本曲《離歌》為低音提琴手蔡歆婕委託之作品，做為她在2006年巴黎高等音樂院畢業音樂會的曲目之一。蔡歆婕希望呈現的是別於她其他演奏的另一種音樂的表情與欣賞音樂的品味；接近禪、空靈等氣氛。因此，作曲家李元貞想到中國古代文人用來自省、自娛的工具 – 古琴音樂。古琴除了本身彈弦樂器演奏特色之外，最重要的是一種極簡約、淡雅而庸和的精神訴求。李元貞採用流傳近千年的古曲《憶故人*》做為《離歌》的主體，並穿插其他音樂材料的片段，作曲家並重新思考，中國傳統音樂與西洋音樂這個已經全球化的體系，其差異之大不僅是技術的問題，而得以從審美方面的包容性獲得解決。

2012年重新校對修訂。

*《憶故人》傳為蔡邕（132~192 A.D.）所做，東漢學者，精通音樂與書畫。

“Reminiscence” was commissioned by TSAI Hsin-Chieh for her 2006 double bass graduation recital at Le Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP). Hsin-Chieh wished this piece to embody a different musical expressions, and offer a different listening experience than the others of her repertoire: that of Zen spirituality. Composer LI Yuan-Chen thought of guqin, an instrument favored by the ancient Chinese literati as a vehicle for solitary recreation and self-examination. Not only is the guqin a plucked string instrument like the double bass, but its pithy, elegant, unassuming voice appeals to the spirit in a way that exactly matched Hsin-Chieh’s wishes. Composer’s favorite guqin piece “Remembering an Old Friend”, its melody became the main theme of “Reminiscence”, weaving together its disparate musical materials. It’s also a fresh appreciation for the composer to think the gap between traditional Chinese music and the globalized system of Western classical music, not just the differences in technique, but the differences to musical poetics.

https://youtu.be/thG-aWL9eZk?list=PLuHFCsBHHyzfr_0o-CQ6agVBIsNCpbhso