related works
Die Lian Hua : for flute / Yip Ho Kwen Austin
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Flute
Scoring:
fl
Tombelène : for orchestra / Godefroid Devreese
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3fl 2ob 2cl 2fg cfg 4h 3tpt 3trb tb timp perc cel hp pf str
Arethuza : symphonische mythe naar Louis Couperus, (1947) / Alexander Voormolen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3333 4431 timp perc cel 1-2hp org str
Purple Heart : for orchestra / Douglas Knehans
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2fl 2ob 2cl 2bsn 4h 2tpt 2trb-t trb-b tb timp perc(3) str
composition
Metamorphosis : for orchestra / Yip Ho Kwen Austin
Author(s):
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