Paper Boat for Mezzo-Soprano and Cello (2016) is a setting of (Bingxin) Wanying Xie's 1923 poem by the same title. She wrote the poem while traveling from China to France for studies. Windblown, facing the sea, Bingxin could not help missing her home, and explored her uncertainty about the unknown of loneliness through the poem. Like Bingxin, I live a great distance from my family as well and kind of understand her feeling, which is a reason why I wrote this music. Another reason is that Bingxin’s literature accompanied my childhood and I really admired her. This piece is what I contribute (consecrate) to this talented poet, with G minor conveying sadness, the voice expressing the missing for home, and the accompanying cello acting as the sea, unpredictable, yet always moving.

Yang Didan