Fay Wang - Monodrama Series
I. Pisces Monodrama
II. Yaf's Monodrama
III. Monodrama of Old Haven
Work began on the “Pisces Monodrama” in the fall of 2009 while living in New Haven. The work came very naturally. No other work had been as satisfying to write as this piece. “Pisces Monodrama” basically describes a series of events, experiences and remarkable people in my life when I was 19. It’s a seven-movement song cycle, which includes vocal parts and narrating parts. Inspired by various music genres and is a good example of my “hybrid” style. I wrote all lyrics, except for “Wave Hello to the Sun” which was written by a dear friend of mine. The main themes of this work are Love, Farewell and Eternity. “The singer in Paradise” is dedicated to my mom who has passed away when I was 19. My mother was a singer. That was the first time I experienced death. Bjork, Beth Gibbons and other unordinary female vocalists influenced my singing style. I tried to put the spirit of classical music into the expressions of experimental pop music.
“Pisces Monodrama” was premiered at Yale School of Music in November of 2009, and Beijing Chamber Music Festival in October of 2010. The piece was received quite well. It was also broadcast on the China Central Television and the “Music for Internets” program in the United States.
Dreams are like a reflection of reality. Images that are reversed and can be distorded like mirrors a fun house. Yaf's character is the reflection of me. The dream here occurred during a total solar eclipse last summer while visiting my hometown. This dream is in two parts. The first half is of Yaf. She represents the confusion, panic and self-struggle in her heart by the "suicide performance". The second half is at the carnival. In the music you can hear the interaction between dream and cosmos. The is represented by dreamy chords and exotic, electric sounds. I also selected some excerpts from my work "Pisces Monodrama.” These can be considered as flashbacks of the last piece. Yaf's Monodrama and Pisces Monodrama have distinct musical languages but the meaning of "Yaf's Monodrama" is more abstract and obscure. The music is in five sections: The Cosmos Island, The Suicide Performance, Water Whisper, The Silent Carnival and The Galactic Alarm Clock. They are connected by pre-recorded electric sounds. The pre-recorded sound of the audience is my voice. I recorded ten tracks or so of me speaking, this was then manipulated to sound like a large group. I want to thank my friend Samuel Adams for making the fantastic electronic sounds and my friend Richard Harrold for writing an amazing eccentric lyric.
After Pisces Monodrama and Yaf’s Monodrama, Monodrama of Old Haven continues the series. Many people have asked me what my Monodrama means. If you consider an opera or a music theater as a film, the Monodrama could be a long trailer, alternatively, a Montage scene that doesn’t have a particular storyline but hidden relations between each passage. Mono also indicates multiple characters presented by single performer. In Old Haven, other lyricists and I who used to live in New Haven created our sub-real characters, the inner world or surreal dreams of the characters, and the abstractions of some personal or social events that happened in the area. I would like to extend my appreciation to my friends Samuel Adams, Chris Cerrone, Richard Harrold and Adrian Knight for contributing the texts for this piece.
Pisces Monodrama
@
Flea Theatre
Music With A View
clip
Full set
