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The source of inspiration for this piece, divided into five bagatelles for a choreographic gesture of the hands, is the result of my own practice of Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations:
Bagatelle I – Variation 14
Bagatelle II – Variation 29
Bagatelle III – Variation 23
Bagatelle IV – Variation 13
Bagatelle V – Variation 20

The visual and auditory compositional elements evolve through the dialogue between musicians and their projected shadows in a space created for the interplay and spatialization of sounds. The intuitive perception of space and time is conceived by: movement without sound, sound without movement, sound and movement, and no sound or movement (movement – no sound, no movement – sound, movement – sound, no movement – no sound).

Designing the lighting schema and composing the shadows are the result of synesthetic phenomenon. First, I deconstructed the hand gestures in Bach's Variations to establish a range of visual elements. I then used this same analytical method to initiate a new piece with musical elements.

The transcription from sound to shadow is as if light and shadow were inseparable from sound: subjective, objective, morphological, phenomenological, horizontal / vertical, continuous / discontinuous, narrative etc. Following this step, I then organized the musical and shaded texture in the investigation of dynamics, breathing, and continuity of gestures and sound.

The use of the shadow gestures is an important, yet indirect, contact — an essential aspect maintaining the dialogues between musicians, audience, composer and the work itself throughout entirety of the performance.
[LIAO Lin-Ni]

• Commissioned by National Tainan University of the Arts, Taiwan
• Premiered on 30 October 2017 at National Recital Hall – Taiwan by SU Lifang & PAN I-Yi
• Dedicated to SU Lifang & PAN I-Yi

Free and discrete, Lin-Ni Liao grasps the gesture of the instrumental from a poetic perspective. Her unique sensitivity guides her through a world of shadow and light.

Find a selection of her works at Maison ONA.