Silhouettes – Erhu

Work Overview

Instrumentation: Erhu
Commission: Jenny Lin
Premiere: March 12, 1997, Clark Studio Theater, New York, NY, Wang Guo-Wei
Duration: 5 minutes

Program Note

Silhouettes for erhu solo (1997), 5 minutes

Premiere: March 12, 1997, Clark Studio Theater, New York, NY, Wang Guo-Wei, erhu. Master of Music degree project.

Silhouettes is scored for erhu, the Chinese equivalent of the viola. The work was originally set to Chinese traditional choreography by dancer Ya-Chih Chuang. The choreography consisted of one dancer in a Chinese robe with long sleeves twirling across the stage. The lighting was such that the dancer would cast shadows on the walls, and thus the origin of the title of this work. The composition itself can be heard independently. It is a study of the extension of a melodic line and the use of a traditional Chinese instrument in a creative manner. The musical materials are entirely original, not borrowed from folk elements.

Silhouettes was premiered by Wang Guo-wei, erhu player and artistic director of Music From China, and Ya-Chih Chuang, dancer with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. It was performed at the Clark Studio Theater in Lincoln Center in March 1997.