Programme Note

Zhou Tian: Night Tour 
for violin & orchestra / violin & piano  
Commissioned by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition

“Night Tour” takes listeners on a musical voyage to splendidness after dark. It spans a range of moods, from a playful, folky tune to a tranquil meditation, and finally to a wild night ritual filled with edgy rhythms. The piece draws inspiration from various cultures and aims to seamlessly blend them. Commissioned as the designated new work for the Stern violin competition, “Night Tour” also carries a spirit of optimism.

The 23-mintue work unfolds in three movements:

I. Vivo opens with the soloist in an energetic quasi cadenza, supported by rhythmic sparkles from the brass and strings. The music soon unfolds into a songful Andante, in which a melody is slowly developed into a vivid toccata. After reaching a climactic point, a “real” cadenza appears, succeeded by a shortened return of the toccata.

II. Amoroso is a late-night walk in a quiet city. Still and chorale-like at first, the soloist soon joins the plush strings with an airy lullaby. The sonic color is altered through sul ponticello (with the bow kept near the bridge) and flautando (creating a flute-like sound by moving the bow lightly on the string near the fingerboard), masking the hinted atonality in the melody with romanticism. The prolonged coda, supported by vibraphone, harp, quiet trumpets and strings, features variations on a G-minor chord – some bright, some moody, infinitely changing.

III. Con brio is a virtuosic dance in perpetual motion. Here, the syncopated rhythmic pattern periodically “interrupts” the scherzo-like violin solo, until the two switch roles. Perhaps more than the previous two movements, the finale incorporates influences from non-western music, especially in the treatment of the rhythm and gestures such as slides and glissandos. An accumulation of materials sends the piece to a climax at the end.
—Zhou Tian