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HUANG RUO’S A DUST IN TIME

DEL SOL QUARTET

A DUST IN TIME《時間的塵埃》(PASSACAGLIA FOR STRINGS) LIKE

A MANDALA, A LABYRINTH OR A SPIRAL, THE BAROQUE PASSACAGLIA GIVES US A PATHWAY TO

EVER-EXPANDING POSSIBILITIES.

THE

SAN FRANCISCO’S GRACE CATHEDRAL MADE THE STAGE FOR OUR FIRST PERFORMANCE OF A DUST IN TIME, LIVE-STREAMED FROM THE EMPTY CHURCH. ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE US PREMIERE, HUNGRY FOR HUMAN CONNECTION, WE UNPACKED OUR INSTRUMENTS TO PLAY FOR A FEW FRIENDS OUTDOORS IN THE PARK ACROSS THE STREET. SOON WE WERE JOINED BY PASSERSBY WHO PAUSED WITH THEIR DOGS AND STROLLERS TO LISTEN AS HUANG RUO’S HOUR-LONG PALINDROMIC PASSACAGLIA GREW FROM SILENCE TO EUPHORIA AND THEN FADED BACK INTO THE WIND, SIRENS AND JACKHAMMERS OF THE CITY. LABYRINTH OF

“MOST OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED MOMENTS DURING THIS GLOBAL CRISIS WHERE TIME AND SPACE SEEM TO BE SLOWED OR FROZEN. THIS SPECIAL PIECE IS CREATED FOR THE PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THE PANDEMIC, GIVING THEM A PIECE OF MUSIC TO REFLECT, TO EXPRESS, TO MOURN, TO BURY, TO HEAL, TO FIND INTERNAL PEACE, STRENGTH, AND HOPE. THE ORIGINAL SIXTY-MINUTE VERSION, TIMED SYMBOLIZING THE CYCLE AND CIRCLE OF THE HOUR, IS TO BE PERFORMED LIVE WITHOUT A BREAK. ITS STRUCTURE IS LIKE A TIBETAN SAND MANDALA, CREATED LIVE SLOWLY FROM THE CENTRAL ESSENCE POINT EXPANDING OUTWARD INTO ITS COLORED FULLNESS, AND THEN TO BE SUBTRACTED FROM IT INWARDS BACK TO THE CENTRAL ESSENCE POINT, FULFILLING THE SPIRITUAL AND LIFE CYCLE AND JOURNEY OF TRAVELING FROM NOTHING (EMPTINESS) TO SOMETHING (FULLNESS), AND THEN BACK TO NOTHING (EMPTINESS). A COLORFUL PERFECT WORLD CREATED BY SANDS, ALTHOUGH BEAUTIFUL, YET IT WILL EVENTUALLY RETURN BACK TO DUST. BY GOING THROUGH THIS ENTIRE JOURNEY, WHAT WILL REMAIN AFTERWARDS IS THE FULFILLMENT AND INTERNAL PEACE LAYING IN THE HEART ...”

- HUANG RUO, 2020

*NOTE - THE TRACK TITLES ARE NOT INCLUDED IN HUANG RUO’S ORIGINAL SCORE BUT WERE SUGGESTED BY DEL SOL QUARTET FOR THIS WORLD-PREMIERE RECORDING.

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Chron (ascending) Age (ascending) Epoch (ascending) Period (ascending) Era (ascending) Eon (ascending) Supereon Eon (returning) Era (returning) Period (returning) Epoch (returning) Age (returning) Chron (returning)

COMPOSED BY HUANG RUO SAM WEISER, VIOLIN; BENJAMIN KREITH, VIOLIN; CHARLTON LEE, VIOLA; KATHRYN BATES, CELLO

OVER

THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS, DUST — AS WE AFFECTIONATELY CALL IT — HAS BECOME OUR MEASURE OF TIME, MARKING EXPERIENCES RAW, INTENSE AND TRANSCENDENT. OUR JOURNEY WITH DUST BEGAN WITH A TEARFUL ZOOM CALL WHERE HUANG RUO FIRST HEARD HIS NOTES BROUGHT TO LIFE

—

NOTES THAT FOR MONTHS HAD TURNED OVER IN HIS HEAD AS HE FELL ASLEEP.

FOR

THE FIRST LIVE PERFORMANCE, WE

GATHERED FRIENDS AND STRANGERS IN A PARK TO BASK IN MUSICAL RESPITE DURING THE TENSE DAYS FOLLOWING THE ELECTION.

MOST

RECENTLY,

DUST

ECHOED OFF THE

BOBBED IN THE EDDY OF A SANDBANK.

THIS

YAMPA RIVER’S

2020

PRESIDENTIAL

CANYON WALLS, ENVELOPING OUR FELLOW RAFTERS IN SOUND AS THEY

RECORDING AND ITS COMPANION COLORING BOOK IS A CULMINATION OF OUR DESIRE TO SHARE THIS

LIFE-EMBRACING MEDITATION.

DEL SOL QUARTET FASCINATED BY THE FEEDBACK LOOP BETWEEN SOCIAL CHANGE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ARTISTIC INNOVATION, THE SAN FRANCISCO-BASED DEL SOL QUARTET IS A LEADING FORCE IN 21ST-CENTURY CHAMBER MUSIC. THEY BELIEVE THAT LIVE MUSIC CAN, AND SHOULD, HAPPEN ANYWHERE - WHETHER INTRODUCING BEN JOHNSTON’S MICROTONAL AMERICANA AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS OR IN A CANYON CAVE, TAKING AERYN SANTILLAN’S GUN-VIOLENCE MEMORIAL TO THE STREETS OF THE MISSION DISTRICT, OR COLLABORATING WITH HUANG RUO AND THE ANONYMOUS CHINESE POETS WHO CARVED THEIR WORDS INTO THE WALLS OF THE ANGEL ISLAND IMMIGRATION STATION. SINCE 1992, DEL SOL HAS COMMISSIONED OR PREMIERED THOUSANDS OF WORKS BY COMPOSERS INCLUDING TERRY RILEY, GABRIELA LENA FRANK, TANIA LEÓN, FREDERIC RZEWSKI, VIJAY IYER, MASON BATES, MICHAEL HARRISON, HUANG RUO, PAMELA Z, CHINARY UNG, CHEN YI, ERBERK ERYILMAZ, THERESA WONG, REZA VALI AND KUI DONG. THE QUARTET WORKS REGULARLY WITH COMPOSERS THROUGH WORKSHOPS, UNIVERSITIES, AS WELL AS DEL SOL COMMISSIONING AND INCUBATOR PROGRAMS. THEY ESPECIALLY VALUE THEIR ONGOING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GABRIELA LENA FRANK CREATIVE ACADEMY OF MUSIC IN BOONVILLE, CA. DEL SOL’S TENTH ALBUM “KOOCH-E KHAMÂN” RELEASED IN FEBURARY 2021, FEATURING 7 NEW WORKS BY YOUNG IRANIAN COMPOSERS AND CHARTING #5 ON BILLBOARD. OTHER WORLD PREMIERE ALBUMS INCLUDE TERRY RILEY’S DARK QUEEN MANTRA, THE “RHYTHMICALLY INFECTIOUS” SCRAPYARD EXOTICA, (NEW YORK TIMES), AND PETER SCULTHORPE’S COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS WITH DIDJERIDU. DELSOLQUARTET.COM

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PRODUCED BY JUDITH SHERMAN | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: LOUIS LEVITT PUBLISHED BY RICORDI | ENGINEERED BY DAVID V.R. BOWLES EDITED & MASTERED BY JUDITH SHERMAN | EDITING ASSISTANT: JEANNE VELONIS COVER ART + ALBUM PACKAGE DESIGN BY MARIAN C. HOLMES | MANDALA DESIGN BY FELICIA LEE TRACKS RECORDED @ ST. STEPHEN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, BELVEDERE TIBURON, CA, MAY 13-14, 2021

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