Goodnight, Tin Hau

Between 2016 and ’20, I had the privilege of working in Hong Kong, as an examiner for one of the various universities. During my visits, which always lasted around a week, I stayed in the Causeway Bay area of the city where, jet-lagged and unable to sleep, I would spend hours wandering the balmy, midnight streets. Disorientated and exhausted, I witnessed something unforgettable — the moment when the Hong Kong day collapses into night. Although the humidity lingers well into the early hours, this moment produces something of a pause… a breath… a gathering of forces… This moment was never silent, however. The city crackled, as if an electrical charge arced through the sweaty streets.

Goodnight, Tin Hau uses recordings from my visits, along with an arch-form, in an attempt to re-live that moment. As I composed, however, I became increasingly aware of the changing political situation in Hong Kong, and I now reflect on those four years as part of a much more serious pause… a collapse… a gathering of forces…

[viii-22]

Goodnight, Tin Hau was realized in 2021 at the University of Sheffield Sound Studios (USSSUniversity of Sheffield Sound Studios) (UK) and premiered on October 21, 2021, during the concert Resonant Pasts, Sonic Futures at Theatr Bryn Terfel in Bangor (Wales, UK). The piece was commissioned by Ina-GRMGroupe de recherches musicales – Institut national de l’audiovisuel. Goodnight, Tin Hau was a finalist in the Musica Nova 2021 International Competition of Electroacoustic Music (Prague, Czech Republic).