A Kite with a Broken String (2013)
for Orchestra

“A Kite with a Broken String” is the second movement of my Symphony No. 2 “Sky Trilogy”.

Award:
Semi-Finalist, The American Prize in Composition – Orchestra Music Professional Division (2016)
The Honorable Mention of National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Composition Competition (2015)

Instrumentation:
Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, English Horn, 2 Clarinets (Bb), Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets (C), 2 Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion 1 (1 5-oct. marimba, 1 lion’s roar), Percussion 2 (1 slapstick shared with Perc. 3, 1 snare drum, 1 suspended cymbal), Percussion 3 (1 rainstick, 1 bamboo wind chimes, 1 slapstick shared with Perc. 2), Harp, Strings.

World Premiere:
August 19, 2015
Final Concert of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Composition Competition 2015
Concert Hall of National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Taichung, Taiwan
Lin Liao conducts National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra

Duration: 11 minutes

Program Notes

A Kite with a Broken String for orchestra is an elegy, and it memorializes something that has been lost forever. As a kite flies higher and higher, the dream it represents becomes larger and larger. When the kite is chased by the wind in the sky, it seems that the dream encounters turbulence. Yet, with the aid of a string, the kite, as well as the dream, can survive the turbulence and continue to fly high. After the kite twists in the air, the string snaps, and the kite falls to the ground. This broken string is like an unexpected obstacle that can make a dream vanish right away.

A Kite with a Broken String is a piece with many long and short falling melodic lines. Somehow the melodic lines attempt to go higher, like a kite trying to lift, but the struggle to go any higher proves to be impossible, and eventually these melodic lines fall and disappear into the whole orchestra. The end of the main theme with repeated notes often resembles a downward glissando, and it implies a weeping gesture. Helplessness and loneliness prevail throughout the entire piece. A kite without a string can also resemble a candle in the wind. Both can lose their momentum unexpectedly, as with the sudden loss of life. The sense of loss cannot be forgotten, and life cannot return to what it used to be. All one can do is let go of the kite and allow it never to come back.

This is the world premiere recording.

為管絃樂團的《斷線風箏》是一首哀歌，歌裡紀念著那永遠失去的悲痛。人的夢想就像愈飛愈高的風箏一樣愈來愈寬廣，但當風箏在天空中追逐著風，夢想也像是被亂流阻擾一樣。手裡的那條風箏線，是風箏和夢想的方向，在紛亂的氣流中也可以逐漸高飛升空。當風箏在空中亂飛，箏線也被牽制而逐漸讓風箏墜落地面。斷裂的箏線就像擋在前方的絆腳石，瞬間就可以讓夢想四分五裂。

《斷線風箏》充滿著或長或短的下墜旋律傾向，有時候旋律線試圖往上進行，像是想要高飛的風箏，但是這條線卻意識到再往上的不可能性，最後只能墜落跟消失在管絃樂團的聲響裡。全曲的主要動機是一群反覆的單音，但這單音的最後是個往下進行的小滑音，讓這個動機有啜泣的暗示。無助跟寂寞發散在整個曲子當中，斷了線的風箏就像在風中的蠟燭，他們無預期地失去了動力，就像是我們在生命中突然失去的悲痛。這種悲痛讓人無法遺忘，而且生命也難以回到從前，能做的只是讓無法回到身邊的斷線風箏在風中恣意地亂飛。

– Feng-Hsu Lee (September 21, 2013 West Hartford, CT)