Name: Unfolding Diptych by Stephen Yip
Duration: 8 min 13 s
Description: Performed by Hong Kong Philharmonic members

The Garden of Dawn II (2020, 2022 rev.) for flute, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano and percussion

This piece was inspired by the aesthetic concept of traditional oriental garden, borrowed scenery “shakkei”.  This idea is not only simply nature, nor man-made self-created; it is sense of beauty, the reverence of the nature and the perfection of the artistic creation and balance.

The presence of the scenery objects to be captured alive as designed sonic sounds and landscapes.  Composers attempted to create different single organic materials as scenery objects.  This piece, “The Garden of Dawn” is an imaginary and fantastic piece, which provides listener, a certain time and space find all various harmony and balance in the sonic landscape work. 

The changing of the tone color may transit slowly through multiple dimensions as like a window of transition in the perception of external and internal space.  This idea allows transform and superimposes different sonority elements to one another.

230607-Slee Sinfonietta

Garden of Dawn II

Performed by Hong Kong Philharmonic members

Unfolding Diptych

By Moonflowers (2022) for 2 violins, viola and cello

The title and idea of this piece was inspired from Bashõ’s five original haiku and it was the first section (short movement) of the composer’s previous piece, “Renga in Kigo” in the Bashõ’s haiku series. In this piece, it was like a magnification of the short movement of the previous work and showing more details.

by moonflowers
a fascinating body
floats absent-mindedly (1662-74)

The Moonflower is a symbol of Blossoming in the Dark. It was also appears as one of the main female characters, named “Renka (evening face)” in a Japanese novel, “the Tale of Genji” who encountered and dated with the male main character, Hikaru Genji during the night time.

The entire piece is generally atmospheric, descriptive and sensational in an abstract and imaginative way. The Zen idea of the sound design in this piece depicts to the nature. Bring the simple mind, calm and tranquility effect; and giving a special mental state of solitude soul. Finding the relationship between human, earth and heaven, could be the balance of the natural beauty. The changing of the tone color may transit slowly through multiple dimensions as like a window of transition in the perception of external and internal space. This idea allows transform and superimposes different sonority elements to one another.

By moonflowers for string quartet

Sempre Invictus (2023) for flute, bass clarinet, sheng, pipa, piano, 2 violins, viola, and cello

This piece was commissioned by the Hong Kong Composer’s Guild for its 40th anniversary and dedicated to NOVA ensemble. 

Note....
Always forward, always open, always faithful, always invincible, always free
Always more, always greater, always prepared, always vigilant, always in need of being reformed in the spirit

sempre Invictus

Passing Through the Seasons (2019) for alto saxophone and piano

This duet piece was written for alto saxophone and piano. Composer would like to describe different scenes of nature and the beauty of substance. In the passing through the seasons, different kinds of flowers and plants appear in its various states of sophistication. The enjoyment and the appreciation of changing cycle in the time period are essential components and perceptions. All constituents in the universal are impermanent.

In this piece, composer attempted to expose musical sound in an organic manner and as if to imitate the natural sonority and to accept or appreciate the inevitable cosmic order. The perceptible progress is being minimized. This musical composition explores its tone color in slow and subtle. The spotlight on the resonance movement is more important than the development. In other words, it is a display item of designed sound in different significant time.

Passing through the seasons

Performed by ensemble Sound Icon 

In one of the Chinese cultural heritages, “lunar calendar”, each month has its own particular name and meaning, which allows providing more literary and elegant. Most of the designations and significances are quite related to nature. In the fourth month of the lunar year was called “early summer” and “blossom month”. It has been described into two Chinese synonyms: the first one 清 means: clear, distinct or pure, and the second one 和 means: soft, warm, peace, harmony or union. Composer employed these two literally words: 《清 . 和》as the title of this piece.
Tranquility in Consonance is a place where to find and collect the most natural sound and of their own original or primitive manner. In this single movement piece, it conjures a new sonic environment, of natural airy tones, percussive piano plucking, free sliding tone and some harmonic voice to capture the beauty of nature. Meanwhile, the music unfolds at more than one voice simultaneously, the interactive of each voice creates its own character and somehow the contrast of the sound is related to each other and was mingled gently with a coalition. Repeating musical gestures and passages were mentioned, always transitory, within a process of continuous change in color and tone, in which to demonstrate the changing of the season and time.

很久以前東方文化中已把四季，十二月份等天然時節很細緻地描繪出個中的特色。十二月份中的四月稱為「清和」，大概是
「立夏」之初的節氣與清明春雨和順之間中的美態。中國文化中的不同漢字組合和變化往往可以進入觸不到的的意境。作曲
家借揚雄的作品「劇秦美新」中「鏡純粹之至精，聆清和之正聲」把清和解作「清越和諧」。
曲中主要以簡單清新的音節，淡然優雅的氣象和韻律，以不同的自然發聲演奏技巧中描繪出一幅富於時象氣節的聲、響圖。

Tranquility in consonance II(live)

Stephen Yip’s music have been described as post-modernist in style, with Asian roots, gives the inner colors of an advanced spatial sense…….
Yip was born in Hong Kong and now living in U.S.A. He received his doctor of musical arts (D.M.A.) at Rice University and bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.) at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, studied with Law Wing-fai, Clarence Mak, and Arthur Gottschalk. He has attended major music festivals including: Wellesley Composers Conference, Aspen Music Festival, Asian Composers’ League, ISCM World Music Days, Chinese Composers’ Festival, IMPULS Ensemble Akademie, Luxembourg, the International Summer Course for New Music, Darmstadt, Germany, Wellesley Composers’ Conference. Residencies include: the Atlantic Centre for the Arts, Yaddo Colony and MacDowell Colony.
Yip’s works have been performed in the Asia, Europe and America. He has received several composition prizes, included “Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award”, “Taiwan Music Center International Composition Prize”, “Robert Avalon International Prize”, “Singapore International Composition Competition for Chinese Orchestra”, the ALEA III composition Competition, and the 2010 Alvarez Chamber Orchestra Freestyle Composition Competition, London, England. His works are recorded in the ERM-Media, PARMA, Capstone, North South recording, Ablaze records, ATMA Classique, and Beauport Classical labels.
Yip is a member of the SCI, NACUSA, and ASCAP. Currently, he is on the music faculty at Houston Community College and works as a freelance composer.  More information: www.stephen-yip.com

Unfolding Diptych

Stephen Yip

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