Four Short Poems (2014)
for erhu and piano
1. Flight of Fancy
2. Green Sheep Tango
3. Air
4. Walls of Joy
Written for Nicole Li and Corey Hamm
Duration: 7 min
Years ago, I heard Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 for solo violin performed effortlessly on the erhu. Prior to that experience I had heard the erhu only in a traditional Chinese folk music context, and I was awed by the ability of the instrument to display such a decidedly Western style of virtuosity. Four Short Poems was inspired by this approach of adapting 'Western' musical gestures to the erhu, though the set is not intended to be a virtuosic showpiece. Rather, the four brief movements feature the erhu and piano in various ways, ranging in character from quirky to serene to exuberant.