Program Notes

Shifting Shades is written for piano, cello, percussion, and 18 beer bottles. It consists of three movements. Each movement has its own way of shifting sounds, colors, shapes, structure, and dramas. The three musicians are also dramatists, creating drama without words.

The first movement is constructed on several rhythmic patterns. Each of them is given certain defined or undefined pitches. Throughout the movement, the rhythmic patterns and the sounds each interact in various paces. A hidden dimension therefore is created through all the interactions and shifting.

The second movement is a quasi-passacaglia. It starts with the piano introducing the simple tune in high register and ends with the sounds of blowing beer bottles that transforming the passacaglia into a mysterious sonic world.

The third movement brings all forces together to create a journey of shifting and rotations: from vertical to horizontal, from sustain to pointillistic, from percussive to instrumental sound, from order to chaos, from improvisational to radical, etc. One who chases is being chased…

– Huang Ruo