Composition
Innocence's last gaze before it, like all, goes with the wind, Op. 16
Alternative title: 純真隨萬物乘風而逝前的最後回眸，作品 16
Year of composition: 2023
Instrumentation: flute, bassoon, piano
Duration: 10 mins
Commissioned by: Ensemble Fioritura
Dedicatee: Matthew Wong 王曉峯
Premiere:
World premiere:
Ensemble Fioritura
2023 Feb 2・St Mary's, Aylesbury, UK
Innocence’s last gaze before it, like all, goes with the wind is about saying goodbye — especially to someone or something that once brought joy through their naturally constant simplicity. The piece captures the subtle complexities of the moment when one realises that both have travelled so far down their respective paths that such simplicity has long been compromised by necessity. The farewell is reluctant, likely wordless; and though they may cross paths again one day, the innocence they once shared will never return.
The piece opens with a canon between the flute and bassoon, its phrase structures built on the Fibonacci sequence. This forms the foundation for all motivic material and structural landmarks throughout the work. The first section expands the motifs into lingering long notes, like fragments of bittersweet memories, and gradually morphs into a melancholic bassoon solo. The second section grows more anguished before giving way to a jubilant waltz, followed by a duet that feels like rays of sunshine filtering through the woods — expressing the deepest gratitude. When the canon returns for the third time, its phrases appear in reverse order, dwindling into ever smaller echoes of their origin, until they vanish, like innocence, with the wind.