Flying Banner

Liza LIM
Born 1966, Perth, Australia

Flying Banner `Fanfare' for orchestra, after Wang To (2005)

piccolo I, piccolo II, flute, oboe I, oboe II, cor anglais, Eb clarinet, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon I, bassoon II, contrabassoon, horn I, horn II, olo trumpet, trumpet, trombone I, trombine II, bass trombine, timani, percussion (5 Chinese gongs, 3 wood blocks, 2 temple blocks, high tom-tom), strings
Duration 8'
Commissioned by Sydney Symphony

"dragons leaping and bowing  . . .  a phoenix dancing  . . .  a spring bubbles forth  . . .  when the hand is moved by the heart's desire"
--Tang dynasty treatise on calligraphy

Flying Banner is inspired by the rhythmic freedom of Chinese calligraphic writing particularly the work of Wang To, a famous poet/calligrapher of the 17th century. Wang To made innovations in `wild cursive' calligraphy in which the brush strokes of characters merge, dissolve and dance in scribbly, dramatic, luxurious, gestural ribbons of ink "leaping and bowing".

Flying Banner plays with the kinds of musical codes that have traditionally been associated with fanfares -- repeated notes played by brass instruments, high trumpets, sonorous chords and syncopated patterns. These familiar `standards' are however dealt with in not-quite standard ways -- their geometry is pushed into other kinds of patterns, sometimes merging in quick succession or piled on top of each other and sometimes transforming into the sliding acrobatic moves of Chinese opera.

A piece made out of `statements of announcement' concludes with high trilling strings pushing their sound into the insect white noise of cicadas -- fanfares from the natural landscape, those unmistakable heralds of Summer.

Premiered 8 March 2006 by the Sydney Symphony conducted by Gianluigi GELMETTI, Sydney Opera House. A project of the Sydney Symphony's composer-in-residence programme supported by Symphony Australia with financial assistance from the Australia Council, the Australian Government's arts funding and advisory body.

Programme note © Liza LIM