related works
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Saxophone and keyboard instrument
Scoring:
sax-s sax-a pf
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3232 sax-a 2221 timp 3perc hp pf str
Volkskrant contrapunt : for large ensemble, 1996 / Martijn Padding
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players); Orchestra
Scoring:
1221 4sax 2220 4perc hp pf synth 2vl vla vc cb / str
Nocturnal conversation : for orchestra in 4 groups and optional tape / Walter Hekster
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra; Orchestra with multimedia
Scoring:
2121 2211 timp 5perc pf str(8.4.2.1.) (tape ad lib.)
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