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Wenqing Yan’s Glass Instruments Collection by which GLASS is Inspired
Used with permission
Composer Note:
GLASS is inspired by the artwork of visual artist Wenqing Yan—also known as Yuumei. Of Yan’s collection of beautiful digital art, there is a small series of works which depicts women playing instruments made of glass. These five works resonated with me in a way which I could not ignore. Just as these musicians had been stunningly illustrated by Yan, I hoped to bring to life the music coming from their equally beautiful instruments. The glass instruments depicted in this series of art include the flute, violin, viola, piano, and drumset. Though depicted separately, I combined these fictional performers into a chamber ensemble—each instrument with one movement of this work dedicated to it. Paired with each work of art, Wenqing Yan includes a short poem. Each movement of GLASS is inspired by the art and poem with which it shares its name. The order of the movements of GLASS creates an interpreted story among the poems when read in succession.
GLASS is my attempt to recreate, with music, the beauty I experience when looking at Wenqing Yan’s series of glass instruments artwork.