Jo-Yu Li (李若瑜) - Tafalong

Workshop performance video

“Tafalong”, one of the Taiwanese aboriginal music, sung in the traditional harvest festivals with dance and their perfect harmonies for hundreds of years. They show their passion and powerful energy in music. Sometimes, the indigenous people tend to show respect for the creator god and ancestors. This song does not have exact lyrics, but chanting to appreciate the admiration of nature.

I try to add the idea of "moto perpetuo" and transform the ancient ballad to a brand new sound in this string quartet. You might hear the powerful dynamics which is the dance pacing and the primitive shouting in the hills.

Composer: Jo-Yu Li (李若瑜)

Composer photo
Photo of Jo-Yu Li
Biography

 

Jo-Yu Li came from Taiwan. She completed her Postgraduate Diploma in composition at the Royal Northern College of Music (UK) with a scholarship. Her musical works have been performed in Taiwan and the UK and she has participated in the workshops with artists such as the BBC Singers, led by Judith Weir, the masterclass with Anders Hillborg and Elaine Gould, and the 2018 Cheltenham Composer Academy.

Her mixed choir work “RAIN” was workshopped and sung by the BBC Singers in Jan.2018, and the orchestral piece “L'Oiseau bleu” was chosen to be performed at the RNCM Concert Hall in April 2018. Her Orchestral work “The Fire Window” won the 3rd prize of the National Taiwan Composition Competition in 2018. Jo-Yu was the first composer who won three awards in the competition including the orchestra players’ choice prize, audience’s choice prize, and the 3rd prize. The work was premiered by the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and has been released in the NTSO New Music Album in 2019.