Episode 96 — March 18, 2021
Lei Liang: "The moon is following us" for piano
Performed by Han Chen

Pianist Han Chen finds inspiration in the poetic music of composer Lei Liang. In performance, he’s often found himself focused most on minute details and techniques, but Liang’s music allows him the freedom to think of the bigger picture. The two artists first met in the summer of 2019, and they’ve been working together since. When they first met, Han Chen was immediately struck by how Liang described the essence of his music, drawing from paintings, calligraphy, and the history of China to write his music. Here, Han Chen performs Liang’s 2015 work, The moon is following us, which stems from a Chinese folk song and is titled after a quote from Liang’s five year old son, Albert. 

Han Chen first performed with Metropolis Ensemble in the fall of 2017 as part of their 5 Nights, 11 Pianists series, which paired young pianists with an established pianist for each concert. Han Chen played with critically acclaimed pianist Taka Kigawa on a recital of works by J.S. Bach and Steve Reich. Since, he’s performed on Metropolis’s 2019 Parallax concert and released a House Music series video in May 2020, where he performed Liang’s The Magma. Being a part of the House Music series in particular has been a highlight for Han Chen throughout the pandemic: seeing artists come together and continue to make music has helped him stay hopeful.

The moon is following us is special in many ways, but is perhaps most intriguing for how it provides multiple perspectives on the same melodies. The folk song is reinterpreted and refracted, shifting through different focal points to create a broad-stroked landscape. Han Chen relates this musical idea to Chinese calligraphy and traditional painting, where there’s no one focal point for the entire painting, you can look from many different perspectives to see many facets of the same thing. It’s as if you’re climbing to the top of a mountain, and once you’re at the pinnacle, you can see a multitude of different views.

Notes by Vanessa Ague

 
House Music: Bite-sized concerts recorded at homes around the world

In 2020-21, we created a weekly video series featuring short-form concerts of newly-commissioned works, supporting 208 artists around the world during the pandemic.