related works
Violin Concerto Nº 1: Generation : Version for violin and piano / Yip Ho Kwen Austin
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Violin and keyboard instrument
Scoring:
vn pf
Aioon : for orchestra, 2001 / Wim Laman
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3323 2sax 4231 4perc pf str(14.14.12.10.8.)
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3455 2sax 4555 12perc 3pf 2hp str(16.16.12.10.16.)
Mascherata : symphonic fantasy for orchestra, 1962 / Hendrik Andriessen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
pic 2fl 2ob eh 2cl 2fg cfg 4h 3trp 3trb tb timp 2perc hp str
composition
Metamorphosis : for orchestra / Yip Ho Kwen Austin
Other authors:
Yip, Austin
(Composer)
Description:
Artists often like to develop their works around the concept of “metamorphosis”, but the understanding of “metamorphosis” varies among people. With Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”, people often regard the title as the “change of form”, rather than an “improved change”—because the protagonist wakes up one day and realises himself being transformed into a giant insect. Such transformation differs from people’s normal understanding of the term “metamorphosis”, which is often the process to transform something from an immature state to a relatively more mature state. However, Kafka’s protagonist transforms from the family’s support into a gigantic burden in just one night. In the reader’s eyes, it seems as if the title “Metamorphosis” refers more to the transformation of the protagonist’s family, which turns well after the protagonist’s death, rather than the protagonist himself.
This work, entitled “Metamorphosis”, is to be paired up with its Chinese name, “Po Kan”, which literally means “to break through a cocoon”. It depicts the moment of how a troublesome matter resolves, and the short instance right after the process. Similar to how a worm transforms into a cocoon, and then to a butterfly, after the process of metamorphosis, the short instance of beauty gradually changes, and eventually the butterfly faces death. In Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”, the protagonist’s family seems to have a bright life after the protagonist dies, but actually no one knows what happens to them next. Nonetheless, everyone enjoys the moment of the transformation.
Austin Yip