Vivian Fung (b. 1975)
Pizzicato, for String Orchestra (2001) 4 minutes
Pizzicato is a short work for string orchestra, the duration of which the players never use their bows. The central sound produced is that of plucked strings as well a few surprises in the middle and towards the end of the work. Inspired by listening to Asian folk music, the piece is influenced partly by the music of the Chinese plucked instruments pipa and qin as well as by the energetic rhythms of Indonesian gamelan.
Pizzicato was originally read as a string quartet by the American String Quartet while I was an associate artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) in New Smyrna Beach, Florida from April 29–May 17, 2001. The string orchestra version of Pizzicato was premiered by the San José Chamber Orchestra in San José, California on December 9, 2001. The string quartet version has been recorded by the Ying Quartet and is commercially available on the Telarc CD entitled “Dim Sum,” featuring short works for string quartet by Chinese American composers.
—Vivian Fung