Fantasy Pieces (2018)
for Viola and Piano

I. Excursion
II. Song without Words
III. Night Flight

Commissioned by I-Chia Tseng

World Premiere:
April 13, 2018
I-Chia Tseng Viola Recital 2018
Zyxel Auditorium, Arts Center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
I-Chia Tseng, viola; Chun-Wei Liu, piano

Duration: 13 minutes

Program Notes

Fantasy Pieces for viola and piano is a commissioned piece by violist I-Chia Tseng for her recital in 2018. Inspired by Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, this piece has three movements with the same title in English of Schumann’s piece; however, it is different from Schumann’s piece in the way that each movement has its own title, which is inspired by another three works.

The first movement, “Excursion”, is inspired by Samuel Barber’s Excursions, Op. 20. It includes an ostinato throughout the whole movement, while having a nostalgic pentatonic melody on viola. Scenes of the surroundings, portraying in the music, are frequently changed in a steady walking tempo. The second movement, “Song without Words”, is inspired by Felix Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte. With highly chromatic harmonic progressions, a simple tune becomes no longer simple. Many melodic fragments are hidden inside the music to symbolize the precious yet forgotten time. The third and final movement, “Night Fight”, is inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Vol de Nuit. Flying at night makes a journey dangerous and unpredictable. In the second section of this movement, it is falling in a huge musical line as that a flight is lost at night. Sometimes things get out of control, but we still pluck up courage to face difficulties in our life.

This is the world premiere recording (video) of “Night Flight”, the third movement of Fantasy Pieces.

The full score and part score of this piece are available for purchasing via ScoreExchange – Fantasy Pieces for viola and piano

為中提琴與鋼琴的《幻想小曲集》是為了中提琴家曾怡嘉2018年的獨奏會所譜寫。全曲的結構靈感是來自於舒曼的同名作品《幻想小曲集，作品73》而同樣有著三個樂章，但是不同於舒曼的作品的是，這首曲子的每個樂章有著三個來自其他作品的個別標題。

第一樂章〈旅途〉來自巴伯同名鋼琴作品《旅途，作品20》。使用著頑固低音貫穿著整個樂章，中提琴唱著一個帶有鄉愁的五聲音階旋律，穩定的步行速度音樂描寫著瞬息萬變的周圍景色。第二樂章〈無言歌〉來自孟德爾頌同名鋼琴曲集《無言歌》。在一個極度半音的和聲進行中，一個簡單的曲調也變得開始複雜，隱藏在這個樂章的旋律斷片就像是那些彌足珍貴卻又讓人遺忘的時間。第三樂章〈夜間飛行〉來自聖修伯里同名小說《夜間飛行》。在夜間的飛行讓旅途變得危險而且不可預期，在這個樂章的後半段，巨大的下墜音樂線條有如迷失在深夜裡的飛機。常常我們會遇到許多無法控制的事情，但仍需鼓起勇氣去面對生命中的種種艱難。

– Feng-Hsu Lee (March 11, 2018 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)