赤壁 - War of the Red Cliff
for unaccompanied SATB Choir / for SATB Choir with piano accompaniment
ca. 7’00”
Winner of the American Prize
赤壁 (2018) was written for the Diocesan Boys' School and Diocesan Girls' School Senior Mixed Choir, led by Felix Shuen, one of my most important mentors who single-handedly led me to pursue music as a career. I am very grateful for Mr. Shuen's trust in me throughout high school, where he not only introduced me to choral music but also appointed me to be one of the chairmen of choirs and student conductor during my junior year.
In return, I wanted to write a competition piece for his choir that would showcase its many strengths. I already had a very clear idea of what gestures I would incorporate in the music, having sung in the choir for three years previously, but the difficult part was finding the text - I wanted something that was epic and grandiose enough to warrant the huge sound that was in my mind. In the end, I chose the legendary War of the Red Cliff as my basis and started combining and adapting different texts about the battle.
The finished piece is sung from the perspective of the renowned general Cao Cao, whose ultimate downfall in this battle marked the failure of his last chance to conquer the whole of China. This piece not only captures the sounds and atmosphere of the battle but also, more importantly, Cao Cao's reminiscence and hopelessness as it dawns on him that he has forgone his best opportunity to achieve his life goal - a haunting prospect that was the prime motivation in the writing of this piece.
Text:
赤壁
對酒當歌，人生幾何？
譬如朝露，去日苦多
東風大作，長江翻波戲浪
中江舉帆，軍皆立觀
火烈風猛，船往如箭
煙炎張天，雷鼓大震
老驥伏櫪，志在千里
烈士暮年，壯心不已
Performances:
24 Jul 2019 (with pno. accomp.)
The 1st World Choral Championship
Daiichi Seimei Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Diocesan Choral Society, Ronnie Kay-yen Cheng
Soloist: Johnny Yiu
Piano: Jon Yau
24 Jul 2019 (with pno. accomp.)
Tokyo International Choral Concours pre-event International Choral Festival
Nihonbashi Kokaido, Tokyo, Japan
Diocesan Choral Society, Ronnie Kay-yen Cheng
Soloist: Johnny Yiu
Piano: Jon Yau
20 Jul 2019 (with pno. accomp.)
A Kindling Spark – Diocesan Choral Society Summer Concert
Yunni and Maxine Pao Auditorium, Diocesan Boys’ School, Hong Kong
Diocesan Choral Society, Ronnie Kay-yen Cheng
Soloist: Johnny Yiu
Piano: Jon Yau
30 Mar 2019
Diocesan Girls’ School Spring Concert
Auditorium, Diocesan Girls’ School, Hong Kong
Diocesan Boys’ School and Diocesan Girls’ School Senior Mixed Choir, Felix Shuen
Soloist: Danny Wu
7 Mar 2019
71st Hong Kong Schools Music Festival
Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Hong Kong
Diocesan Boys’ School and Diocesan Girls’ School Senior Mixed Choir, Felix Shuen
Soloist: Danny Wu
1 Feb 2019 (world premiere)
Diocesan Girls’ School Pre-competition Concert
Auditorium, Diocesan Girls’ School, Hong Kong
Diocesan Boys’ School and Diocesan Girls’ School Senior Mixed Choir, Felix Shuen
Soloist: Danny Wu