On Jasmin

"On Jasmin" for violin and piano was composed for Peter Tanfield and Shan Deng to perform on a tour of China in November 2017. It is a short rhapsodic piece that incorporates melodic ideas from the popular Chinese folk song "Jasmine Flower", a concept previously explored by the composer in her "Five Songs from the East" for pipa and piano, where a number of unpublished Chinese folk songs were "re-composed." "On Jasmin" attempts to convey a gentle warmth, inspired by the familiarity of the popular folk song whose lyrics are:

  Beautiful jasmine flower  Beautiful jasmine flower  Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds  Fragrant and white, everyone praises  Let me pluck you down to give to someone  Jasmine flower, jasmine flower