Tuesday Night New Music: Josifoski, Hayden, Li, Wang, Zhong, Bettany, Shi, Carroll, & Ha

Kristian Josifoski | seven movements for flutes (2021)

ebb and flow
ascension/convergence
hypnotic jerk
i talk to the wind
rechenitsa
surfacesweep
like tears in the rain

Cameron Hayden | Fantasy for Unaccompanied Piccolo (2021)

Program note

Written in late 2021 for my friend—the performer tonight—this piece for solo piccolo, running at around 7 minutes in length, plays to the natural beauty of the instrument’s lyrical quality while also exploring its potential for extreme intensity. These ideas lend themselves readily to the pieces rather simple form, allowing the instrument to display a wide array of distinct textures and timbres despite playing alone.                                                                   
– Cameron Hayden

Pengyi Li | Anti-rhythm II: Explore "Yi Meng" (2021)

Program note

This is the second work of the Anti-rhythm series. The concept of “anti-rhythm” stems from the fact that the duration interval between two heartbeats while breathing is never the same. In spoken language, each word has different accents and lengths. Nature suggests to us that real rhythm does not entail a mechanical repetition of equal durations, but it follows a more complicated pattern of development.
       In the second work of the Anti-rhythm series, I am reimagining the material of the folk song Yi Meng from the Shandong province through the concept of the “散板 (Scattered)”. The “散板" indicates that there is no fixed beat or sectional divisions in the piece. Moreover, in the selection of rhythm, unconventional rhythms such as triplets and quintuplets are used throughout the entire work.
        The structure of the piece is in three concentric cycles and coda. The entire Yi Meng folk song has a total of six pitches, namely:

        B E C# A F# G#

The arrangement of the complement corresponds to the contour of the initial six pitches of the folk song, but differs in terms of its interval structure:

        D G F C Bb Eb

In this way, the twelve notes are divided into two groups, and the pitch of each group will appear in the same order as above in this piece.

Bring the above into the structure of this piece: (The pitch and order appearing in each cycle.)

        Cycle one:
        B E C#
        D G F

       Cycle two:
        B E C# A
        D G F C
Cycle three:
        B E C# A F# G#
        D G F C Bb Eb

Coda: all 12 tones

– Pengyi Li

Jiaqi Wang | Declaring War on Oneself (2021)

Adversity
Self-Reflection in Struggle
Bravely Declaring War on Oneself

Program note

The hardships of the external world lead to inner loss, struggle, and pain. These traits make us feel hopeless. However, hardships enable us to reflect and explore the true meaning of life. The biggest enemy is not others, but ourselves. Our flaws are ingrained into our minds. If we do not understand and conquer them, we will not have freedom and eternal bliss. To declare war on oneself is the most important battle in life. By bravely declaring war on yourself, you will experience a multitude of life lessons such as humility, diligence, and wisdom. This piece is written in three movements. The first movement, Adversity, evokes pain in our lives by using "pitch set theory" to create dark harmonic colors and textures. The melodic ideas repeat for several times and ultimately reach the climax. The passage ends with a viola solo depicting the feeling of helplessness. In the second movement, Self-Reflection in Struggle, lively rhythms portray the helplessness that people feel when experiencing pain, sadness, etc... They begin to ponder and overcome their own battles. The third movement. Bravely Declaring War on Oneself, starts out with a pure, warm melody. It reflects one's heart becoming purer. With several contrapuntal ideas, the music finally reaches the climax where ideas from the second movement reappear. "Clusters” intensify the overall mood. They depict people overcoming and bravely declaring war on themselves!                                                                         
–Jiaqi Wang

Shiwen Zhong | Blue Sky (2021)

Program note

The blue sky always gives people an enjoyable time, and "blue" here symbolizes pure and clean scenery. Let this scenery bless us to get eternal and warm energy, full of good luck!
–Shiwen Zhong

Stellan Connelly Bettany | Sun and Fun (2021)

This piece is set to the poem Sun and Fun by John Betjeman (1906-1984).

Aria Shi | Music for Two Pianos (2019)

Fugato - Fugue Incomplete
March funèbre
Agitato

Marie Carroll | Untitled (2022)

Changjin Ha | Romance I for solo soprano and electronics (2022)

Program note

Love is surprisingly much uglier than what we wish it to be. “The deepest form of despair is to choose to be another than himself.” (Søren Kierkegaard)