Moonlight Shadows and Night Thoughts

Based on a Western tradition, a strong Eastern influence is evident in Moonlight Shadows and Night Thoughts (Symphony No.1). It is composed of two movements. This work employs elements of two diverse cultures: (a) Chinese folk music and (b) contemporary Impressionist music by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Toru Takemitsu most prominently. The musical imageries of the piece come from two Chinese poems, The beautiful sceneries in both Poems are associated with the word ¿moonlight.¿ The processing of time and the timbres is the focus of this work. The symphony does not illustrate any action or drama, but was restricted to portray nature and express human feelings. Clear divisions of the poems directly relate to different themes and musical images in the composition itself and present the listener with a comprehensive look at different natural images and human emotions through music.