Hi everyone,

About a year ago I finished my composition called Exclamation. A musical piece centered about nature and humanity. This was my first time writing for a saxophone quartet and mezzo soprano. It was a huge and important experience to be able to work together with the amazing musicians from the HKU conservatory. I've learned a lot from them and the whole experience helped me to look forward to composing more complex and conceptual pieces.

A lot of my initial inspiration came from Steve Reich. I've always been fascinated by Music For 18 Musicians. If you don't know it yet, I can really recommend taking the time to find a nice and quiet moment to listen to this composition. The incredible electronic-music-like trance, pulsing infinity and beautiful arrangements inspired me to look for new musical qualities to incorporate into my own work. The piece started on the piano. An idea sparked while simultaneously tapping on the wood, playing chords and humming some melodies. My goal was to create a piece which would truthfully honour a single simple theme. So I started by composing a simple theme. I wanted it to be recognizable and impressivly sounding. By hiding it all over the piece I've attempted to amplify the way the meaning of the theme is formed.

The poem 'Wistful in the Wilderness' by Marco Buschini, is an accompanying part of the piece. I found a beautiful interplay between nature and humanity and found my conceptual inspiration in the way we, as technologically developed humans, are still as surrendered to nature as hunderds of years ago. We live as a part of nature and nature ultimately decides the way we live. We are bounded with nature in the inevitability of time. As seasons fade, the forces of nature sound endless and gentle, while we try to find our way to fit in. Humanities capability to adjust to nature is voiced by the mezzo soprano and nature is voiced by the electronics and saxophones.