Two Pieces is a two-movement suite, and each movement has its own individual title. The two movements were composed separately in 2019 and 2020 and were influenced by Asian culture and Chinese folk songs. Both pieces used pentatonic scales but in different ways.

The first movement was written for the 2020 New England Conservatory Commencement Concert. Because my pianist was in quarantine and was going to premiere it on his electric piano, I titled it Quarantine Rhapsody. The second movement, Cursive Script, is a perpetual motion and was composed for Victor Rosenbaum's Prelude Premiere Project in 2019. After writing it, I felt that there was an order within the chaos of the music, which is how I named it.

This suite is dedicated to my friend Zhaoyuan Qin, the pianist who has performed my music for a long time.

(Wenbin Lyu, July 8, 2022)

June 22, 2023; New Music Gathering; Portland State University; Portland, OR; Zhaoyuan Qin

February 25, 2023; Berkeley Piano Club; Berkeley, CA; Dale Tsang

April 8, 2022; Asian Classical Music Initiative Conference; University of Kansas; Lawrence, KS; Zhaoyuan Qin

June 9, 2020; Compositions From Quarantine; New England Conservatory of Music; Boston, MA; Zhaoyuan Qin

May 17, 2020 (premiere); NEC Commencement Concerts; New England Conservatory of Music; Boston, MA; Zhaoyuan Qin

April 25, 2019; Prelude Premiere Project; New England Conservatory of Music; Boston, MA; Zhaoyi Long