Lost in Paradise
紙醉金迷
Instrumentation: Viola, Cello and Piano
Duration: ca. 1'15"
Composition Date: 2014.10
Première Date: 2014.12.08
Première Artists: Hong Kong New Music Ensemble
Remark: Commissioned by Hong Kong Composers’ Guild for “SOUND-IMAGination 2014: Hong Kong Postcards”
Sample Recording: Currently unavailable as restricted by Hong Kong Composers' Guild
Programme Notes:
Photo Copyright © by Bonnie Ming-wui Cheng
“Umbrellas come from the ground and cover the road,
I do not ask to see the distant scene, one step enough for me.”
David Ho-yi Chan
A city once worthy of our pride
A resplendent facade with a rotten inside
Its lavish revelry always unceasing
Its grinding pressure never relieving
In the small hours a metropolis garishly illuminated
On postcards gleaming light trails replicated
Nothing but a glow flickering in its last moments
On a road to destruction ever dimmer
A reminiscence of the city's former glamour
A salute to its glorious historic moments
Composed amidst the outbreak of the Umbrella Movement, Lost in Paradise was written while the composer was in the land of Britain and feeling anxious for his friends back home. On the streets dazzled with glitter of gold, one finds oneself, lost in paradise.
(English Translation by Justin Jing-hoi Lo)