Door Gods (2018)

for two percussionists

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In Chinese religions, the door gods protect the doors and gates. People believe that the two gods help to deter evil spirits and welcome luck and wealth to their families. In this piece, I bring the door gods alive and depict their daily circumstances. Environmental sounds and the gods’ speaking are presented together with no deliberate suggestions of meanings. The only exceptions are lai and chyu, which mean ‘come’ and ‘go,’ the magical spells that the two gods keep chanting.

 

With this composition, I explore the possibility of using unspecified Sprechstimme and percussive sounds to frame a specified context. Improvisation is another major element, which is presented by two 'Games' played by the gods: one is called imitation, and the other called the louder one wins.

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门神是中国传统信仰中的诸神之一，画像常见于寺庙以及百姓家门上。中国人相信祂们能驱散灾祸、带来富贵平安。受此启发，我在这个作品中描绘了想象中门神们的生活，将祂们所处环境中的声音以及祂们的窃窃私语展现给听众。不过，这些声音和话语是没有具体含义的，除了两个贯穿全曲的、咒语一般的字眼——“来”和“去”之外，其他均可自由诠释。

 

此作品是探索新作曲手法的一个实验。首先，它尝试着通过结合“唱念”(Sprechstimme)和打击乐音来描绘一个具体场景。此外，即兴演奏也是实验的一部分，并具体表现在曲中门神们的两种“互动游戏”中：一个好似“鹦鹉学舌”，比的是反应能力；另一个则是比试嗓门，看谁的声势更浩大。