“Jasmine in June” is one of Taiwan’s most popular and beautiful folk songs. The melody came a long way across the ocean to Taiwan. After the lyrics were added by Hsu Bing-Ding, a local lyricist, “Jasmine in June” was transformed into a pure Taiwanese ballad. The song originated as a ballad in the coastal regions of Fujian Province. Sometime towards the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, it arrived in Taiwan along with a large number of immigrants.

 

Fabian Müller‘s commentary:This is one of Pi-Chin’s favourite songs, and I wanted to set the music in a very emotional and epic mood, which might be surprising for some Taiwanese listeners, who know the melody in a different way. The setting is much more than merely an arrangement; it was conceived as a free rhapsodic interpretation of the melody’s musical material. The composition ends very peacefully, almost like a prayer.