performed by NTSO 國立台灣交響樂團 (范楷西, cond.), Taichung, Taiwan, Aug. 2017.

performed by UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra (David Milnes, cond.), Berkeley, USA, Feb. 2018.

Program Note:

A Leaf Falls After is inspired by my recent memories of living in Europe. In the fall of 2015, I received the Ladd Prize funded by UC Berkeley and had the great opportunity to live in Paris for ten months. This was my first time in Paris as well as in Europe; I experienced intimate incidents of fragile beauty that touched me, but also shocking and terrifying ones during my residence there. I was impressed by the most clear and colorful fall I’d ever seen when autumn leaves fell to the ground, sizzling as if drizzling; I was terrified by the terrorist attack but also touched by the toughness of the Parisians that winter; on a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, I was fascinated to hear twelve bells constantly ringing, intertwining together as a huge chaotic but illusory whirl; I was stunned when visiting the installation ‘Fallen Leaves’ at the Jewish Museum in Berlin, watching thousands of open mouthed steel metal faces on the ground create, when walked on, harshly grating sounds like the victims’ screams.

Inspired by mixed emotions and diverse sounds, this piece traces the journey of a leaf: a solitary leaf falling with loneliness as described in an e. e. cumming’s poem; a light leaf falling with other leaves in autumn; a heavy metal leaf fallen on the ground. However, no matter what vibrations it has undergone during its falling and fallen time, the leaf will eventually be reincarnated into a rising butterfly, flapping its wings to cause a tornado in spring until the next falling comes. Based on such images, I create a constantly flowing process of different kinds of vibrations along with air sounds to represent falling leaves, fallen leaves, and flaps of rising butterflies’ wings. Besides this, metallic sounds/noises either with pure resonances or with intense pressure make up another important element, which is associated with my memories of the ringing bells and the metal “fallen leaves.”

樂曲解說：

《葉落之後》一曲源於我在歐洲的生活體驗與記憶。前年秋天，我旅居巴黎十個月，經歷許多難忘場景：我置身最多彩的秋天，橘黃落葉沙沙作響成連綿葉雨；我度過最駭人的冬天，感受到恐怖攻擊後的驚惶與當地人的堅韌。我在倫敦聖保羅教堂前，群鐘交錯鳴響成一座紊亂魔幻的巨大聲音迷陣；我在柏林猶太博物館的裝置藝術「落葉」前，千片金屬臉孔被踩在腳下，尖銳的金屬撞擊彷彿受難者的哭喊。

匯整這些複雜的情緒與聲響，此曲講述一片葉子的歷程：它是e. e. cummings圖像詩中孤獨的落葉，是落葉雨中輕輕飄下的葉子，也是重重落地的金屬葉片。然而無論經歷多少動盪，它終將蛻化成飛昇的蝴蝶，拍動翅膀掀起龍捲風，直到下一次墜落。我試圖以此意象建構以振動聲響與氣聲為主的持續流動的過程，表現葉落與蝶飛的姿態；而帶殘響或噪音的金屬聲響是本曲另一要素，隱喻鐘鳴與金屬碰撞。