related works
Zerstreutes Hinausschaun : for soprano saxophone, alto saxophone and orchestra / Yip Ho Kwen Austin
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Saxophone and orchestra
Scoring:
sax-s-solo sax-a-solo 2fl 2ob 2cl 2fg 2h timp 2perc hp str
Spatial music III : for chamber orchestra, in four groups / Ton de Leeuw
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra; Orchestra with multimedia
Scoring:
pic fl fl-a 2cl ob eh 2fg sax-a 2h 2trp 2trb 2perc hp str (soundtrack ad.lib)
Symphonie 1953 : for orchestra / Julius Hijman
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Zeekip ahoy : voor orkest / Misha Mengelberg
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2221 sax-a 2111 perc pf 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