Dennis Wu: Quartet
for clarinet, violin, cello and piano| I | Allegro molto - Incalzando | Listen |
| II | Moderato | Listen |
| III | Largo, expressif sempre - Molto sostenuto e affectuoso | Listen |
Completed in February 2001, the three-movement Quartet is written for clarinet, violin, violoncello and piano, with all the three movements based on materials drawn from the opening of the first movement. As the music proceeds, these materials are often fragmented into smaller pieces; they also merge and form longer melodies. Special importance is given to certain intervals, which are explored throughout.
The first movement sets out from an impetus of cello staccato bass and the fragmentary motive is stated in the first apperance of the violin. The motive is gradually expanding to a long, unison melody. The music gains vitality across time, until Incalzando the music sets back with forzando. The extreme of the instruments are used and creating a high tension.
The second movement is a scherzo. It starts from a rhythmically irregular pizzicato passage of the violin and cello. The clarinet and piano join the chat later, though with a different merry tone; they are quite talking with selves. The movement alternates with these two sections.
The atmospheric third movement may be seen as a Nachtmusik. Certainly, it resembles the first movement of Trio the composer wrote earlier. In this free structured movement, the instruments express with long melodies with melancholy. A sudden cry from far sets out in the middle with all the instruments, except piano, climbing to the climax. The music ends with reminiscenes of the previous movements.
The première took place in an exchange concert organized by Chinese University of Hong Kong and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts.
Recording and Performer
This recording is recorded live at Lee Hysan Concert Hall, Chinese University of Hong Kong on March 7, 2001.
Martin Choy, clarinet
Having started the clarinet at the age of 12 under guidance of Norman Foster, Martin Choy later entered the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music to study under Daniel Silver. In 1985 he attended the Royal College of Music to pursue studies under John McCaw, Principal Clarinet of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
On returning from England, he was engaged as clarinetist in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra for the season 1987-88. Choy is now teaching clarinet and saxophone at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing arts, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Baptist University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Music Institute. Currently, he is the Principal Clarinetist of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Since 1996, Choy has held several masterclasses in Macau and acted as adjudicator for the Macau Youth Music Competition. Choy is also very active as a freelance chamber and solo player, especially for Musicarama.
Wong Wai-man, violin
Born in Vietnam in 1962, Wai Man started violin lessons at the age of six. In 1979, he won the Commercial Radio Prize in a music competition while studying at St. Stephen's College. He joined the Hong Kong "Elite" Chamber Orchestra on a tour of England, Israel and Cyprus the following year. Wai Man received a scholarship from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club to study at Goldsmiths' College, University of London in 1981. He obtained the M.C.O.S. Diploma of Performance and subsequently at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. After that, Wai Man undertook studies at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. His teachers included Ngai Ho Chau, Rodney Friend, Richard Deakin and Alexander Acenkov (assistant to David Oistrackh).
In 1988, Wai Man rejoined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and taught (part-time) at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He emigrated to Australia in 1992 where he played with the Queensland Philharmonic and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra as first violin player.
Angela Yeung, cello
Angela Yeung, cellist, is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of San Diego, where she overseas the music theory curriculum, direct the chamber music program and conduct the university symphony orchestra. She has offered many lectures and performances in Hong Kong, including numerous recordings for RTHK and recent appearances as music director for the Baroque Music Society of Hong Kong and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.
Dr. Yeung holds a Ph.D. degree in Music Theory from Columbia University. In addition to her full-time position at the University of San Diego, she is Artistic Director of the concert series Early Music at Saint Peter's Church in New York City, as well as Artistic Co-Director of Orvieto Musica, an international summer chamber music workshop held annually in Orvieto, Italy.
Mary Wu, piano
Hong Kong-born Mary Wu gave her first public performance at the age of three and has been captivating audiences ever since in Austria, Canada, England, Germany, Hong Kong, the United States and throughout Asia. She has played in some of the world's most prestigious concert halls and with some the most respected musicians -- Yehudi Menuhin, James Buswell, Homer Mensch, and Vlado Perlemuter, who calls Wu "one of the most gifted pianists of her generation."
A believer in music education, she and her Bauhinia Piano Trio share their skills and enthusiasm for chamber music with young students in an outreach programme supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. Moreover, as a Doctor of Music, Wu has been on the faculty of Hong Kong University, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and Artist-in-Residence at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Mary Wu is a graduate of the Yehudi Menuhin School -- Lord Menuhin has said that her "poetical" playing "captivates her audience" -- Royal College of Music, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she completed her Doctoral degree. Prizes include the Chappell Gold Medal, First Prize at the Royal Overseas League Competition, a prize in the Abraham & Phyllis Katz Competition in New York, as well as the Harpsichord Prize and the Clavichord Prize while a student at the Royal College of Music.
Première
Performers: Martin Choy, clarinet. Wong Wai-man, violin. Angela Yeung, cello. Mary Wu, piano.
Lee Hysan Concert Hall, Chinese University of Hong Kong. March 7, 2001.