Yan Yue (b. 1997): Monolith III
for prepared erhu

AIR Contemporary Music Collective, ensemble

Zitong Wang, erhu

World premiere recording
2021 New Works Concert
Jan. 9, 2021; 77 Theatre, Beijing

AIR Contemporary Music Collective
Founders: Yan Yue, Zitong Wang
Artistic directors: Yan Yue, Haotian Yu, Erqing Wang
Principal conductor: Jinyu Shen

Stage director: Zhuangzhuang An
Technical director: Charlene Feng
Videography: Bingcheng Zhu, Xiaochi, Shiheng Zhang
Editing: Zezhong Yang
Recording: Desen Jiao
Sponsor: 北京当代欣乐团有限公司
Venue provided by: 北京东方道朴文化资产运营管理有限公司
Graphic design: Chong Wang

Monolith III (2021) -- for prepared erhu solo

Homage to Zhang Daqian.

Premiered on June 7th, 2018, at Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China.
Qin: Xuemeng Wu
Recording: Desen Jiao

Monolith II--for qin and live electronics(2018)

Instrumentation: Chinese bamboo flute, chromatic sheng, retuned qin, retuned zheng, retuned pipa, huqin (erhu/banhu), Percussions, piano, violin, cello.

Premiered by AIR Contemporary Music Collective at Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China on July 6th, 2019.

Vestige of Cartography (2019)--for mixed chamber ensemble

"Moderato Arioso" (2018)--for prepared piano and assistant

(air)ii "尸(shi)" (2017-18)--for solo flute and live electronics

the crowd is a forest, program notes: 

“…out on the street, the crowd
is a forest on a giant billboard
as silence roars
I see the needle edge along
growth rings in a tree trunk
and slide toward the core”

—Bei Dao, Whet the Knife

Members of the ensemble are connected to each other in various ways: sometimes certain gestures in the music trigger reactions; sometimes performers imitate or recall materials by memory; sometimes subgroups compete with each other, trying to occupy the foreground of the music...I attempt to incorporate such interactions to create an “eco-environment” which has a constantly shifting climate—the environment moves from equilibrium to imbalance, ultimately collapsing into singularity.

Premiered by OSSIA, Eastman School of Music

Leo Matsuoka, violin
Zachery Litchfield, cello
Ariel Walton, bass
Russel Ward, baritone saxophone
Nick Morandi, bass clarinet
Sam Masters, trumpet
Yuyang Xie, piano
Elise Liu and Andrew Lauler, percussion
Reilly Spitzfaden and Darren Huang, amplification
Daniel Brottman, Conductor

the crowd is a forest(2020)--for 9 players and conductor

I write ritual music which engages with ancient artistic expressions—especially with ancient traditions and material cultures as relics, fractured by history. I create highly gestural music which juxtaposes human behaviors from cultures spanning the millennia.

Yan Yue

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