The three-movement musical work intertwines Eastern poetic introspection with Western concerto form to reflect the philosophical themes of endurance and hope.
Performance details
World Premiere: July 29, 2012 at The Concourse in Chatswood (Recorded live)
Performed by: William Chen, piano, and The Sydney Youth Orchestra
Conducted by: Max McBride
Sound Engineer: Jayson McBride
Commissioned by: Fine Music 102.5 FM Radio Sydney and East Radio Shanghai, China
Notes
The concerto was commissioned by Fine Music FM and Shanghai Radio to promote cross-cultural music exchange between Australia and China.
The work is inspired by one of my favorite poems, Han Yu’s The Withered Tree:
Not a twig, not a leaf on the old tree,
wind and frost harm it no more.
A man could pass through the hole in its belly,
ants crawl searching under its peeling bark.
Its only lodger, the toadstool which dies in a morning,
the birds no longer visit in the twilight.
But its wood can still spark tinder.
It does not care yet to be only the void at its heart.
Translated by A. C Graham “Poems of the late T’ang” 1965
The poem is an allegory of life – we all end in old age, sometimes in despair and disappointment. But like the tree trunk, every-one and everything holds also the beginnings of new life – the wood of the dead tree can still spark fire, a symbol of love and creative energy. The poem says that our lives, even when over, have not been nothing – they have significance for those who come afterwards.
The First Movement evokes the withered tree in the mist of a cold winter night. The music is quiet, lonely and sad. Then warlike music is heard, recalling conflict which, perhaps, has brought about the destruction of the tree. There is a moment of calm but suggestions of destruction recur and the Movement ends in desolation.
In the Second movement, imagine the old tree in the clear moonlight of a summer’s evening, with the water of a little stream murmuring nearby – all is solitude and peace. Memories of conflict return briefly but they soon evaporate; all is calm again.
The Third Movement affirms the unquenchable fire of the human spirit, just as the wood of the old tree creates the fire of new life. The music is full of joy and energy and the concerto ends in great excitement.