IHS: Chamber Music Corner—Vivian Fung’s Bounce
This month’s CMC will focus on Vivian Fung’s Bounce for violin, horn, and piano. Vivian Fung (b. 1975) is a Canadian composer now residing in the US. She began her training under the tutelage of Violet Archer then completed her doctoral studies at The Juilliard School. She has written large orchestral works, concertos, operas, and chamber music. Fung’s compositions can be heard on a dozen different albums and in concert halls around the world.
Bounce (2016) was commissioned by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto and was premiered in Toronto on November 24, 2016. The work is inspired by the composer’s son who, as a newborn, “had the habit of banging his head against his mattress to soothe himself to sleep.” Fung writes of the work that “the idea of a constant drone or thump remains constant, with a deep ostinato that permeates the beginning.”