Fantasy on Theme Lan Hua Hua

Lanhuahua is a folk song of the western China. The song narrates a tragic love story during the time when freedom of marriage was a luxury. Almost a century later it is nearly impossible to experience what those people had to suffer, but the calling for humanity resonates with us from different time, with different life stories. I ask myself, “what does humanity mean to me?”

While composing this piece, there were a lot of inspirations coming from minimal music. In repetitions, field of pitches, waving textures, and continues pulses, I hear the eternity. I also look for what minimal music does not offer, the vitality, by keeping the music flowing, developing, and shifting freely, to reach what my heart is calling for. With the expressive melody of Lanhuahua, I convey my personal and contemporary apperception of humanity.

—Yanchen Ye