Wind Trail

Pipa: Yang Jing

Premier: Hawaii Imin Conference Center at Jefferson Hall, East-West Center

In this piece, I attempted to catch an unseen wind trail musically. In the Fall of 2011, I was privileged to spend the season at my friend’s house in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the U.S.A. The area was beautifully surrounded by groves of pine tree. By standing in the midst of  the grove, I appreciated the delicate quality of wind sound from nowhere, blowing between trees spontaneously and gracefully.

The piece begins with the sound by tapping the body of Pipa, which could evoke the footsteps of the wind. Then, the moderate melodic lines are presented and developed  throughout the piece taking various shapes. The tapping sound momentarily comes back during the piece, while ascending and descending melodic figures illustrate the spontaneous flow of the wind itself.

At the end of the piece, the beginning part is reintroduced, then it disappears into the silence as the wind trail dissolves into the air.

Listen