1/19/25 Concert Program Notes
Toru Takemitsu Elegy
"Hika" is the Japanese word for "elegy," and this piece's tone is sorrowful, with sudden bursts of dramatic emotion. The use of held tones and large skips in register gives the work a hint of romanticism.
The violin and piano begin together with wide-ranging gestures played quietly, the piano forming a shadowy harmonic background (with complex pedaling). Every once in a while, a single tone or cluster will punctuate the texture and immediately be absorbed back into it. An odd high passage of cycling triplets in the high register of the piano leads into an extended unaccompanied violin section with delicate harmonics, fluttering tremolos, and punctuated prose-like staccatos. The beginning is recapitulated, only slightly modified. The briefly pulsing ending leaves us hanging, more like a doubt half-expressed than an unanswered question.
Dmitri Shostakovich Violin Sonata op.134
It is a known fact that Dmitri Shostakovich worked under extreme pressure during the Soviet regime under Stalin. Although he faced a denunciation after the performance of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, he found a way to disguise the real message in his music then and managed to return to favor through his fifth symphony. Composing under constant surveillance, Shostakovich was able to write music he believed in while satisfying the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. However, it is unimaginable what kind of fear and terror he constantly confronted and fought during his life. There was no clear evidence that Shostakovich had any mental disorders until his later years. Still, the strength he displayed to survive under the extreme pressure of his time is an exemplary example of a man pushed to his limits.
In the book “How Shostakovich Changed My Mind,” BBC music broadcaster Stephen Johnson talks about the power of Shostakovich’s music during Stalin’s reign of terror and how it has an extraordinary healing effect on sufferers of mental illness. Johnson examines neurological, psychotherapeutic, and philosophical findings and reflects on his own experiences, believing that Shostakovich’s music helped him survive the trials and challenges of bipolar disorder. In this program, we present his only violin sonata, Op. 134, one of his later works written years after Stalin’s death as a birthday gift to
the great violinist David Oistrakh. It has all the characteristics of Shostakovich’s idiomatic musical style. The sonata is cast in three contrasting movements originally titled Pastorale, Allegro Furioso, and Variations on a Theme; however, the published editions only use Roman numerals.
Shiuan Chang Songs of Dunren
I. One More Good Day
II. Cantabile Andante
III. To the Solitary Wanderer
IV. Farewell
VII. Theater on the BEDs
These five pieces are selected from Songs of Dun Ren, a 56-minute violin-piano duo commissioned by Dunren Hospital and its founder, Yen-Chung Hu. This musical collection accompanies patients through daily routines—from morning wake-up, breakfast, and exercise to taking medication, having lunch, resting, and eventually drifting to sleep—replacing the hospital’s traditional verbal and bell sound announcements. Songs of Dun Ren reaches out especially to those who have experienced trauma or difficult times, offering comfort and a sense of accompaniment. For Shiuan Chang, the project became a transformative personal journey: a year ago, he endured a severe panic attack that disrupted his autonomic nervous system. The compositions are the honest documentation of his inner dialogue and ongoing selfreconstruction.
One More Good Day (violin
piano duo)
On many nights, I am plagued by autonomic nervous system disorders and sluggish movements, with roaring tinnitus, a sensation of foreign objects in the neck, frequent belching and bloating, palpitations, compulsive breathing, irritable bowel, prostatitis, and various other symptoms, whether individually or in tandem, they come one after another. Sitting at my desk composing, I always tell myself: “‘One More Good Day.’ It is another beautiful day. I wonder how the friends at Dun Ren Hospital view each of their tomorrows?”
The entire piece is crafted in a style reminiscent of impressionist music, revolving
around and developing the piano melody that emerges around 1 minute and 50 seconds into the composition. Each preceding phrase before the main melody ambiguously questions it: “Were you like this before?” Each subsequent phrase after it hazily self-inquires: “Could this be my future appearance?” The octave main melody on the piano reappears until the ending, accompanied by a simple violin pizzicato, declaring: “So, this was how I looked as a child; it is all from my childhood.”
Cantabile Andante (violin piano duo)
The structure is a simple A-B-C-A format, styled in the romantic tradition. The melody is akin to a velvety, fluctuating warmth throughout. The B and C sections in the middle are like a little waltz, with musical materials derived and transformed from the main theme and motifs of the A section.
Farewell (violin-piano duo)
One evening, after a long period of meditation, I finally found peace with dysautonomia and various complications. I gently said to them, “Dear ones, you may depart now.”
This piece is extremely slow, with a quarter note = 24, likening the experience to a slow heartbeat with 24 beats per minute. The music begins with the marking of “Dense Fog,” prompting musicians to imagine slowly progressing through the mist. The following piano solo section is marked with “Crystal of Fog,” hoping pianists to depict the crystalline state of fog purely through tone and color. Before the ending, I marked “Fog Burning,” representing the climax of the violin and piano duet, paying homage to Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time,” a work that profoundly influenced me. Throughout the piece, the piano’s progression is primarily in groups of sixteenth notes, as though treading with resolute steps, forging ahead into the boundless mist where the hand’s reach fades into obscurity.
To The Joyful Solitary Wanderer (violin piano duo)
“The essence of this composition perfectly embodies Dr. Hu’s elegance!” Yung-Feng remarked, thus naming it "To The Joyful Solitary Wanderer." While halfway through composing this piece, I discovered that the melodic motif of another nursery rhyme,
"Daydreaming I," is actually an inversion of the musical gesture in "To The Joyful Solitary Wanderer," and the musical materials complement each other perfectly. Therefore, I decided to merge the two pieces. The melody of the music draws inspiration from old Taiwanese songs and nursery rhymes. I imagine a solitary entertainer dancing in the alleyways of Paris, gracefully stepping on raindrops.
Theater on the BEDs (violin-piano
duo)
Before drifting to sleep without meditation, my mind often wanders aimlessly upon the bed. I ponder, what dreams do my fellow patients entertain before slumber? Do they, like me, stage a nightly theater with changing scenes?
This composition is my first approach to minimalism, woven delicately around three notes: B (si), E (mi), and D (re). Though I have no formal study of minimalist music, its essence lies in the subtle shifts of sound weight between each repeated interval, giving rise to a sense of weightless beauty.