Lim Kang Ning (b. 1994)
Cornish Tides for solo harp
Cornish Tides is a two-movement suite for harp inspired by a summer road trip to the tidal island of St Michael's Mount in Cornwall. This suite can be thought of as an aural postcard, as I wish to share and evoke the sights and sounds I experienced there. This includes that surreal feeling of walking across the granite causeway that almost felt like walking on water.
The first movement (Recollections) begins with the juxtaposition of some of the lowest notes on the harp against arppegiated chords higher up in the instrument’s tessitura. The contrast in tone colours aims to highlight the expressive potential of the instrument and evoke the immense physical space between the sky and the sea. The music then moves ‘underwater’, with flowing semiquaver accompaniment playing against a lyrical melody. This allusion to water is emphasised through the subsequent glissando passages, where it almost has a ripple-like effect. The music then returns to the texture and melodic idea found in the beginning of the piece, where low notes are being rung against arppegiated chords in the instrument’s higher tessitura.
The second movement (Frolic) showcases the harp's more playful side with a lighter musical texture and faster tempo. It opens with staccato chords and knocking of the harp’s soundboard with the performer’s knuckles and palm. This evokes the little splashes of water and pebbles against our skin. The music then breaks away into a little melody before going into a toccata-like section that is heavily syncopated with an ostinato playing in the left hand. This, in turn, creates a sense of momentum that drives the music forward into a more melodious section that explores the harp’s timbral and textural possibilities. It pits the harp’s glissando against reverberating chords and also harmonics against sustained chords with a pedal slide. The music finally returns to the cheeky staccato chords in the last section before ending with a gong-like effect, by getting the performer to hit the lowest strings on the harp.
Feel the kisses from the sun above,
the sand and granite beneath you.
The sound of the gentle waves brushing ashore, coarsing, crawling but adoring your soles.
Dissolved in the surreal
moments before cosmic pulls a reminder, Time catches up.
Slightly submerged with no return,
the journey made then has gone,
with the path ahead only to move on.
Cornish Tides was premiered by harpist Laura Peh at Kris Foundation’s “Duo Senses” on 29 November 2019 at the Esplanade Recital Studio.