Warning people the consequence of exploitation of the nature is the primary aim of this work. With dizi imitating the chirping of birds, the first section reveals how beautiful and peaceful the nature is. Simple rhythmic pattern signifies the nature in extraordinary tranquility.

The second section portrays the destruction of the nature by human with the use of accidentals and dissonances that displays a chaotic condition. The final section reveals the inevitable fact that the restoration of the peaceful nature is in vain.

This Trio is written for erhu, viola and bass clarinet, with the title “Appassionato”, which means passionate, strong feelings and emotions. The first section begins with four repeated notes with an acciaccatura. With a typical Chinese music style, the music develops along repeating themes riding on accelerating pizzicatos.

With longer phrases in slower tempo, erhu and viola entwined in the second section for the melody and accompaniment. Modulated to D minor, new themes come in, followed by the call and response of erhu and viola. The final section returns to tempo primo with repeated and accelerated semiquavers.

Hallucination is an experience about the perception of something unreal, whereas avant la mort means before death.

In the first section, memory begins with the sounds of drizzling that introduce a murder case, followed by the ringing of bell that evokes the murderer’s memory. The rain-drops-like theme played by the xylophone, is getting more rapid and intense. Harmonics on the violin portray the fear when the father trying to kill his daughter and finally hit the high note E at the moment of slaughter. With the pause of the xylophone, the second section – Hallucination comes in.

The piano solo represents the imagination of the revenge of daughter’s doll for his mistress. The chromatic scale descends in speed, expressing the unwillingness to recognise the fact. The last section – Liberation, is a minuet and it begins with demisemiquavers played by the piano to describe the father’s regret, ending with a counter melody that brings out the father’s grief and sorrow.

“The Last Epic” is a heroic song that describes an aerial warfare. The music begins with an atonal twelve-tone melody to bring out the restless feeling of the soldiers before the war. The war breaks out with the refrain, whereas clarinet and violin intertwine in the main melody. Erhu and snare drum then gradually build up a compact atmosphere.

The second section is mainly an erhu solo, representing the posture of a hero. The piano denotes the pace of horses and soldiers. The sudden change of melody and rapid notes embarks the third section, signifying that the hero is in danger. Finally, the piano solo announces the death of the hero, then the refrain recaps in the fourth section. Though the hero is dead, the war goes on.

Chinese version only

Chinese version only

Chinese version only

This composition conveys the idea of “present moment”, and the state of peacefulness and calmness in good times and bad times.

The piece begins with a series of diminished sevenths played by the piano that depicts a dreamy atmosphere symbolising the process of oneself transmitting from the outside world into the inner self. It is then followed by a melody gracefully played by xiao and erhu with calmness representing a steady breathing pattern and harmonious surroundings. The change in rhythmic patterns and the short running notes on the piano portray the peace being disturbed by multiple thoughts.

Different layers played by various instruments build up tension in the subsequent section. The theme repeats to remind the reoccurrence of negative thoughts and self-blaming, followed by call and response phrases which represents dialogue within oneself. The music ends with a slow passage that recaps the peacefulness, denoting the importance of accepting oneself with forgiveness and kindness.