitate the style of chiptune music found in the soundtracks of the Super Mario Bros. video game series, with the iconic background white noises intentionally removed so that each voice part can be heard more clearly. Allusions to the theme song, "Into the Tunnel" tune as well as the mushroom and coin jingles are featured. The item box sound effect from the Mario Kart video game series is also quoted near the end. Other notable characteristics of this fugue include the jazzy syncopations, frequent metric shifts as well as the subject's harmonic journey exploring all 24 diatonic keys in the circle of fifths - 12 in major and 12 in minor - along with the dorian, phrygian, lydian and mixolydian modes.


Producer and Graphic Designer: Ian Chan


Ian Chan Music ©2017
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Syncopated Counterpoint ("Super Mario Fugue")

This composition is inspired by a song of a similar title ("Empire of Vampires") by Romanian rock band Transylvania Phoenix, which is based on the story of Dracula, a Gothic horror novel written by Irish author Bram Stoker in 1897.  The following are the lyrics of the song, which suggest the overall mood and imagery of this piece:

Dear friends, whenever my letters will reach you, don't worry:
Although, despite my time, by horrifying tales, 
I was known under the name of Dracula!

But I was different, from what has been told, 
Though I was cruel, bloodthirsty and bold. 
And I was waiting for twenty years, 
Betrayed by my brothers to ease their fears. 

I will break up from here one morning, 
Wishing you by my side. 
Killing them without warning, 
Traitors will loose their lives!
In the darkness of Transylvania,
The howling of terror cries. 
Empire of vampires, 
Who'll be the next to die?

Thrown into the prison, banded with chains,
Living just for vengeance to drink blood from their veins.
On wings of evil, I'm flying away.
Help from the devil is the price I will pay.


Performers:

Conductor - Jeff Wrigglesworth
Unionville High School Wind Ensemble


Special Thanks:

Recording Venue - Flato Markham Theatre
Photo Credit - Dracula (1931)


Ian Chan Music ©2018
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The Empire of Vampires

This set of solo piano variations on the theme of the Canadian national anthem, “O Canada”, was written in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation (1867-2017). The diversity of musical styles (e.g. Baroque, Classicism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Jazz, Tango, Rock, Pop) featured in this transcription signifies the multicultural heritage of the country, while the subtitles assigned for the theme and each of the 15 variations, as listed below, represent various cultural and geographic icons across the 3 territories (Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon) and 10 provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador) of the country: 

Theme - March of the Canadian Military [0:00]
Variation 1 - Nunavut Tundra [0:59]
Variation 2 - Mackenzie River [2:01]
Variation 3 - Klondike Gold Rush [2:55]
Variation 4 - Rocky Mountains [4:21]
Variation 5 - Oil Sand Mines [5:06]
Variation 6 - The Prairies [6:11] 
Variation 7 - The Great Lakes [7:24]
Variation 8 - Niagara Falls [9:58]
Variation 9 - Rideau Canal [10:44]
Variation 10 - St. Lawrence River [11:39]
Variation 11 - Mount Royal [12:45]
Variation 12 - Hopewell Rocks [14:49]
Variation 13 - Confederation Bridge [17:13]
Variation 14 - Peggy’s Cove [20:05]
Variation 15 - Strait of Belle Isle [22:13]

Producer: Ian Chan

Ian Chan Music ©2017
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Variations on the Theme of "O Canada"

This piece for string orchestra was inspired by Duke of Wellington's victory against Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, after which his army rejoiced and celebrated while reminiscing on their journey to success. Coinciding the 205th anniversary of this historical event, I decided to release this remastered recording produced by my high school's string orchestra, under the baton of Larry Beckwith.


Performers:

Conductor - Larry Beckwith
Unionville High School String Orchestra


Special Thanks:

Recording Venue - Unionville High School
Painting Credit - Robert Alexander Hillingford


Ian Chan Music ©2018
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Jubilation

Prelude and Fugue in C Major is the first completed classical composition dating back to 2016, when I was still fourteen years old. Written in parody of the compositional style of Johann Sebastian Bach, one of my first and permanent role models who died 270 years ago, this pieces served as a milestone of my self-taught counterpoint studies (I did not have a composition teacher back then), which predominantly focused on his works. One might realize my melodic, harmonic and rhythmic quotations of his famous Prelude and Fugue in C Major (BWV 846), some of which are quite explicit. In homage to his magnificently crafted Well-Tempered Clavier books, this remastered clavier recording was deliberately tuned in well temperament.


Prelude - 0:00
Fugue - 1:40


Producer and Photographer: Ian Chan


Ian Chan Music ©2016
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Prelude and Fugue in C Major

As implied by the title, which fuses the names of two instruments from different cultures, “guitar” (a plucked string instrument of European origin) and “guzheng” (the Chinese zither), Guizheng is a solo guitar piece which incorporates the performance gesture of both instruments. Featured techniques include but not limited to vibrato, palm muting, strumming, pitch bend, arpeggiated grace notes and accelerated high-register tremolo. In order to create contrast from the ordinary resonant sound of the guitar, this piece also features snap pizzicato sounds, which is extensively used in Hungarian composer Béla Bartok's compositions for bowed strings as well as in double bass parts of jazz music (known as "slapping") from the early 20th century and onwards.

During the “Solemnly” section at the beginning, the guitar should be placed horizontally on the laps of the guitarist, perpendicular to his/her/their body, while he/she/they perform(s) the instructions of the score in the manner of playing a lap steel guitar (therefore “Lap Position”), which resembles to that of playing a guzheng. As for the rest of the piece (i.e. the “Whimsically” section and onwards), the guitarist is allowed to play in the ordinary posture (therefore “Ordinary Position”). As indicated by the caesura markings (//) between the sections, the guitarist is given time to switch between lap and ordinary positions as efficiently as possible.

As for the dashed barlines, which imply the idea of fake measures as opposed to the real measures divided by solid barlines, they are simply there to help the guitarist identify the overall distribution of musical phrases, instead of downbeats and upbeats. This is because the purpose of omitting barlines in the senza misura sections is to let the guitarist, and thus the audience, perceive the musical ideas without thinking about meter. In order to show equal tonal status of all pitches, courtesy accidentals are intentionally applied to every note, instead of every bar, except consecutive ones in the same pitch (i.e. without being separated by a rest or a note of different pitch).

Composer: Ian Chan
Performer: Christian Le

Ian Chan Music ©2020
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Guizheng

Greatest thanks to our COVID-19 frontline workers as well as all participants of this production. Shout out to Victoria Lin for her beautiful cover art design. Please follow and subscribe her YouTube channel if you haven't yet: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbRPTVQVETHNW91ZL4P6a0Q

Composer/Producer:

Ian Chan

Cover Art Designer:

Victoria Lin

Soloists:

Flute - Jordana Kleiner
Oboe - Brenden McFarlane
Trumpet - Natalie Schu

Other Musicians Featured (here only including those with their gratitude speeches presented in the video):

Emma Della Rosa - Flute
Hannah O'Connor - Clarinet
Daniel Savin - Clarinet
Gavin Warren - Bass Clarinet
Eric Belanger - Bassoon
Aeon Wang - Alto Saxophone
Lazar Mirić - Alto Saxophone
Walter Chan - Tenor Saxophone
Daniel Barak  - Trumpet
Jocelyn Chong - French Horn
Charlotte Alexander - French Horn
Ethan Larose - Trombone
Bien Carandang - Trombone
Selena Cai - Euphonium
Umberto Quattrociocchi - Tuba
Hediyeh Khani-Hanjani - Percussion

Ian Chan Music ©2021
All Rights Reserved

Tribute To The Frontline Heroes

Ian Chan
Canadian-Born-Chinese Pianist-Composer
University of Toronto - Music Composition

Ian Mc King I

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