Confession (piano solo)

The piece is composed of realistic sound recordings from daily life in the burning summer—bike wheels and heavy running footsteps on the tarred road, the song of cicadas, kicking dried leaves, old upright piano, etc. Moreover, there are some instrumental parts along with the recording sounds to strengthen the emotion—irritable and moody feelings from the scorching working environment. At the end of the piece, the protagonist who is tormented by the weather, after playing some dissonance improvisation passage, finally gets released by covering the upright piano, then drinking water, and turning on the air conditioner. In my view, real sounds could symbolize the living very directly, but music would assist them to become more vivid. The composition's purpose is to combine and organize realistic sounds and music ideas together to create a “sound drama” with some interesting effects and specific emotions.

The Hot Summer

在音樂中，三拍子韻律為象徵戀愛(Love)的基底與開端，鋼琴的雙音與些許五聲音階的色彩遍佈其中，但片中的狡猾管家或是傳統輿論及束縛則是如影隨形，不和諧的音程與類似小調的色彩即在前中段後出現，直到最終女主角義務(Duty)已盡，樂曲回歸為變異後的「理性」鋼琴聲響；除了鋼琴音的變異，另一個電子聲響為高頻率的延長鈴聲，出現於男女主角見面之前、家管開門時及兩人私奔之前，此象徵理性的思考與情感的收斂。最後，在幾段中使用到的特別聲響是「紙張」撕裂、揉捏及「疾筆振書」寫字的錄音，使用此聲響的靈感來自片中常有書信來往的段落（片頭先出現了紙張摩擦聲），尤其在私奔前女主角寫下告別之言時，其中字裡行間的濃烈不捨與掙扎感，即以疾筆陣書的摩擦聲與速度感來呈現；另外於女主角與親生兒女重逢之時，其又喜又悲的矛盾心情也以紙張揉捏聲來表達之，最終，則為「紙張撕裂」的聲響為句點，亦希望將之隱喻為「破除」傳統舊派不合理、不必要的成見、限制與枷鎖。


This recording is played by the composer, Jui-Ying (Raying) Huang

Love And Duty (2020)-Piano solo

Steps within Gaps was inspired by the meters and physical image of soldiers marching. This is a concert march for piano, which transforms traditional march patterns by using unusual ‘gaps’: silences, harmonic changes, and left -right pedalling to create unique patterns. This process is designed for the pianist to create the allusion of ‘marching’ between different ‘spaces’ and produce a new format which lies beyond the traditional military march discipline.

During the compositional process, the composer collaborated with a choreographer, Chi-Hsuan Lin, who used the new march materials to create a special dance work for three dancers based on the composer’s background and military training experience.

The piano work can be performed as a solo work or with dance choreographed by Lin.

The first-take recording is played by Chun-He Yu.

Steps within Gaps (2024)

The piece, March Militaire, I wrote, is not for the military, but to ask a key question:
Can we reimagine the dynamic between freedom and discipline— not just within the military, but in music itself?
The work is not intended for military, marching, or heroic commemorative use; rather, it explores the rhythmic elements of military tradition, specifically number counting, used by soldiers to synchronise and structure marching formations, aiming to transform them into more abstract and artistic compositional materials.
Rather than reinforcing regularity, the counting voice is reimagined as a site of sonic interference—where beats, silences, anacruses, downbeats, articulations, and pauses are exposed, disrupted, or restructured. This process reframes the military cadence not as a symbol of order, but as a medium for questioning and redistributing rhythmic authority.
The piece (beginning) includes the original military counting cadence, indicating ‘1-,2-,3-,4-, 1,2,3,4,12 3-,4 ‘ (the short one is ‘1,2,3,4,12 3-,4 ‘), which is the primary material of the work.


Premiered by Red Note Ensemble and recorded at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, January 2025

March 'Militaire' (2024) (for clarinet, snare drum/voice and cello)

 March Etude no.2 is designed without time signatures and bar lines; somehow, such ‘freedom’ is not presented in its absence of meters, changing speeds and timbres of the cello but produced by the smartness and endurance that the performer should notice and execute the ‘signals’ of duration and times of repetition, pauses and change of bowing very carefully and rigidly, to interpret the’ flexible-stretchable body’ of the whole structure of the march, departing from a long note in the beginning.  

March Etude No.2 for cello

Drawing from military pulse—the whole band as a gradual heartbeat—I reflect on how loyalty and nationhood persist across distance. The work evokes the desolate atmosphere of an emotional state shaped by the tension of resilience, solitude, and remaining loyal and loving toward the homeland. 

The work can be divided into four parts:

I. Heaven's Mercy
II. The Misty Forest
III. The Pulse
IV. Taking Root


Premiered by the Taiwan MND Wind Band, at the National Concert Hall, Taipei, March 2025

家在「渺邈」之處……一群無法回家的人，會懷有怎樣的心境？同樣地，對於無法返鄉歸國的軍人而言，他們心中的「國家」將會是什麼模樣？又能以哪些方式繼續存在於他們心中？
作曲者將孤軍孤勇心志聯想為人體脈搏（Pulse）生命根本節奏，其隨人類誕生、進化已有數十萬年，也早已經融入日常，以至於我們常忽視其重要性。而軍樂中最重要的曲式—「進行曲」，其中「鼓點」（通常以大鼓、低音樂器演奏呈現）在西洋音樂中稱之為Pulse，與生理脈搏恰有極度相似之處—深埋於進行曲之中，少了低音鼓點，即如人體少了心臟幫浦，作曲者將脈搏（鼓點）譬喻孤軍超越生理性與地理性的忠誠之心：一（地理性）是探討那身處異國，依然未減忠貞之愛國情懷；二（生理性）為孤軍在孤立無援、無法如願返國的困境下，如何重建如「家」的歸屬感？他們雖身處異鄉，卻仍心繫國家，無形中已將此意念轉化為「脈搏」般的生存本能，在異鄉家園更是遍佈中華民國國旗、高唱國歌。藉此，我們不禁反思，對於早已安然落根的我們，「國家」或「家」的本質為何？或者，「國家」（家園）還可以哪種方式成形、甚至永存？
 此曲將管樂器氣音、顫音、不穩定泛音等技巧合成為抽象音景、濃縮為脈動節奏，以重現、詮釋當天「天憫烈士」大雨滂沱、淼淼煙霧之情境，敘述孤軍在戰後如何安家及「定義」他們獨有的－孤獨、渺邈，逐漸凝聚自成「脈搏」步伐的堅毅情操。

樂曲結構如下：
I.	天憫：木管齊鳴哀語、吹奏者的氣息與白噪音交織成群，彷彿上天憐憫孤軍過往的艱辛歲月。天淚雨落，伴隨他們回返魂牽夢縈的故鄉。
II.	霧林：籠罩著迷霧的叢林（氣音及顫音），是孤軍奮戰的起點，也是命運的轉折之地。這裡既見證了悲劇，也蘊藏著重新燃起的希望。
III.	脈動：「天憫」動機重現，重複的五聲音階音型、調性色彩及拍點的不定切換，與「休止符累加（減）法」組織變化而成的鼓點緊密交會，從中孕育出強而有力的「脈搏」與生命韌性。
IV.	落根：葉落未能歸根，卻於異鄉扎下根基。新舊脈搏交織成群，心繫根源，脈息永續。

由中華民國國防部示範樂隊管樂團，國家音樂廳（台北），2025 年3月 首演

渺邈 The Missing Pulse, 2025 (for Wind Ensemble)

The piece can be divided into four sections:

I. Mourning Bell after the War

II. Remains still the Spirit of Veteran

III. Ode to Peace

IV. The Bell of Peace

The Bell of PIece for orchestra, 和平之鐘 (2023)

Tension with QUIVERS, between the sea and land. An improvisation piece before/while walking on the Isle of Wight. I felt that they might be a perfect trio in a multi-dimensional way...
There would be a marching order, paired with freedom within it...I live between the cello and the piano. I shall play with them, underneath the 'wild people sea'.

在前往懷特島前（英國南方外島），我不免將進行曲節奏、海浪聲、與大提琴的高音泛音彼此自由開放地聆聽、對話。在如此線性、非線性層面多維互動中，自由與控制之間的張力不斷顫動。到了懷特島，如此的即興樂段卻彷彿預示了島上風光聲景。面對海洋的如此時而愜意、時而冷冽的微風，我仍不忘當初「夾縫中求自由」，這樣緊張、也可輕鬆的韌性似乎綻放以往不同的生命力及脈動。

Quivers (for Cello, Piano and Sea Ambience), 2025

If the ensemble were compared to an 'engine' then each performer is a vital piece needed to make the whole machine work. It begins with unstable rhythms that gradually combine and extend to create a smooth, continuous motion. There are ‘gear changes’ and moments of irregularity, but these are always overcome by the forward momentum of the lines, which imitate and respond to each other.

Premiered by The String Orchestra of Countess of Edinburgh (DESO), at the Guards' Chapel, London, UK, April 2024

A Fluid Engine (for string orchestra, 2024)

還沒看過電影
聽身旁的人哼哼唱唱
念著微虐的歌詞，在抑揚頓挫之間
旋律與歌詞的緊密結合，不自覺已被深深洗腦

每彈幾句，心中就痛了幾分
最後用鋼琴唱完這首歌時
時間也不知不覺過了6分半....

Raying Huang

Pinned to spotlight

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