Program Notes

Pyramid has 3 movements. The whole composition starts from a very slow tempo in the beginning, leading to a very fast tempo in the last movement. This progression emulates the philosophy of life of the pyramid as it relates to the human struggle to get to the top.  It describes the difficult journey of creativity. Although the process of creating this work was difficult at times, the ultimate goal was to write a substantial composition.

The first movement, “From the Young,” is in ABA form starting from a largo.  A melody emerges from the cello at first, while the other instruments punctuate to build up tension.  The tension eventually leads to the middle section of the movement, that is, a single pitch played on different open strings of each instrument in the quartet.  The glissandos are also a key feature in this particular section.  Section A is then repeated once again to wrap up the movement with natural harmonics evaporating the preceding musical tension.

The second movement, “The Labor of Living,” is in a rather light and cheerful mode.  It is in free variation form.  There is one main theme with two variations in this movement.  The main theme is based on the development of two musical motives, the tremolo effect and the scattered rhythmic effect. The first variation is based on two different effects, pizzicatos and short glissandos. The second variation makes use of harmonics, and the first violin cadenza recitative is meant to imitate the natural tone of Chinese Mandarin language, and the meaning of the language also brings out the philosophy.

The third movement, “The Peak,” is very fast and rhythmic and is shorter and is in ABA form where the B is very short.  During both A sections the instruments all play the same rhythm and the vertical interval includes transposition and inversion forms.  The movement starts with an 8-note main theme, and then goes through a series of repetitions adding 2 more notes and a half step increase every time only in the first interval.  The B section starts from a melody reflecting the melody of the first movement.  The material of the A section becomes the background of the melody. The last A section simulates the first and ends after a 41-note theme in crazy-fast tempo reflecting arrival at “The Peak.”