Whispering Orchid in the Silent Valley

Whispering Orchid in the Silent Valley is a work for zheng (筝) and a mixed chamber ensemble of violin, cello, clarinet, and piano. The piece explores the Chinese artistic principle of liubai (留白), an aesthetic concept in traditional painting that embraces intentional blank spaces to evoke depth, imagination, and spirituality. Rooted in Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian philosophies, liubai reflects the interdependence of presence and absence, allowing emptiness to function as an active force in artistic expression.

This composition translates liubai into a sonic dimension by positioning the zheng as the central figure, akin to the solitary fisherman in Yuan Ma’s Fishing Alone on a Cold River. Rather than dominating through constant activity, the zheng serves as a focal point, articulated through the expressive qualities of cuo (撮, plucking multiple strings), chan (颤, vibrato), and an (按, pitch bend). These gestures shape the musical landscape while leaving space for the other instruments to respond, creating a dialogue that ebbs and flows like ripples on water.

The absence of strict meter in the early compositional stages reflects the influence of sanban (散板), a free-tempo style in traditional Chinese music. While later structural refinements introduced metric indications to support ensemble cohesion, the essence of temporal flexibility remains. Barlines, fermatas, and suspended harmonies function as musical “blank spaces,” inviting performers to shape pacing, resonance, and silence. The ensemble extends the zheng’s timbral world through analogous techniques: the piano echoes bending tones of an with grace-note clusters, the strings sustain and embellish, and the clarinet’s multiphonics enrich the spectral interplay.

Rather than equating liubai with silence, the piece embraces the notion that emptiness is a generative space—one that invites interpretation and engagement. The music is not simply about what is played, but about how sounds emerge, dissolve, and resonate around the zheng’s structural framework. Like an orchid whispering in an unseen valley, the work seeks to balance presence and absence, enabling the listener to dwell within the shifting contours of foreground and background.

World premiere on June 5, 2024, at Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Martin Harris Centre, University of Manchester, conducted by Xinjie Yang.