I Ask My Mother to Sing — Oswald Huỳnh

I Ask My Mother to Sing (2022, rev. 2023)

commissioned by Alarm Will Sound and the 2022 Mizzou International Composers Festival
sinfonietta
1.1.2(II=bcl).1 - 1.1.1.0 - perc(2) - pno - strings (1.1.1.1.1 only)

Duration: 8-9 minutes

Performances:

Premiere by Alarm Will Sound, conducted by Alan Pierson, at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia, MO, on July 30, 2022.
Premiere of 2023 revision by Indiana University New Music Ensemble, conducted by David Dzubay, at the Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, IN, on November 30, 2023.
Louisville Orchestra, conducted by Teddy Abrams, at the Kentucky Performing Arts Center, Louisville, KY, on November 15-16, 2024 (2 performances)
Oregon Symphony, conducted by Deanna Tham, at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton, OR, on February 28, 2025.

Program Note:

The title of this piece, I Ask My Mother to Sing, is after a poem of the same name by Li-Young Lee. In the poem, he references the songs his mother and grandmother would sing from their homeland. As I was conceptualizing this piece, I considered the music and sounds that brought me the most comfort and built the work around these ideas: a Vietnamese folk tune, the melancholy of Vietnamese lullabies, and a simple major second gesture. The music evokes the mixed emotions that I associate with comfort: contentment, nostalgia, amusement, and, at times, apprehension.