Fantasia on the Theme of Plum Blossoms
梅花操的迴響

for String Quartet & String Orchestra (2011), ca. 18’ 30”



I. Fantasia

II. Ten Thousand Blooms

III. Plum Blossoms

The musical material of this piece is loosely derived from a popular Nankuan melody, Plum Blossoms. Nankuan, a traditional style of southern Chinese/Taiwanese music, dates back to Han and Tang Dynasty. This melody serves as a basis for all three movements. In the fantasia like first movement, the Nankuan melody is first subtly introduced in a fragmented and motivic way. By the end of movement, a longer continuous melody appears. The second scherzo- like movement takes the faster and active passages from the first movement as a basis for playful and energetic music. The rich and elegant Nankuan melody is most apparent in the lyrical, contrapuntal final movement. The original version of this piece was written for string quartet. It was adapted for orchestra at the request of Wu, Ting- Yuh, principal violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan, and was premiered by the group in June, 2012.

I. 暗香疏影

II. 萬花競放

III. 釀雪爭春

<梅花操的迴響>取材於南管曲──「梅花操」,並運用於所有三個樂章。 第一樂章──「幻想曲」,只有動機點綴、輕輕暗示;第二樂章──則由相同的動 機俏皮、充滿活力的形容「萬花競放」;而情韻深遠的「梅花操」旋律要等到最後 ──第三樂章才會猶如「釀雪爭春」般優雅呈現。