with/out (2024)
Request for Perusal Score or Archival Recording
Duration: 22 minutes
Instrumentation: four (4) violin soloists, strings, and percussion
Commissioner: Sejong Soloists, Kyung W. Kang, Creative and Executive Director
Performance History
5/22/2024 Sejong Soloists w/ Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, and Daniel Cho (soloists), New York, NY
8/24/2024 Sejong Soloists w/ Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, and Daniel Cho (soloists), Seoul, S. Korea
5/9/2025 Sejong Soloists w/ Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, and Daniel Cho (soloists), Los Angeles, CA
5/11/2025 Sejong Soloists w/ Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, and Daniel Cho (soloists), Irvine, CA
"... was positively brilliant ... a perfect end to a perfect evening." - Oberon's Grove
"... 고전적 음악 언어와 현대적 제스처의 아슬아슬한 줄타기 ... 사실 그것은 오늘날 사회가 균형을 이루는 모습이기도 하다 ..." - 월간 리뷰, 송주호
Program Notes
with/out, a concerto for four violinists, string ensemble, and percussion, addresses topics related to social distances (not social distancing) in contemporary society in three movements.
The first movement is about "The Lonely Crowd," the title of a prominent sociology book by David Riesman published in 1950. Interestingly, with all the new developments in contemporary society, including the instant connection among human beings via social media, we still face a similar (if not more intense) collective sentiment of loneliness. Solitude is also a term familiar to musicians, which would add more personal layers to the performers.
The second movement is about "being in the same boat" – on a bit darker side. Some communities are tighter than others, which would make their members feel stuck. This movement incorporates long unison and heterophony (related to Korean traditional music) passages, from which each player would struggle to deviate. It moves into a quadruple cadenza, inspired by the term "collective monologues" introduced by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. It is "a form of egocentric, unsocialized speech in which children talk among themselves without apparently communicating with each other in a meaningful way; that is, the statements of one child seem unrelated to the statements of the others." Unrelated individual cadenzas are interwoven, attempting to create a somewhat cohesive flow.
Opening with joyful cheers, the finale focuses on the bright side of "being in the same boat" and specifically celebrates the Sejong Soloists' 30th anniversary. Reflecting on the soloists’ words on how they cherish their experiences with Sejong (when I asked them) and the kinship among their musicians, this movement portrays delightful tunes and energy.
with/out was commissioned by the Sejong Soloists (Kyung W. Kang, Creative and Executive Director) to celebrate their 30th anniversary.
Duration: 22 minutes
Instrumentation: four (4) violin soloists, strings, and percussion
Commissioner: Sejong Soloists, Kyung W. Kang, Creative and Executive Director
Performance History
5/22/2024 Sejong Soloists w/ Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, and Daniel Cho (soloists), New York, NY
8/24/2024 Sejong Soloists w/ Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, and Daniel Cho (soloists), Seoul, S. Korea
5/9/2025 Sejong Soloists w/ Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, and Daniel Cho (soloists), Los Angeles, CA
5/11/2025 Sejong Soloists w/ Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, and Daniel Cho (soloists), Irvine, CA
"... was positively brilliant ... a perfect end to a perfect evening." - Oberon's Grove
"... 고전적 음악 언어와 현대적 제스처의 아슬아슬한 줄타기 ... 사실 그것은 오늘날 사회가 균형을 이루는 모습이기도 하다 ..." - 월간 리뷰, 송주호
Program Notes
with/out, a concerto for four violinists, string ensemble, and percussion, addresses topics related to social distances (not social distancing) in contemporary society in three movements.
The first movement is about "The Lonely Crowd," the title of a prominent sociology book by David Riesman published in 1950. Interestingly, with all the new developments in contemporary society, including the instant connection among human beings via social media, we still face a similar (if not more intense) collective sentiment of loneliness. Solitude is also a term familiar to musicians, which would add more personal layers to the performers.
The second movement is about "being in the same boat" – on a bit darker side. Some communities are tighter than others, which would make their members feel stuck. This movement incorporates long unison and heterophony (related to Korean traditional music) passages, from which each player would struggle to deviate. It moves into a quadruple cadenza, inspired by the term "collective monologues" introduced by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. It is "a form of egocentric, unsocialized speech in which children talk among themselves without apparently communicating with each other in a meaningful way; that is, the statements of one child seem unrelated to the statements of the others." Unrelated individual cadenzas are interwoven, attempting to create a somewhat cohesive flow.
Opening with joyful cheers, the finale focuses on the bright side of "being in the same boat" and specifically celebrates the Sejong Soloists' 30th anniversary. Reflecting on the soloists’ words on how they cherish their experiences with Sejong (when I asked them) and the kinship among their musicians, this movement portrays delightful tunes and energy.
with/out was commissioned by the Sejong Soloists (Kyung W. Kang, Creative and Executive Director) to celebrate their 30th anniversary.