With endlessly imaginative timbral and textural invention, Chen Yi weaves an ethereal and alluring nocturnal tapestry of sounds in
Night Thoughts. The melodic construction is often gestural and freely chromatic, yet at other times openly melodic, with a sense of folk-like spontaneity. Special techniques like key slaps, exaggerated vibrato, trilled glissandi, and struck piano strings add interest as various combinations of instruments and registers are explored, until the music drifts finally and hauntingly into the night.