Book of Dreams II was composed in 2017 at the request of the flautist Lin Lin as part of her PhD research on traditional Chinese instrumental techniques. The musical material, derives from a collection of traditional and modern pieces for solo hulushi gathered during the flutist’s fieldwork at a remote rural area in China.
The melodic material, derives largely from short melodic fragments and rhythms taken from the original folk tunes. As reference to the imagery of traditional weaving, the string quartet material is built almost in its entirety on repetitive melodic patterns of varied lengths, superimposed to create a polychromatic tapestry, reminiscent of the imagery of traditional Chinese textiles.
Lin Lin (alto flute) | Elena Abad Martinez (violin) | Chloë Meade (violin) | Daichi Yoshimura (viola) | Henry Hargreaves (cello) | Noah Max (conductor)
Audio engineer: Sean Wooklock
Audio/video mixing & editing: Basil Athanasiadis
Goldsmiths Music Studios, London on 29 September 2018
To be released on CD by Metier, 'Book of Dreams' msv 28596