Bya
for Orchestra
by
Yangfan Xu
Program Notes
“Bya” is from the Tibetan language. It means “birds”. And the whole piece is inspired by my trip to Tibet in 2016. When the pandemic first broke out, the city was put on lockdown, and I started to have recurring dreams about my trip to Tibet.
I miss seeing the world outside so much that I decided to write a piece on my memories and experiences in Tibet. It is the most wonderful land I have ever seen. Tibet is said to be the closest place to heaven on earth. When I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn't agree more. The landscape is so stunning that it feels like a place that is unreal. Yamdrok Lake was the name of the lake I visited. And there's a bird island in the middle of the lake where you can see hundreds of different kinds of birds. It was magnificent and mind-blowing.
Bya’s opening section is about the general shock I felt when I arrived in Tibet. And the middle slow section, where you can hear the trumpet's extended technique imitating a bird's call, depicts the bird's island and the Yamdrok Lake. The final section of the piece is about a Tibetan tradition known as the sky funeral. When people die, their bodies are placed on top of a temple and the birds eat them. I find the ritual very special to me because it represents the connection between humans and nature. As a result, I decided to include that section in my piece as well.
This work has been scheduled to be performed by the Sydney Contemporary Orchestra during the Sydney International Composers Concerts 2023 - Contemporary Orchestral Music (III) concert on October 6, 2023, at Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Australia.
