​Instrumentation:

2 violins, violoncello, theorbo, harpsichord, and high voice

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Duration: 15'

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It was a very special commission to write for my friends at Red Dot Baroque for their tour to Italy. I wanted to pay homage to the Italian baroque — and the recurring ritornello was an obvious choice. But how could we also include a piece of Singapore?

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The way string instruments and gut strings are made from natural materials made me think of nature…and the precious fragments of rainforest in our urban-but-green island came to mind. To me, the rainforest is a beautiful analogy to the musical range of the baroque ensemble, with each strata corresponding to a different musical voice:

 

     Emergent                      Solo voices

     Canopy                         Treble voices

     Understory                    Middle voices

     Forest floor                    Basso continuo

 

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Movements (the order may be rearranged as necessary)

 

1. Flora Fragment I

2. Jingle Jungle (Urban / Nature)

3. Flora Fragment II (Lingering Lianas) harpsichord solo

4. Burung Hamba Kera (The Macaque Follower) with voice

5. Pangolin Passacaglia (paraphrase of Marianne Moore's Pangolin) with voice

6. Flora Fragment III (Flora Trio)

7. Slender Squirrel, harpsichord solo

8. Flora Fragment IV (Tapestry) violin I solo

9. Durian (Tso Ping Lung's《流連》) with voice

 

                     — Chen Zhangyi, 7 June 2025​