Fantasia on a Theme of Plum Blossoms (Version for clarinet and piano)

The musical material of this piece is loosely derived from a popular Nankuan melody, Plum Blossoms. Nankuan, a traditional style of southern Chinese/Taiwanese music, dates back to Han and Tang Dynasty. This melody serves as a basis for all three movements. In the fantasia like first movement, the Nankuan melody is first subtly introduced in a fragmented and motivic way. By the end of movement, a longer continuous melody appears. The second scherzo- like movement takes the faster and active passages from the first movement as a basis for playful and energetic music. The rich and elegant Nankuan melody is most apparent in the lyrical, contrapuntal final movement.

–Shih-Hui Chen