Solo | Huijuan Ling

Yakusugi Image (2021)—6' 51"

for piano and electronics

Yakusugi Image explores a rainy soundworld.

Written for Kevin Der

Piano: Kevin Der

Electronics: Huijuan Ling

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Little Path to Summer (2020)—9' 24"

for piano solo

Little Path to Summer has a rather dreamy and improvisatory quality. This piece, as the title suggests, keeps wandering among the three-note gesture that opens the piece and its variants.

Commissioned by Jixue Yang

Premiered by Jixue Yang

The below is as the above, And the above as the below (2020)—7' 48"

for violoncello solo

I encountered the title of this piece while reading a book on alchemy and mysticism. The book points out that alchemists were always ready to bring out twelve ideas, one of which reads: “The below is as the above, and the above as the below, to perfect the wonders of the One.” I find this phrase to be quite inspiring in the context of writing a piece of solo music, because the concept of “below” and “above” can map onto instrumental registers quite nicely while being represented on one instrument.
The below is as the above, And the above as the below progresses mainly in a linear fashion, in which it starts hanging softly high above, in a narrow intervallic span, then goes lower and lower, louder and louder, while the intervallic span expands wider and wider

Premiered by Ashley Walters

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Diagonal Swing (2019)—4' 39"

for violin solo

Diagonal Swing is inspired by a weird story I heard at the end of September this year: one of my past teachers, one day, on his drive back home somehow sensed the upcoming danger at an intersection, so he decided to stop several feet away from the intersection while waiting for a stoplight. This turned out to be a brilliant decision: a couple of seconds later, a car driving by a drunk driver swung out of nowhere, and if my teacher had stopped at the intersection instead of several feet away from it, he would have been hit by the car for sure. This story was jokingly titled “Diagonal Drunk Driver” later, and the driver’s swing is the inspiration of this piece.

Premiered by Kate Dreyfuss

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Shades of E (2019)—7' 47"

for piano solo

Shades of E explores various possibilities of the note E. There are three movements: Rattling E, Repeated E, and Muffled E. Shades of E is written for and dedicated to pianist Gloria Cheng; may she find the same playful joy in this piece as I did.

Premiered by Gloria Cheng

Overlooking View (rev. 2018)—8' 34"

for piano solo

“Overlooking View” is inspired by a discussion of flying and floating in the first episode of anime Kara no Kyōkai (Boundary of Emptiness).

Commissioned by Julan Wang

Performed by Kara Huber

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Lang Tao Sha (2016)—6'34"

浪淘沙 · 帘外雨潺潺

For soprano and live electronics

Collaborated with Zhixin Xu

Soprano: Mengchun Yang

Live electronics: Zhixin Xu

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Paradoxical Archetype (2016)—7'

for harpsichord solo

The aim of this piece is to integrate a fugue into alternating

characteristic harpsichord and percussive textures.

Performed by Huijuan Ling

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Scattered Refrain: I Can't Fly To The Moon (2015)—4'4"

for guitar solo

This piece was written for CCM 24 hours Composer's Challenge.

Performed by Neil Beckmann

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Those Cold Winter Rains (2019)—9'

for harpsichord solo

Recorded on July 19, 2022, at Biddle 065, Duke University, Durham, NC.

Huijuan Ling - Harpsichord

Those Cold Winter Rains is written in homage to Toru Takemitsu, in which the beginning three notes of Takemitsu’s Rain Dreaming are referenced. I aim to use this piece to explore different sonic possibilities of the harpsichord, and this piece is an experiment of disruption, disrupted repetition, and continuation.