宇宙之塵 Stardusk (2024)

for 8 parts choir

StarDust is an eight-part mixed-voice choral composition with a duration of approximately 12 minutes. The lyrics for this choral work are based on a poem by the poet Chung Yung-Feng, who concretized my reflections on time, space, and self. The piece takes inspiration from the concept of the "Doppler effect," transforming the gliding characteristics of sound movement through time and space into the four tones of Mandarin phonetics (first tone, second tone, third tone, fourth tone + neutral tone) as fundamental compositional elements.

These tonal inflections are an essential part of our daily speech, communication, and self-expression, yet they are often overlooked and neglected in Taiwan's sound culture. By using the "Doppler effect" as the structural basis for time, I attempt to distort, deconstruct, and reconstruct these tonal elements to observe and convey the time differences I experience during my frequent travels between New York and Taipei.

StarDust
By Chung Yung-Feng; inspired by the composer Chang Xuan's reflections

The night sky,
Countless stars vying to shine—
Flickering, glimmering, a fleeting flash.
Boundless and unyielding, Their light ebbs and flows, tender yet resolute.
Stardust, born of solemn vows.
The self, the greater self, dissolving ego, no distinctions remain.
No epochs, no tribes, no ancestors— Mother far away.
Neither East nor West, Both South and North.
And yet,
I am me, my own celestial body.
Freedom,
Spiraling outward,
My time unfurls.
Sinking, settling,
The gravity of my own being.
Perhaps I might sense,
Receive, and reveal—
The transcendent pull of my existence.

〈宇宙之塵〉為一首八部混聲合唱作品，全長約12分鐘，以詩人鍾永豐根據我對時間、空間和自我的思索具象化撰寫的詩作作為這部合唱作品的歌詞。作品從「都卜勒效應」的概念出發，將聲音在時間與空間中移動時的滑音特質，轉化為中文發音的四聲音韻（一聲，二聲，三聲，四聲＋輕聲），作為創作的基本元素。

四聲音韻是我們日常講話、溝通和自言自語的重要部分，但它們常常在台灣聲音文化中被遺忘和忽略。透過將「都卜勒效應」作為時間結構的基礎，我試圖變形、分解並重組這些音韻，以觀察和表達我在紐約與台北之間頻繁往返時所感受到的時間差。

宇宙之塵
鍾永豐；根據作曲家張玹自述

夜空

星兒無數，爭放光

忽瑩忽暗，閃爍一瞬間

浩瀚無懼，殷勤自明滅

宇宙之塵，是為悲願

小我大我，以破我執，無分別

沒有時代沒有族類沒有父輩，母遙遠

不東不西，亦南亦北

原來

我是我，我自己的星球

自由

旋而轉出，自我的時間

沉而澱積，自身的重力

或可感知、領受、再現，超我的引力