A Beautiful Mind

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XINTONG WANG

A BEAUTIFUL MIND

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN CONFORMITY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS FACULTY OF MUSIC THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO DURATION: 20 MINUTES

Abstract

A Beautiful Mind

Doctor of Musical Arts

2020

Xintong Wang Faculty of Music

The University of Toronto

A Beautiful Mind, is a 20-minute-long orchestral composition in two movements and for the following

instrumentation: *2, *2, 2, 2—4, 2, 2, 1—timpani, 2 percussion; harp; and string orchestra. As the title suggests, A

Beautiful Mind is an intuitive meditation on the phenomenon of Beauty and its roots in the human psyche. In my

own musical experience, I have encountered this sense of beauty in the music of the Romantic era, early

Impressionism and folk music of various traditions and moments in human history.

In preparing for this composition, I spent quite a bit of time studying the music of European Romanticism. Among

the many masterpieces of this era, I have been influenced the most by the colorful timbres and rich layers of Ottorino Respighi’s music and the long, languid continuous phrases in the orchestral works of Gustav Mahler.

During the past ten years I have been living in Canada. It was my first extensive living experience outside China,

my birthplace. During this time, I have been deeply influenced by the simplicity of the Canadian landscape, its

people and their traditions. I find everything here simple and authentic. This connection between authenticity and simplicity is something I have discovered in my new country and have embraced it. Canada’s diverse culture and

wide-open spaces have inspired in me a sense of originality and uniqueness that it is easier for an outsider to detect and be inspired by than for people born here who may be so used to it that it becomes invisible to them. Christmas

Window, the first movement, was inspired by window displays in Toronto during Christmas time. Everything was

so beautiful, and I felt overwhelmed by a sense of longing and beauty. Simple Elegance, the second movement, was

inspired by a journey across Canada with my parents. They helped me synthesize our age-old traditions of my

native China with the boundless beauty of my new country. A Beautiful Mind is dedicated to my parents and the

love of my life, my husband.

Table of Contents

Pages Movement I

1 Christmas Window

Second Movement

26 Simple Elegance

iii

INSTRUMENTATION

2 FLUTES (II DOUBLING PICCOLO)

2 OBOES (II DOUBLING ENGLISH HORN IN F)

2 CLARINETS IN B-FLAT

2 BASSOONS

4 FRENCH HORNS IN F

2 TRUMPETS IN C

2 TROMBONES

1 TUBA

2 PERCUSSION:

PERC. 1

CELESTA

TRIANGLE

CYMBAL

PERC. 2

CASTANETS

TIMPANI

BASS DRUM

HARP

FIRST VIOLINS

SECOND VIOLINS

VIOLAS

CELLOS

CONTRABASSES I