Written for l'Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal as part of the CBC/Radio-Canada's EVOLUTION Competition, Ho's Nature Whispers... explores the evolution from sound to music. From the sounds of nature (i.e. gusting winds, splashing water, hammering rocks, etc.), a melody emerges from the low rumblings of the contrabass. More lines are gradually added to create harmony, which builds and builds until the work finally explodes into a rhythmically kinetic outburst.
Nature Whispers... received the following award:
Audience prize at the CBC Radio's "Evolution" Young Composers Competition (Canada, 2009)
Vincent Ho is a Canadian who is widely recognised as one of the most exciting composers of his generation. He has made waves in the music world of North America despite being fairly early in his compositional career, receiving numerous prizes, accolades, and prominent commissions in a relatively short space of time. Ho’s music is rich and energetic - a unique integration of influences ranging from the visual arts, electroacoustic and natural soundscapes, traditional classical music forms, and the physical properties of the instruments and ensembles for which he writes. His music is sensual, sonorous and richly textured, and Ho gives considerable attention to the audience’s experience of his intricate sound-worlds.
