Sandman's Realm is based on Ho's solo tam-tam work Sandman's Castle, which was written for Dame Evelyn Glennie as part of the 50 for 50 project celebrating her 50th birthday. Ho drew inspiration for Sandman's Realm from the intricate tactility of Chinese calligraphy.
Sandman's Realm was a work created as an outgrowth of my solo tam-tam piece Sandman's Castle. In Sandman's Castle, I tried to explore as many sonic and expressive possibilities as I could from the tam-tam instrument. From those results, I decided to apply them into the creation of a chamber work as an attempt to extend the tam-tam's sonic palette to other instruments. The result is a work that captures a mystical journey through the world of dreams as expressed by a chamber ensemble with the tam-tam serving as the sonic foundation.
