Disintegration

“Disintegration” is an attempt of the composer to explore the possibilities of creating a sound world where the east coexists with the west. The piece is in five movements, using a simple Chinese folk tune as its main source of material. Each movement represents a sort of transformation of its original identity. It is as if the folk melody gets melted away and disintegrates into various shapes throughout the piece. One witnesses the image of this folk song zoom in and out with various degrees of clarity. Sometimes it is distorted in a way that it’s barely recognizable as the sibling to its origin. Sometimes the folk melody is so clearly unprocessed but positioned so remotely that we have the impression that it’s just an illusion or a vague memory from the past. “Disintegration” was commissioned by Ms. Jana Mason and her husband Richard Anderson through the 21st Century Piano Commission Competition.