Lunar Module with Isabelle Tseng - Part 3

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 142: Lunar Module with Isabelle Tseng - Part 3

Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!

In this week's episode, we continue our Lunar Module, a mini-series with the E4TT/ Luna Composition Lab Call for Scores winners and commissioned composers. Today we are joined by Isabelle Tseng, who we spoke to in May 2024. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more, check out her music here: https://isabelleztseng.com/.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano),  in SF, CA on January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), in SF, CA on October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/16550212

Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason, Addy Geenen, Yoyo Hung-Yu Lin

Don't miss America pianist extraordinaire Dale Tsang when she performs a piano recital featuring 11 works chosen in E4TT's latest call for scores. She'll play not one but two performances online and on both sides of the Bay, in Berkeley on Feb. 22 and in San Francisco on Mar. 2.

Chapters

• 0:43 In this week's Lunar Module episode, we continue talking to E4TT Luna Composition Lab Call for Scores' winner Isabelle Tseng who we spoke to in May 2024.
• 0:54 Do you want to tell us, or tell our listeners, a little bit about the piece that we selected? You know the Call for Scores piece?
• 5:12 You've talked a little bit about mentors and interests and influences. Are there others you'd like to talk about?

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00

[INTRO MUSIC]  Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's Lunar Module episode, we continue talking to E4TT Luna Composition Lab Call for Scores' winner Isabelle Tseng [INTRO MUSIC ENDS] who we spoke to in May 2024.

Nanette McGuinness  00:33

Do you want to tell us, or tell our listeners, a little bit about the piece that we selected? You know the Call for Scores piece? 

Isabelle Tseng  00:40

Sure. So that piece is called "Ringlorn", and I think I wrote it in '21. It's for violin and cello and the general concept of the piece is, it's a piece in two parts. The first part is kind of going for a reminiscence to a time in which people had, like, knightly adventures, knightly with like a K, like, K,N, I, G, H, T.

Nanette McGuinness  01:06

Oh! [laughs]

Isabelle Tseng  01:06

yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  01:06

Oh, my goodness. Okay, fine.

Isabelle Tseng  01:10

Yeah. And when, when I was a kid, um, I watched like Chinese, like, like adventure movies, which essentially consists of a lot of people flying around, but fighting each other, and kind of having a very adventurous way with the world. And kind of, I think the concept of Jiang Hu is kind of also like one fighting alongside your comrades. But also, like, I think in a way, it's a very freeing, like life experience, because, um, all of the movies, basically, the idea is you make a friend, your friend, and you are really good friends, and then you are, like, freely roaming the earth with your exceptional, like, combative... [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  02:05

[laughs] Right. No, it's... it sounds great and ideal, right? What's not to love about you get a buddy and you can do anything, and it's a fantasy, and you're... you're powerful, and whatever your power is, and you go help people and do things.

Isabelle Tseng  02:17

Yeah, exactly. And then it's like, it's like, a really, like, awesome vibe. I think it almost has like a Robin Hood vibe to it as well, because a lot of it is like, like, do what you think is right, like, no matter what is right, or whatever you know. And then I found that, like, always really cool as a kid. And I think when I wrote this penis, the first part was kind of like a more heroic reminiscence of that idea, actually the word "ringlorn" And actually, let me get the exact definition.

Nanette McGuinness  02:58

I was going to ask you what it meant in terms of the music and the context. So, yeah, thank you for looking that up. 

Isabelle Tseng  03:06

Yeah. The exact definition of the word is the wish that the modern world felt as epic as the one depicted in old stories and folk tales, a place of tragedy and transcessions, of oaths and omens and fates, where everyday life felt like a quest for glory.

Nanette McGuinness  03:21

While you're looking there, does it show any etymology, or when the word was started or derived? Does it say anything?

Isabelle Tseng  03:30

I think it's like between 2009 and now.

Nanette McGuinness  03:33

I'm going to look it up too. The Ringlorn Saga is an adventure RPG inspired by Japanese PC classics. I wonder if that's where the term came from.

Isabelle Tseng  03:44

And then the second movement is about, kind of the more melancholy view of it. So it one, it's a lot slower, it has glistens, and it's kind of like a lot it had a has a lot more rounded corners, and it kind of ends also with, like a kind of tail end of the very beginning of the second movement. So it's a, I think, one, there's a lot more long lines, very melodic vibe, um, and it's very line based in the violin and cello, and they interact a lot in comparison to the first movement, which is a lot well, it's similarly line based, but it's a lot more sharp edge. I think if you hear the piece, you'll get the vibe. Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  04:35

I know the piece. You submitted the second movement. I don't think you submitted the first movement. I think you just submitted the second probably because of our time restriction...

Isabelle Tseng  04:47

Yeah

Nanette McGuinness  04:47

...and the second one is the one we performed, and your description is lovely. Yeah, it's a wonderful concept, and we liked the piece. You've talked a little bit about mentors and interests and influences. Are there others you'd like to talk about?

Isabelle Tseng  04:59

Mmhmm, I think, like... so my sister also played the violin when I was a kid, and then still plays violin. Like, she's awesome. She's my sister Claire. Um, I think she's always like, my ear, like, uh, whenever I write a lot of stuff and I'm like, I like it, but I can't tell if it's just because it's like, my baby or not, right? It's like, the same idea, like, when I cook, I always think my food tastes like amazing, but in reality, it might not.

Nanette McGuinness  05:01

[laughs]

Isabelle Tseng  05:02

So my sister's like, identity checker, yeah. And I think oftentimes I send somebody to her and go, like, what do you think about this? And then she's, like, living her best PhD life right now, but she takes time out of her busy schedule to always blend in.

Nanette McGuinness  05:47

So she's older than you.

Isabelle Tseng  05:49

Yeah, she's five years older.

Nanette McGuinness  05:50

Okay, got it, got it. So that's wonderful and nice that you have that relationship with her. So anything else we didn't talk about I didn't ask, stuff you you'd like to tell the listeners or anything.

Isabelle Tseng  06:07

Follow my work, guys... isabelleztseng.com [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  06:11

Wait, that's fine. Say it again really clearly so we can hear it.

Isabelle Tseng  06:15

Okay. It's spelled I, S, A, B, E, L, L, E, Z, T, S, E, N, G.com, and then you can hear all the works I talked about on the podcast, and also some other interesting things.

Nanette McGuinness  06:32

So we should all go there. Follow you. Follow your work. Sounds good, alright. Well, thank you so much again for writing the wonderful piece and for joining us for the podcast, for this conversation.

Isabelle Tseng  06:44

Thank you so much for having me.

Nanette McGuinness  06:45

[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure and a special thank you to our guest, Isabelle Tseng, for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax deductible donation, please visit us at e4tt.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. For Good Measure's produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and design by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to co-producer and audio engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]