Le Sillage (2020)
| Instrumentation | Flute |
| Duration | 7″00 |
| Commission/ Written for | Written for ‘Composer at Quarantine’ concert hosted by New England Conservatory Composition Department. |
| First Performance | April 20th 2020, Online Concert. Given by Flutist XiaoYu Lin. |
Program Note:
Le Sillage is a French word meaning the trace left behind after the departure or death of a human being or other other creatures. During this pandemic, I realize how fragile the life really is. No matter where, when, or who, we are eventually going to fade away from the world we are living in. Only some traces could signal that we ever existed on this world.
The use of air in this piece is to imitate the pneuma or breathe of our trace and our soul. I incorporate many extended technique which I borrow from Chinese bamboo flute and Japanese Shakuhachi.
Mazurka (2020)
| Instrumentation | piano |
| Duration | 5″00 |
| Commission/ Written for | Written for ‘Mazurka’ project hosted by New England Conservatory Composition Department and Professor Victor Rosenbaum |
| First Performance | May 5th 2020, Online Concert. Given by Pianist Leslie Wang. |
Program Note:
A mazurka is a Polish dance named for the Mazovia region: in a triple meter, it moves the accent to the second or third beat, like a waltz with a hitch in the middle. This music genre has its distinctive character which is not easy to combine with contemporary music language. In order to create music in this genre, I keep many mazurka elements such as the ostinato of gathering energy and the accent pattern etc. On top of that, the piece incorporates many triplets , quintuples and syncopation to break the pattern to gain more excitements and its unique ungraspable character. In term of pitch, the process of widening intervals appears through out many sections of the piece starting from minor third to major 7th. From quiet to boisterous, low register to high, the piece also dedicate to explore all possible sound effects which can be performed on the piano.
Faded (2019)
| Formation | Piano |
| Duration | 7″00 |
| Commission/ Written for | Written for Prelude Premiere Project at New England Conservatory. A collaboration the piano studio of Victor Rosenbaum and the Composition Department, Michel Gandolfi, chair |
| First Performance | April 25th, New England Conservatory Williams Hall. Boston, MA. Given by Pianist Karissa Huang. |
score : https://issuu.com/bianyuchen.composer/docs/piano_preludes_-_faded
Program Note:
In this piano prelude I express my great sorrow about the upheaval of the air quality on our planet. Considering how great our greed is, the problem of air pollution will only planet more and more disturbing and terrifying. It is a pathetic thing to see your beautiful hometown gradually lose its fresh air and become a place where you would not like to go back anymore. It evokes my memory of an ancient Chinese poem which depicts the plaintive picture of seeing a glamorous flower gradually falling and fading away, so this piece is also a requiem for fresh air.
In this work I incorporate lots of elements from traditional Chinese culture. The use of the strings inside the piano is an imitation of the playing technique of the traditional Chinese instrument GUQIN, akin to a Chinese auto harp. The chords with accent are an imitation of the moment in Chinese cursive calligraphy when the ink drops into the water and spreads out, while the free repetition of notes in random order imitates the sporadic gestures of this this writing style.
This piece is written for the Prelude Premiere Project Concert
Presented by students from Prof. Victor Rosenbaum’s studio and composition department of NEC
The first performance is given by Karissa Huang on April 28, 2019 in NEC Williams Hall
Mirage (2018)
| Formation | Bassoon solo |
| Duration | 10”00 |
| Commission / Written for | written for Tuesday Night New Music concert at New England Conservatory |
| Premiere | December, 11,2018. New England Conservatory Pierce Hall.Boston, MA. Given by bassoonist Chaoyang Jing. |
score:https://issuu.com/bianyuchen.composer/docs/mirage-for_bassoon_solo
Performance Note:
This piece is in three movements and is eight minutes in duration. Each movement depicts a picture of the spiritual ritual of Shamanism which can also be considered as a type of mirage. I choose to borrow from the style of folk music which is a crucial part of the culture of Shamanism . Elements like melody, rhythm and the contrast of different registers really make the piece sound primitive.
This piece is inspired by a religion called Shamanism which is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with what they believe to be a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world.
Shamans claim to gain knowledge and the power to heal or control the weather by entering into the spiritual world or dimension. Most shamans have dreams or visions that convey certain messages which I believe are equal to mirages which we can see in the desert. They seem so beautiful and precious but after all, they are delusions which we can not achieve or touch. Shamans make every normal person believe they can obtain the power which can change or even reverse their state , circumstance , or even destiny, which is the reason why there are many people obsess with it, with their delusions, and with the mirages they see when they feel desperate.
The first performance was given by Chaoyang Jing
on December 11, 2018 at NewEngland Conservatory Pierce Hall
Duration : ca. 9.30 minutes
Yuchen Bian 