Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse"

Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse"
by Elliot Leung
Other name	The Metaverse Symphony
Genre	Contemporary Classical Music
Form	Symphony in four movements
Time	Mixed Meters
Composed	2021 (2021)–2023
Recorded	4 May 2023
Duration	About 40–45 minutes
Movements	Four
Scoring	Orchestra, Ableton Push (Prepared Samples)
Premiere
Date	5 May 2023
Location	Cultural Center, Hong Kong
Conductor	Gerard Salonga
Performers	Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Solos by Jing Wang, Andrew Ling, Richard Bamping and Benjamin Moermond

Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse" is a symphony in four movements by Elliot Leung. The work was commissioned by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre with Chow Sang Sang as the title sponsor and Audio Exotics as sponsor. It is the first symphony to be premiered in both the concert hall and the Sandbox metaverse. The concert hall premiere was conducted by Gerard Salonga. The metaverse premiere will be held in the Sandbox as a part of their Alpha Season 4 in 2024. The metaverse experience, titled "The Metaverse Symphony" is currently in development by Artifact Labs.

Composition

Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse" has a duration of approximately 43 minutes. In a pre-premiere interview, the composer addressed the work's genesis, remarking, "Each of the four movements celebrates and captures the experience of progressive milestones regarding the advancements of the Internet. Designed to be musically palpable, textural stabs reflect the injection of energy we feel when our phones buzz. While my symphony pushes the bounds of composition into modernity – exploring new sounds, instruments, and technologies, it remains faithful to the discipline and rigour of my heroes such as Bartók and Stravinsky. I hope digital natives like myself can find familiarity and fascination in this work."

Leung commented that movement two serves as an homage to the late Charles K. Kao, the pioneer of fibre optics. As for the third movement titled "The Internet of Things," Leung has engaged the public to submit short community soundbites as part of his composition. The community samples are mapped to an Ableton Push by Olivia D. Mok, and performed live alongside the orchestra.

The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (all doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets (in B-flat and E-flat), bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two tenor trombones, two bass trombones one tuba, six percussionists, Harp, Piano, Celesta and strings.

Release

Sony Classical Records released the symphony on October 27, 2023. The album was recorded on May 4-5, 2023 in the concert hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, also conducted by Gerard Salonga.

Track Listing

1. Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse": I. The Digital Age
2. Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse": IIa. Fibre Optics
3. Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse": IIb. An Homage to Sir Charles Kao
4. Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse": III. The Internet of Things
5. Symphony No. 1 "The Metaverse": IV. The Metaverse

Reception

The work was premiered in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall with a full house audience. The praises of the Leung's composition and the orchestra's performance were consistently highly acclaimed. Tina Fu of the South China Morning Post wrote:

Citing such traditional influences as Sibelius, Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff, Leung’s music has flair and romance, and the players were impressive with their sensitive treatment of the evocative materials. Salonga proved that he was a skilful conductor in balancing different sections and his handling of mood changes. The second movement, with a title of “Fibre Optics: An Homage to Sir Charles Kao”, was stunning. Leung wrote two solo passages for the cello and the viola. Bamping was again at his best, with good sound and intonation that made the elegant piece sing. Principal violist Andrew Ling, accompanied by pianist Linda Yim, provided the most moving passage of all.

The work was later performed in the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to open Shanghai's MISA Summer Music Festival, and was praised for the music writing as it captured the fast-paced, technology-driven life in the 21st century.