Vibrant Snow Summit (Symphony Orchestra Ensemble)

This composition project is a orchestral ensemble which involves both western instruments and Chinese instruments, including a Erhu and a Guzheng. The theme of this composition is to articulate the experience of a day at a mountain ski resort, from the first point of view, by employing various kinds and combinations of melodies and instrumentation.

My composition motive of this orchestral music largely came from my father, who vividly told me a fairy-tale-like story that happened at a ski resort years ago. As he wished about a piece of music that illustrates the plots in the first point-of-view of the main character, I decided to echo his dream.

Aimed to boost the emotions, and to create an immersive listening experience of the story, the structure of the music is designed in a way that largely follows the scenario. As the story emphasizes the theme of “cultural exchange”, the instrumentation integrates western symphony orchestra and Chinese instruments including a Guzheng as well as an Erhu.

The music is divided into 4 movements, separately describing their main themes respectively:

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1. The Sunrise - Adagio

“Being a young girl who moved with my family to the United States, this is the first New Year I spent across the ocean… quietly stepping out of the villa next to the resort at dawn, I am watching the sun of the new year, rising gently, and slowly erasing the silent encompassed by the nature…”

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2. Gondola to the Snow Summit - Adagio

“After meeting two new loco friends while lining up for the Summit Gondola, we stepped in our cabin, which continuously climbed upwards. Chatting with relax and ease, the view is always changing in my eyes before we reached the top, at a point which a breath-taking, grandiose scene came into my eyes.”

 

3. Banter on the Snow Trail - Allegro

“The two ‘international friends’ skied right off the trail after exiting the gondola, so I chased up with full speed and started a ‘competition” with them. Galloping through steeps, dogging trees and moguls, and hearing the wind blowing by my ears, all of us fully enjoyed the pleasure on the snow.”

 

4. A Dusk Full of Memories - Adagio

“When the sun goes down again, I thought to myself: happy times always flies by. But it is, absolutely, a great pleasure to get to know with the two friends and to spend this day together. Indeed, now is a great time to share our memories of our day on the snow…”

 

Thank you for listening!