Commissioned Works | Hsin-Yun Huang

Shu Shon Key (Remembrance) Review

Listen Voices of Change comes alive like a jungle at sunrise CLASSICAL REVIEW: Rice composer’s piece grabs the ears at Voices of Change The music was really contemporary – none more than two years old – for Voices of Change’s Sunday-evening concert at Southern Methodist University’s Caruth Auditorium. On first hearing, none of the four works leapt out as deathless art. But later and wiser counsels may decide otherwise, and each offered listening pleasure. The highest-profile name on the program was John Adams, whose Son...

Groundswell Review

Listen Steven Mackey’s “Ground Swell” grew out of a similar disconnect between ends and means, but the conflict worked itself out more fruitfully. Threads of Americana emerged now and then, but they were colored in unexpected ways. Exhilaration was the guiding force at times, while other passages seemed overcome by vertigo and fatigue. The sophisticated orchestration certainly helped Mackey’s cause, as did the superb artistry of violist Hsin-Yun Huang. Her tone was rich and earthy, and she negotiated each phrase with...

Shu Shon Key (Remembrance) by Shih-Hui Chen (2006)

Shu Shon Key (Remembrance) was inspired by a Taiwanese Folk melody that conveys a feeling of homesickness. I wrote this work for Hsin-Yun Huang who shares a similar background to my own: both of us were born in Taiwan, yet we have lived the majority of our lives in the West. Given our shared heritage and experience, it seemed fitting to use this melody as source material for this work. At the beginning of the piece, the original melody with its sad and bittersweet emotion is presented in a simplified manner. Gradually this melancholy...

Groundswell by Steven Mackey (2007)

1. Approach by Sea 2. The Fertile Sea 3. Thin Air 4. Peak Experience 5. Over the Top – (attacca) 6. Running Downhill – (attacca) 7. Sailing Away The governing metaphor for Groundswell is an imaginary journey through various topographies from sea level to Alpine terrain and back again. The viola functions as a guide, controlling the pace, highlighting points of interest, leading the group around tricky corners, stepping forward with acts of heroism, and standing aside to allow the group to experience their own personal awe. There is an...

Romances by Poul Ruders (2011)

Listen Six Short Pieces for Viola and Piano 1. Portal 2. Even Song 3. Rhapsody 4. Ballad 5. Dirge 6. Duet Commissioned by Hsin-Yun Huang and Da Camera of Houston Program Note According to tradition, a mid-or late 19th century instrumental Romance — or Romanza is a shortish composition of predominantly melodic nature, with a slight leaning toward the sentimental. In several European languages, such as German, French — and Danish — the word for novel, i.e. an unfolding drama in writing, is roman, and although there is...