On Aldeban

The composer imagines a journey under the celestial sky. The reddish star of Aldebaran, among many, symbolizes eternity. The traveler follows it, but depending on the altitude and the latitude, the traveler’s viewpoint during his ongoing journey in relation to the star has never been the same. Ever changing is therefore the nature of unchanging. The focal pitch of On Aldebaran is F#. Its pitch identity is ambiguous and arbitrary, implied by the constant conflict among multiple sets of harmonic patterns in different rhythms moving alongside. The tone color of F# is composed by mixed ensemble, either well blended or extremely contrasted. The form of the piece is also open to interpretation, not limited to be perceived as a composed-through movement or multiple sections. On Aldebaran draws from the composer’s memory of the tune from Nan-quan music and tributes to Japanese Gagaku. The orchestration grants the harmony a greater role to form stratum, eventually becomes a confluence of everything without boundaries.