Music Unlimited II: “From the Mountains of Taiwan” (來自台灣的高山) – “Lullaby” (搖籃曲)

Included in “Chinese Choral Music Anthology: Music Unlimited II.”

About the Work

This a cappella suite on Indigenous themes is not a direct arrangement of Indigenous music. Rather, it is a set of sound sketches created by deconstructing Indigenous musical material and then recombining and collaging it, balancing high artistic value with real challenges for the singers. The work is in four parts: “Lullaby,” “Harvest Festival Song,” “Malan Maiden” and “I-Naaw A-Maaw.” Apart from the original lyrics, the texts often consist only of a few repeated phrases or vocables with no particular meaning. The compositional approach also differs in each of the four songs, the aim being to show the many possibilities of transforming Amis songs into choral works.

The first song, “Lullaby” (O-Yu-Yu-Papay), tells of a grandmother gently patting her grandchild, asking the child not to cry and to go to sleep. The melody is broken up among the voices, forming melodic lines horizontally while circling around a major triad vertically, gently creating a tranquil resonance.

Text: Shu Xi Chen