The piece is dedicated to Johnson Ho. Special thanks to Vince Meyer who provides inspirations and making the audio.

Details of this movement is posted in Young Composers Forum:
[ Ссылка ]

The piece is inspired by Chinese philosopher Tang Chun-i's thoughts, particularly his Nine States of Mind and I hope to depict the last state of it, the state of Heavenly (天) Morality Transcending (? sorry for my bad translation...)

0:06 A, main theme. First section. The accompanying texture comes from the first movement of Brahms's String Quintet no.2, one of my favourite of his piece. It starts with viola to emphasize the human call for me. Notice the theme in viola II in 00:23. That theme will appear throughout the whole movement. (Is this a Qi(氣) theme?)00:31 another important theme. 00:38. I like this theme for its contemplative nature. The theme comes from my Clarinet Quintet in C minor. Can you find it? I find it two days before in a wonder LoL.
00:54 B, continuation in high register with added voice.
01:24 C, transition, old theme disguised as a new one.
01:54 D, in D flat major/Mixolydian. The "Heaven" section in my original planning.
02:36 E, continuation in G flat major.
02:59 F, I love the conclusion in 03:13 very much. Modulate to C major to next section in 03:42 and I love the transition so much since it's real hard to compose.
03:42 G, the "Earth" section in my original planning, with cellos taking the lead
04:12 H, repeating the earth section in G-flat major
04:35 I, closing of first part, one of my favourite portion of the movement. I especially love that A-flat major outburst in 04:46. It's magical and I have no idea where does it come from as I only realize it's composed after I finish it. I always imagine Leonard Bernstein conducting this part, LoL. Very synchorinzed here, but it's denied and turn to minor.

05:21 J, the minor section. Second Section. I believe this is the worst part of the movement but Vince's audio saves it. It appears a bit anguished here. The new theme in 05:28 is the basis of both section II and III. Some sort of fugato and imitations happen here though it's not time for it.
06:47 K. I love this part!! Very fluent in violins, and I like 07:06. It's a diminution of the theme of the previous part. I use sul ponticello here to make the sound more silvery.
07:29 L. Trying to reach back to opening section by quoting the first three notes of the theme. But it's external only since it's in F sharp major. Maybe the key difference is only visual and I may change it to G flat major. Also I don't know whether the harmonics work for the violins. I like this section though.
08:24 M. A pizzicato section further developing what's doing in part L. @Omicronrg9 must have inspire me for this part. I like the contemplativo section in 08:56 too with some call and response between the two violas (humans)
09:34 N. Transition to section III. I freakingly love this part! The transition for me is smooth, and it's transforming the minor theme of section II to a major/pentatonic one.
10:05 O. Third Section. Introduction of the fugue subject. 10:20 is the start of a triple fugue, with the subject in Violin the main one for me. 10:52 theme from 00:38 quoted. Subject through G flat, Eb minor, G flat.
11:10 P. First longer episodes, theme from part F quoted Subject through D flat. I love the preparation for the first climax of the fugue in 11:41. I love the climax in 11:48! Subject in G flat.
12:03 Q. Another episode to direct to C flat major. Themes in part D and the theme in 00:31 quoted. Subject in C flat and A flat minor
12:42 R. The great Con spirito! One of my favourite portion of the movement, The A-flat major is chosen to echo in climax of section I in part I. Final appearance of the subject of the fugue in climactic G-flat major, and leads directly to the coda. In 13:17 I have a moment when the first cello is higher than the violins to correspond with a Chinese philosophical concept in the book of Change, when the power of earth is up and the power of heaven is underneath, it's auspicious since the heaven and earth are communicating instead of isolating themselves. The Chinese words 乾下坤上 is written in the score though lest you know Chinese haha!
13:28 S. Coda, with a decreasing of tempo. I am initially perplexed whether to write like this, since my little Wind Quintet piece has kind of same treatment in its coda. But I just decided to write like this since it's beautiful and the two pieces are interconnected anyway. I want this passage to be like human successfully synchronize with the heaven and earth. It's quite similar to a Chinese opera here in my opinion. I freakingly love that half cadence in 14:03!! The coda ultima in 14:08 is written much earlier, in Nov 5th 2022. I know the conclusion but find the ways to it very difficult. But I'm happy I am able to achieve this ending!

#stringsextet #strings #stringquartet

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