Released by the Orchid Ensemble on Bandcamp, Spotify
From the Stars (2017, 2018) – Lan Tung
- erhu, vocal, zheng, cello, and percussion – released on the Orchid Ensemble’s 2024 CD “Celestial River”
- erhu, vocal, zheng, and percussion
- erhu, vocal, 8 cellos
Lan Tung originally composed the piece for the Orchid Ensemble’s 20th anniversary concert “Music of the Heavens” (2017), collaboration with media artists Aleksandra Dulic and Keneth Newby. Amberley John, on Dulic’s creative arts team of students at the Centre for Cultural & Technology of UBC Okanagan, shared with us a Haudenosaunee story passed down in her family from Bradley John, a Faithkeeper, bear clan, Oneida of the Thames: Three brothers chased forever the Giant Bear (Big Dipper) and was able to strike it in the autumn. The Bear’s blood turned all leaves on the earth into red, symbolizing seasonal changes. People around the world tell stories passed down for generations about the changes of seasons and historic events, such as major flood, drought, earthquakes, solar eclipse…. Although the stories are different in different cultures, the curiosity and the desire to understand the world are the same. So in a way, this story speaks about what we all share as humans.
This piece uses various meters 6/8, 7/4, 10/8, 11/8.
In the cello ensemble arrangement, the melodic line is divided between 8 cellos. and explores the percussive sounds of the cello.
《星空》講述在燦爛的星空下, 隱世而居的部落圍坐營火旁, 白髮蒼蒼的老人爲孩子們講述古老的加拿大原住民傳奇故事: 三個勇敢的獵人經過漫長的追蹤, 終於在秋天大熊星座離地平線最近的時節, 射出弓箭, 大熊的鮮血染紅大地, 與秋天滿地掉落的紅葉相印, 象徵四季的更迭。