WNMD 2025 · CONCERT 27
Other Shores / Outros horizontes
07-06-2025 · 21h30
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
Lisbon

illustrative image

QUARTETO DE CORDAS
SOLISTAS METROPOLITANA
Ana Pereira, José Pereira · violins
Joana Cipriano · viola
Nuno Abreu · cello

SAMUEL HONG YU LEUNG (Hong-Kong, 1999) YCA
Variations (2023), 5’
ISCM Hong Kong section

LEEVI RÄSÄNEN (Finland, 1997) YCA
the two childhoods (2022), 12’
ISCM Finnish section

LIU RUI (China, 1989)
The other shore flower (2021), 11’
ISCM Nanning section

MARIANA VIEIRA (Portugal, 1997) YCA
String Quartet No. 1 (2023), 9’

TSU-YAO YANG (Taiwan, 1991) YCA
Bleu II (2020), 9’
ISCM Taipei section

YCA · ISCM Young Composers Award candidate
WP · world premiere

with the support of

PROGRAMME NOTES

SAMUEL HONG YU LEUNG (Hong-Kong, 1999) YCA
Variations (2023), for string quartet
ISCM Hong Kong section
— As Cantonese is a tonal language, different tones will convey different meanings. The piece employs the nine tones of the dialect as a recurring “theme”.

LEEVI RÄSÄNEN (Finland, 1997) YCA
the two childhoods (2022), for string quartet
ISCM Finnish section
— the two childhoods emerges from a personal need to heal, driven by the enduring repercussions of school violence, where ordinary words turned into weapons. Initially, I believed it had endowed me with resilience, a common trauma coping mechanism. Yet, I recognized that I had only managed by suppressing the painful memories. This composition grapples with the fragmented recollection of my past, mirroring the challenge of comprehending it. Employing a folk-like melody from a choir conductor hailing from my hometown, I re-establish a connection to my roots, on my terms.

LIU RUI (China, 1989)
The other shore flower (2021), for string quartet
ISCM Nanning section
— Higan flower, the flowers bloom on the other side. You can't see the leaves when the flowers are in bloom, and you can't see the flowers when there are leaves. Flowers and leaves do not meet each other.

MARIANA VIEIRA (Portugal, 1997) YCA
String Quartet No. 1 (2023)
— The initial idea came from the variation of a straightforward element – a crescendo and sudden break. I set myself this challenge because it was a recurring difficulty of mine – the ability to generate new material from pre-existing ideas rather than consistently generating utterly new material. In addition, I can mention that, at the time, I listened a lot to the string quartets of György Ligeti, Alberto Posadas, Helmut Lachenmann and Stefano Gervasoni, who were references in the composition of the piece. Besides, I was interested in exploring the idiomatic potentialities of the string quartet composition. Unlike, for example, an ensemble, where very different timbres co-exist, in the string quartet, there is a very specific timbral homogeneity. One can avoid this homogeneity by using extended techniques and amplification, for example, but in my case, I was more interested in affirming and exploring this homogeneity.

TSU-YAO YANG (Taiwan, 1991) YCA
Bleu II (2020), for string quartet
ISCM Taipei section
— The inspiration comes from the large painting, Bleu II, by Joan Miró in 1961. The painting features abstract symbols, such as lines and black dots, which emphasize the color palette of Miró's dreamland – Blue. In this artwork, Miró transformed contemporary painting techniques into a pure poetic expression. I attempted to reinterpret this non-abstract, poetic movement, which can be understood by anyone from a simple perspective, and translated it into the language of music through sonic elements.