Variations (on the brink)
for 8-part choir or 8 solo voices (2 × SATB) · 2006, rev. 2024 · text by Alvin Pang
为八声部合唱团或八位独唱者而作（2 × SATB） · 2006，2024 修订 · 词：Alvin Pang
Alvin Pang’s everyday phrases glide and morph across eight voices, on the brink of change.
Alvin Pang 的日常语句，在八个声部之间滑移、变形，站在变化的边缘。
| Text 歌词 | on the brink by Alvin Pang, written for this work Alvin Pang 为本作而写的《on the brink》 |
|---|---|
| Listen 聆听 | ▶ Recording (audio) ▶ 录音（音频） |
开头一页，八个声部。
About the work 关于作品
The text, on the brink, was written specially for this composition by my friend, the poet Alvin Pang: a collage of fragmented everyday phrases.
歌词《on the brink》由我的朋友、诗人 Alvin Pang 专为这部作品而写：一幅由零碎的日常语句拼贴而成的作品。
Phonemes morph freely from one to the next, following pathways suggested by the vowel chart, while voices glide continuously between pitches — expressive, but distinct from glissando or portamento. In a choir with several singers to a part, each glides independently, blurring the line into a pitch ‘smudge’. Glides in several parts together form a continuously morphing chord, intensified when combined with phoneme morphing: a sound that answers the text’s subjects of evolution and instability, on the brink.
音素从一个自由地变形为下一个，沿着元音图所提示的路径；各声部则在音高之间连续滑移——富于表情，却有别于滑音或延音。若合唱团每个声部有多位歌者，各人独立滑移，使旋律线模糊成一片音高的“晕染”。多个声部同时滑移，形成一个不断变形的和弦，与音素的变形结合时效果更为强烈：以此回应歌词中“演化”与“不稳定”的主题——在边缘之上。
The text 歌词
Alvin Pang 的《on the brink》，保留原有的版面排列。
Performances 演出
2006 — premiere: New York Virtuoso Singers, Miller Theatre, New York City.
2006——首演：纽约 Virtuoso Singers，纽约市 Miller 剧院。
21 October 2018 — Taipei Chamber Singers, conductor Yun-Hung Chen, National Recital Hall, Taipei.
2018年10月21日——台北室内合唱团，指挥 Yun-Hung Chen，台北国家音乐厅演奏厅。
2025 — revised version (2024): SYC Ensemble Singers, Esplanade Recital Studio, Singapore.
2025——修订版（2024）：SYC Ensemble Singers，新加坡滨海艺术中心。
For scores, performance materials and other enquiries:
chungshih@chungshih.info
乐谱、演出资料及其他查询：
chungshih@chungshih.info