Bethia Kong : From an April (2022)

From an April, composed by Bethia Kong (Premiere)

Flute: Loh Pui Kiu, Kiwi 羅沛喬
Oboe: Lai Chi Yuen, Pedro 黎子元
Clarinet in Bb: Fong Shing 方誠
Bass Clarinet: Chu Cheuk Yan, Sherine 朱淖恩
Bassoon: Dechasophon Aphichat
Soprano Saxophone: Fok Chin Wai 霍展煒
Piano: Ng Tin Lam, Titus 吳天霖
Violin I: Sammi Chan 陳心如
Violin II: Li Ka Ho, Leo 李嘉濠
Conductor: Bethia Kong 江恩詠

Audio Engineer: Chan Pui Ching 陳沛正 (faculty)
Mixing Engineer: Chan Pui Ching 陳沛正 (faculty)


Performed live at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on Tuesday 10 January 2023.




本曲啟發自《在四月》(From an April)，一首由奧地利詩人及小說家 ——— 萊納‧瑪利亞‧里爾克 (Rainer Maria Rilke) 寫的詩。音樂嘗試以恍惚的狀態切入，記錄初春時分的零碎印象：是朦朧的䁱霧，是凌厲的晚風；是稀疏的雨點，是分明的氣息。是幽微又澄澈的溫暖，柔和而堅定的亮光。

The piece is inspired by the poem “From an April” written by Rainer Maria Rilke, an Austrian poet and novelist. The music was attempted to be an ambiguous record of the fragmented impressions of early spring: the misty morning, the ferocious, stormy evening; the sparse raindrops, the distinct petrichor. The subtle and unyielding warmth, a distant, determined soft glow.




From an April by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

Again the woods are odorous, the lark
Lifts on upsoaring wings the heaven gray
That hung above the tree-tops, veiled and dark,
Where branches bare disclosed the empty day.

After long rainy afternoons an hour
Comes with its shafts of golden light and flings
Them at the windows in a radiant shower,
And rain drops beat the panes like timorous wings.

Then all is still. The stones are crooned to sleep
By the soft sound of rain that slowly dies;
And cradled in the branches, hidden deep
In each bright bud, a slumbering silence lies.