Monastic Sceneries (2013)
rent scores and parts through Black Tea Music
Duration: 14 minutes
Instrumentation: 1111/0100/Pn/10111
Commissioner by Goethe-Institut Korea as part of its “Asian Composers Showcase”
Performance History
3/5/2013, Ensemble TIMF with Soo-Yeoul Choi (cond), Tongyeong, S.Korea
5/22/2013, Ensemble Reconsil with Roland Freisitzer (cond), Vienna, Austria
1/21/2014, student ensemble at Indiana University with Danko Drusko (cond), Bloomington, IN
4/15/2014, Ossia New Music with Boon Hua Lien (cond), Rochester, NY
Program Notes
‘Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above!’
I grew up in a conservative Presbyterian family, and the Presbyterian Church hugely influenced my personal development, as well as shaping my music and sound world. I was told that the first music I heard was the hymn my mother sang when I was in her womb. Thus, the first movement depicts a secret assembly in a cellar or a garret, where an imaginary hymn is sung by a group of mothers. Neither pitch nor rhythm matters to them. Between phrases of their expressive melodies sung molto vibrato are added sigh-like reactions and exclamations.
The music then moves from reminiscence to surrealism. The second movement, "Incantation,” is my homage to the Rite of Spring, where conjuration, dance, and enchantment mingle. Movement 3 is entitled “Prayers,” and deals with diverse aspects and styles of prayer: the silent and meditational prayer of individuals; declamatory intercessions of a representative or priest, responded to with short phrases by the congregation; and everyone offering simultaneous petitions out loud in their own words.
Commissioned by the Goethe-Institut Korea for the premiere at Tongyeong International Music Festival's Asian Composers Showcase in 2013, Monastic Sceneries is written in memory of my beloved grandmother, whom I believe prayed more faithfully than anyone I have ever known. I hope my prayer reaches her well.
Duration: 14 minutes
Instrumentation: 1111/0100/Pn/10111
Commissioner by Goethe-Institut Korea as part of its “Asian Composers Showcase”
Performance History
3/5/2013, Ensemble TIMF with Soo-Yeoul Choi (cond), Tongyeong, S.Korea
5/22/2013, Ensemble Reconsil with Roland Freisitzer (cond), Vienna, Austria
1/21/2014, student ensemble at Indiana University with Danko Drusko (cond), Bloomington, IN
4/15/2014, Ossia New Music with Boon Hua Lien (cond), Rochester, NY
Program Notes
‘Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above!’
I grew up in a conservative Presbyterian family, and the Presbyterian Church hugely influenced my personal development, as well as shaping my music and sound world. I was told that the first music I heard was the hymn my mother sang when I was in her womb. Thus, the first movement depicts a secret assembly in a cellar or a garret, where an imaginary hymn is sung by a group of mothers. Neither pitch nor rhythm matters to them. Between phrases of their expressive melodies sung molto vibrato are added sigh-like reactions and exclamations.
The music then moves from reminiscence to surrealism. The second movement, "Incantation,” is my homage to the Rite of Spring, where conjuration, dance, and enchantment mingle. Movement 3 is entitled “Prayers,” and deals with diverse aspects and styles of prayer: the silent and meditational prayer of individuals; declamatory intercessions of a representative or priest, responded to with short phrases by the congregation; and everyone offering simultaneous petitions out loud in their own words.
Commissioned by the Goethe-Institut Korea for the premiere at Tongyeong International Music Festival's Asian Composers Showcase in 2013, Monastic Sceneries is written in memory of my beloved grandmother, whom I believe prayed more faithfully than anyone I have ever known. I hope my prayer reaches her well.