《Die Verwandlung》 is a multimedia musical composition that combines vocal, instrumental (french horn, violin, violoncello, piano), real-time electronic sounds, real-time images, choreography and light. The piece draws inspiration primarily from Franz Kafka’s German novel 《Metamorphosis》, explores and experiments with the probability of syntactical conversion between music and text. It also analyzes the relation between semiotical and phonological dimension. The piece is divided into three movements: Metamorphosis, Gefangen, and Verderblichkeit . The special shifts in the timbres through the different methods of playing instruments create the complex atmosphere of warping truth and fiction as in the novel. Moreover, through the unique combination of voice and instruments, the piece portrays the protagonist’s mental state rife with conflict and contradictions. Through the mutual shifts and combinations of different media in 《Die Verwandlung》, I hopes to display the interdisciplinary creative spirit.

The first chapter of this paper is an introduction, followed by the creative concepts and review of related literatures, which describes the motivations and developing process of the creative concepts and also collates literatures and analysis related to compositional techniques for text and music. The third chapter is the composition’s analysis and explanation, using three movements to describe its literatural structures and creative expression; the next chapter is the design and framework of the composition, which narrates the electronic music, lights, choreography, and images used. The fifth chapter is the epilogue which concludes the experience and reflection on the compositional processes and performance processes.