The Flame is my earliest orchestral piece, which I wrote in early 2014. During that time, I was deeply fascinated by exploring the unique sound quality of musical instruments. As a result, I studied the works of many 20th-century modernist composers. One of my sources of inspiration for this piece was the composition "Threnody" by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki.

In The Flame, I aimed to capture the scintillating dance and the constantly changing nature of combustion. I used tone clusters with chromatic intervals to create an impression of a hallucinatory and unstable flame.

Over the years, this short piece has gone through many revisions. It underwent significant changes in 2018 and then again in 2022. I would like to dedicate this piece to my friend Fernanda Lastra as a token of appreciation.

(Wenbin Lyu, January 1, 2023)

March 8, 2023 (premiere); Kleinhans Music Hall; Buffalo, NY; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & Fernanda Lastra, conductor

May 1, 2019; New England Conservatory of Music; Boston, MA; NEC Philharmonia; Bill Drury, conductor (reading)