報導："交響臺灣：國臺交啟動5年作曲計畫" - 樂覽 (劉郁伶)

July 2015

交響臺灣

國臺交啟動5年作曲計畫

- Music Browser, No. 171   樂覽：第171期 (劉郁伶)

延續國立臺灣交響樂團對於創作的重視，國臺交提出了全新的5 年委託創作計畫「交響臺灣」。委託創作計畫之於國臺交有其淵源及傳承意涵，始自前團長史惟亮鼓勵作曲家創作臺灣古典音樂開始，經過歷任團長奮鬥，在委託創作這條道路上奔波數十年載，至今，國臺交已為臺灣這塊土地留下了為數頗豐的原創音樂作品。

與作曲家搏感情提升創作量

時間回溯至民國62 － 63 年，國立臺灣交響樂團仍是尚未改制的臺灣省立交響樂團，史惟亮先生任職第四任團長，他對臺灣管弦樂音樂創作投入大量心力，為樂團創立「研究部」，延攬作曲家賴德和、郭芝苑、張炫文等人專職創作及臺灣音樂整理收集，當時，亦受臺灣省教育廳委託，主辦「愛國歌曲徵曲比賽」，民國81 年起，一連策辦了6 屆徵曲活動，為國人創作樂曲奠定了重要的基石，多首獲選作品贏得不少佳評。

爾後，自民國97 年起，國臺交因緣際會承辦「行政院文化建設委員會文化創意產業第二期計畫」，以「建置音樂創作與行銷平臺」為計畫內容，再度辦理國人音樂創作徵選相關活動，主要鼓勵中生代與青年作曲家（年齡16 － 45 歲）創作。雖然，該計畫至民國100 年即終止，但國臺交卻毅然決然獨自扛起鼓勵國人音樂創作的重要使命與責任，將音樂創作納入樂團年度計畫的一部分，接續辦理該活動已進入第8 年，期間已累積68 部原創作品（含24 部管弦樂作品、44 部室內樂作品）；舉辦12 場專場首演音樂會；出版原創作品樂譜22 套、有聲資料12 套；至今獲選作曲家高達41 位之多。

交響臺灣以文學入樂

除了以競賽、徵件的方式培育新世代的作曲人才，國臺交更希望藉由與作曲家的共同努力，對臺灣的文化藝術有更深層的探究、連結與開展，因此，今年特此宣告將推出為期5 年的「交響臺灣」委託創作計畫。

該計畫結合臺灣文學為創作方向，但特別的是並不是單以文字詮釋直接譜曲，而是以文學家本身或作品，帶給作曲家自身之感受和靈感，也就是使用音樂投射的力量，經由作曲家內化，將創作工具由文字轉變為旋律。創作作品以管弦樂團編制為主的管弦樂曲，曲式可為交響曲、交響詩，由作曲家自由發揮不設限。

匯集各世代作曲家聯合創作

而本次的委託創作另一特色即是匯集新生代、中生代作曲家聯手創作，第一階段邀請賴德和、錢南章、楊聰賢、潘世姬、陳士惠、黃思瑜、林京美及顏名秀等作曲家，並且，國臺交「2016 青年創作競賽」首獎得主（預計於2016 年8 月產生）也將參與此創作計畫。

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顏名秀X 同志文學

而本計畫也邀集了許多新生代的作曲家譜寫作品，其中顏名秀所選擇的文學題材相當特別，是同志女作家邱妙津的《鱷魚手記》與《蒙馬特遺書》。顏名秀國中時即對這位女作家有些許印象，長大後拜讀作品感觸相當之深，她雖然不是女同志，卻被邱妙津書中的細膩筆觸感到印象深刻，心靈的沉重從書頁中渲染至她的內心，因此，接到國臺交的創作邀請，她第一個便想到邱妙津，同志文學之於交響曲作品並不多見，顏名秀的大膽嘗試又為臺灣原創音樂作品增添燦爛的一頁。

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讓古典音樂貼近社會

此計畫的第一部作品將於2015 年下半年國臺交70 週年團慶系列音樂會呈現，自此每半年發表1部作品，而完成之作品除了交由樂團排練、演出之外，也將規劃跨領域相關活動，期望能深入臺灣文學之閱讀，進而讓臺灣古典音樂與社會連結。國臺交做為臺灣歷史最悠久的樂團，肩負起推動臺灣古典音樂的使命，除了演出，最重要的是鼓勵臺灣作曲家為這塊土地產製出更多屬於臺灣文化的音樂作品，在過去數十年載，馳騁委託創作的這條道路上，著重的是原創作品的寬度，如今，需更上一層樓，關注作品的廣度，藉著推展「交響臺灣」的委託創作計畫，進一步讓臺灣的作曲家與臺灣的文學家相結合，在兩相結合下所共同激盪的藝術能量勢必可觀，盼以此能開創臺灣古典音樂的新格局，讓臺灣的聲音被世界聽見！

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下載【樂覽：第171期】
Download "Music Browser, No. 171"

報導："邱妙津傳奇一生 交響樂呈現" - 中國時報 (趙靜瑜)

May 4, 2015

邱妙津傳奇一生 交響樂呈現

- 中國時報 (趙靜瑜)

上一世紀女作家邱妙津致力同志文學，將身為同性戀的迷惑與寂寞讓世人知悉，作品《鱷魚手記》、《蒙馬特遺書》等自傳性色彩濃厚，後在巴黎自殺，終年26歲。邱妙津一生的前衛神秘，感染了作曲家顏名秀，將跨越時空以交響樂形式描繪邱妙津傳奇一生。

《鱷魚手記》自傳色彩濃

1980年出生的顏名秀，是台灣青壯年作曲家之一，目前執教北藝大音樂系，小邱妙津11歲，「當時我還在念國中，只是有印象，但非常模糊。」長大之後念了邱妙津的作品，格外有感觸。

「我不是女同志，但我能感受，她的女性筆觸非常敏銳，提醒人們不要忘記去傾聽自己內心的聲音。我感覺她肉體的痛苦沒有比她心靈承受的苦痛來得多。」這次受國立台灣交響樂團委託創作，希望作曲家能夠以文學跟音樂做結合，「我就想起了邱妙津。」

書中「拉子」女同志襲用

邱妙津1969年出生於彰化，1991年畢業於台大心理系，其創作才華在大學時代就充分顯現，她曾以〈囚徒〉獲得中央日報短篇小說文學獎，並以〈寂寞的群眾〉獲得聯合文學中篇小說新人獎。寫作之餘，邱妙津還擔任義務性心理輔導工作、雜誌社記者，同時拍攝了一部長度39分鐘的16釐米影片《鬼的狂歡》。

1995年6月，邱妙津在巴黎自殺身亡，她的驟然過世掀起台灣文壇驚愕，同年10月，她的首部長篇小說《鱷魚手記》獲得時報文學獎推薦獎，書中的「拉子」、「鱷魚」等詞也成為台灣女同志襲用的自我稱號。最後一部作品《蒙馬特遺書》更由導演魏瑛娟搬進劇場，邱妙津作品至今影響力仍歷久不衰。

顏名秀說，時至今日，已經很多人不認識邱妙津，但其實她早透過作品啟發了同志文學與同志運動，「希望透過創作，可以讓大家再度接觸她的一切。」顏名秀說，以同志題材創作的交響曲也並不多見，難度頗高，對她來說也是一大挑戰。

作曲家顏名秀 為她創作

國台交即將開啟的作曲家委創「交響臺灣」計畫，第一階段除了顏名秀之外，還有賴德和、錢南章、楊聰賢、潘世姬、陳士惠、黃思瑜、林京美等作曲家創作，橫跨老中青三代。國台交藝術顧問簡文彬表示，計畫中文學作品、樂曲形式都由作曲家自由發揮，創作計畫長達五年，希望邀約各個世代的作曲家一起為台灣留下土地的聲音。

新聞來源：
https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20150504000427-260115?chdtv

Media Profile: "Amber Kao: Mirrors of Time" - Research & Reflections (Amber Kao)

April 13, 2014

Amber Kao: Mirrors of Time

- Research & Reflections - An online journal of Fulbright Taiwan experiences (Amber Kao)

...My collaborative work with Professor Yen began within weeks of my arrival in Taiwan. This allowed me to capture raw and unfiltered thoughts about the new journey I was about to embark upon this year. This work, titled Mirrors of Time, references the reflective process that occurs when one travels and lives abroad. For me, this work stands to flag the beginning of a something new: a new chapter, new lessons, and new experiences and questions to challenge what I know. With all the excitement and transitions after my arrival in Taipei, I felt the need to begin on familiar grounds for this work. Therefore, I chose to take movements from a solo I created in the States for a project set to J.S. Bach’s first violin partita. My training in music and dance thus far has been based around Western traditions and I felt “at home” dancing these movements. I rearranged the sequence of dance movements from the original solo in order to correspond with the structure of Professor Yen’s new composition for this collaboration. As I restructured the sequence, the movements began to presume a new life of their own. This choreographic process of using known material and reconstructing it into something new reflects the beginning of re-defining my identity....

Review: "Taiwan Philharmonic in Europe - Asia's Most European Orchestra" - American Record Guide (Robert Markow)

“Yen’s mastery of both orchestration and formal structure underscores her studies with such leading figures as William Bolcom, Christopher Rouse, and Steven Stucky.”

— American Record Guide

March/April 2014

"Taiwan Philharmonic in Europe - Asia's Most European Orchestra"

by American Record Guide (Robert Markow)

...Ming-Hsiu Yen (b. 1980) represented the younger generation.  Her Breaking Through, premiered last September in Taipei, is a 15-minute tone poem inspired by the ordeal of digging an eight-mile tunnel through the nearly 13,000-foot-high Snow Mountain near Taipei (higher than Japan's Mt Fuji).  Powerful rhythmic motifs from the percussion depicting the great tunnel boring machine, somber meditations on the lives lost, and turbulent passages suggestive of the inflow of water that plagued the engineers were all explicitly depicted in tone.  The best music came just after the "breakthrough" itself, not a great wall of jubilant sound but a thin sustained line in the high violins "like a beam of light peering through the darkness", according to Yen.  As the "beam of light slowly overcomes the darkness", the music is bathed in an impressionist iridescence that eventually rises to an overpowering climax.  Yen's mastery of both orchestration and formal structure underscores her studies with such leading figures as William Bolcom, Christopher Rouse, and Steven Stucky....

Review: "East meets West: The National Symphony Orchestra at the Philharmonie" - Musical America (Rebecca Schmid)

“Ming-Hsiu Yen’s Breaking Through...stays true to its title with a clear dramaturgical structure.”

— Musical America

 

"East meets West: The National Symphony Orchestra at the Philharmonie"

by Musical America (Rebecca Schmid)

...Ming-Hsiu Yen’s Breaking Through, which opened the program, stays true to its title with a clear dramaturgical structure. In the first section of the approximately 14-minute piece, after an exciting drum fanfare, various sections of the orchestra—high strings against brass, low strings against winds—are set into friction with each other, creating an immediate sense that something has to give. The second section builds out of an insistent, mourning motive in the low strings until only glassy textures and xylophone are left, only to rise again into a heroic close....

報導："NSO柏林愛樂廳演出 樂迷評價高" - 中國時報 (邱祖胤)

“這場精采的演出，以顏名秀描述雪山隧道艱困工程的《鑿貫》開場，打擊樂石破天驚的破題，震撼全場，三角鐵、沙鈴等多種樂器製造的流水聲，傳遍音樂廳每一角落。”

— 中國時報

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

NSO柏林愛樂廳演出 樂迷評價高

- 中國時報 (邱祖胤)

⋯⋯NSO在柏林時間18日晚間，由音樂總監呂紹嘉領軍，登上全球音樂家夢寐以求的柏林愛樂廳，贏得全場近2000名觀眾的熱烈迴響，現場歡呼聲不斷。⋯⋯

這場精采的演出，以顏名秀描述雪山隧道艱困工程的《鑿貫》開場，打擊樂石破天驚的破題，震撼全場，三角鐵、沙鈴等多種樂器製造的流水聲，傳遍音樂廳每一角落。⋯⋯

報導："NSO日內瓦演出 滿堂彩" - 中國時報 (邱祖胤)

“顏名秀的作品《鑿貫》，樂團澎湃的音響令人震撼，打擊樂戲劇性的呈現，三角鐵、沙鈴等多種樂器營造流水聲響及機械開鑿的聲音，讓觀眾驚歎連連。”

— 中國時報

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

NSO日內瓦演出 滿堂彩

- 中國時報 (邱祖胤)

音樂總監呂紹嘉領軍下，NSO國家交響樂團於日內瓦15日晚，在知名的維多利亞音樂廳演出，現場1500人座無虛席，樂團與瑞士籍台裔演奏家楊文信合作聖桑《大提琴協奏曲》，以及顏名秀描述雪山隧道艱困工程的管弦作品《鑿貫》，贏得滿堂彩。⋯⋯

呂紹嘉表示，每次在國外演出，對「音樂無國界」這句話感同深受，日內瓦演出是這次歐洲巡迴演出第4站，也是目前最滿意的一次表演。

駐日內瓦辦事處大使銜處長俞大使表示，日內瓦市徽有一行拉丁文，寫著「黑暗之後的光明」，與《鑿貫》的意境如出一轍，格外引起當地樂迷共鳴。俞大使說，日內瓦是國際能見度極高的城市，擁有30多個國際組織、250多個非政府組織、170多個各國常駐代表團，台灣表演團隊的精采演出，拉近國際與台灣的距離。

⋯⋯

澎湃《鑿貫》 奏雪隧工程艱辛

下半場演出顏名秀的作品《鑿貫》，樂團澎湃的音響令人震撼，打擊樂戲劇性的呈現，三角鐵、沙鈴等多種樂器營造流水聲響及機械開鑿的聲音，讓觀眾驚歎連連。顏名秀本人也在演出現場，她表示，作品的靈感來自理察‧史特勞斯的《阿爾卑斯交響曲》，對人與自然的關係有極為深刻的描繪。《鑿貫》表現雪山隧道工程的困難，以及台灣人努力突破困境、永不妥協的精神。

NSO從9日開始展開歐洲巡迴，先後在巴黎、米蘭、烏迪內、日內瓦等地演出，廣受好評，18日轉往最後一站德國柏林愛樂廳演出。

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Review: ONCE (again) - Sequenza21 (Garrett Schumann)

“Pianist Ming-Hsiu Yen succeeded in delivering the work in a beautifully corporeal way. Most profound was the flowing of Ming-Hsu’s arms as she ascended and descended the arpeggiated figure at the heart of the piece. ”

— Sequenza21

November 6, 2010

ONCE (again)

- Sequenza21 (Garrett Schumann)

...Robert Ashley’s Van Cao’s Meditation (1991), for piano, opened the evening. The piece was resonant, repetitive, and reminded me of Satie’s Ogives in spirit. Essentially, Van Cao’s Meditationmilled about one confined group of a few notes which covered all registers of the piano and, at the end of each phrase, settled on an octave which was not part of this more prevalent pitch collection. The piece was over half and hour long, so the music’s motion through time was made interesting by altering the dynamics and lengths of phrases.

More importantly, the performance is meant to be intensely physical – as Ashley said before the piece, the player must have the music, “in their body” – and Pianist Ming-Hsiu Yen succeeded in delivering the work in a beautifully corporeal way. Most profound was the flowing of Ming-Hsu’s arms as she ascended and descended the arpeggiated figure at the heart of the piece. Perhaps because the work’s musical landscape is so static, Ashley placed a higher premium on the physical aspects of Thursday’s performance, even going so far as to request Ming-Hsiu wear a sleeveless top in the concert. These inferences notwithstanding, Ashley’s piece, despite its epic length, was a wild success on Thursday and many people I talked to after the concert said their reaction to Van Cao’s Meditation was profoundly visceral....

Media Profile: Much to Anticipate from These 7 - TwinCities.com (Rob Hubbard)

November 7, 2008

Much to Anticipate from These 7

- TwinCities.com (Rob Hubbard) 

Intensity. Conflict. Urgency. If this sounds like some serious stuff, then you have a sense of what the composers who participated in this week's Composer Institute at Minneapolis' Orchestra Hall are trying to convey.

All week, seven composers have had their pieces picked apart and rehearsed by Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra. And, on Friday night, the Composer Institute reached its climax with a concert at Minneapolis' Orchestra Hall. It proved to be a fine display for seven promising talents, with much to recommend in each of the works performed.

...Both McManus and Ming-Hsiu Yen seem firmly rooted in the idea of music as a means toward conveying conflict. The latter's "Yun" exploded with angst before giving way to lovely interweaving lines in the woodwinds that sound like sighs of resignation. But soon a sense of dread re-emerges int the strings, making "Yun" an intriguing emotional roller coaster ride....