Chinese Nine Tone Scale

Composer Zhihua Hu started to employed her creative music theories into her composition since 2015. Ms. Hu induced “Chinese Nine Tone Scale” from Chinese Five Tone Scale (Pentatonic Scale), Chinese Six Tone Scale, and Chinese Seven Tone Scale (Ya and Yan Music). So far, she had adoped “Chinese Nine Tone Scale” into her solo and chamber works such like Compression - for Solo Flute (Commissioned by flutist of New York Martha Cargo), Modern Life - for Three Percussionists (Commissioned by 2016 Cortona Sessions for New Music, Italy), Zodiac’s Celebrated Day - for Flute and Clarinet in B- Flat (Commissioned by 2016 Zodiac Music Academy & Festival, France), Three Memories of Teenage Years - Mov. I Silver Hair (Commissioned by Zodiac Trio in 2016 Zodiac Academy & Music Festival, France); Mov. II Nacht (Premiered in OPERA America); Mov. III Un Poema Italiano (Premiered in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), and Chinese and Western - for Two Wind Performers and Two Percussionists (Premiered in Weill Recital Hall at CARNEGIE HALL), The Epitome of Musée du Louvre - for Symphony (Premiered by Conductor George Manahan and MSM Symphony Orchestra), Harmony - for Double Duets (Clarinet in B - Flat and Alto Saxophone), Commissioned by Duo Sore Yure), Nine Tone Trio - for Two players (Clarinet in B - Flat, Hichiriki and Piano, Commissioned by Thomas Piercy).

Compression Rhythm

Ms, Hu’s inspiration of “Compression Rhythm” was derived from our modern lives. Nowadays, people have to deal with many different matters simultaneously, especially in the cities like New York. Here, time is restricted and we consider the idea of people’s lives as being “compressed”. So far, she had adopted “Compression Rhythm” in her solo and chamber works such as Compression - for Solo Flute (Commissioned by flutist of New York Martha Cargo), Modern Life - for Three Percussionists (Commissioned by 2016 Cortona Sessions for New Music, Italy), Three Memories of Teenage Years - Mov. I Silver Hair (Commissioned by Zodiac Trio in 2016 Zodiac Academy & Music Festival, France); Mov. II Nacht (Premiered in OPERA America); Mov. III Un Poema Italiano (Premiered in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), and Chinese and Western - for Two Wind Performers and Two Percussionists (Premiered in Weill Recital Hall at CARNEGIE HALL).

Cubism in Music

composer Ms, Hu was deeply attracted by Spanish Pablo Ruiz Picasso’s paintings of Cubism style, especially since she was standing in front of two painting Ma Jolie and Three Musicians by Picasso in MOMA in 2015. She believes the idea of Cubism in literature and architecture could also be employed in music. In 2015, she created “Cubism in Music” music theory and she tried to employ three-dimensional artistic feature into her composition Two Paintings by Picasso - for Solo Alto Saxophone.