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World Premieres
2023: Overstory Overture
Tod Machover (b. 1953)Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center - New York, NY
“Overstory Overture is a standalone monodrama for voice, string orchestra, marimba and electronics, a preview of a full-length opera that I am developing based on Richard Powers’ monumental novel, The Overstory. When Kyung Kang – Executive and Artistic Director of Sejong Soloists – approached me in 2021 about creating a theatrical work for their ensemble, I suggested a piece based on one of the novel’s main characters, Patricia Westerford, a scientist who discovers that trees communicate on both intimate and massive scales, and who pays a serious professional and personal price for her radical ideas. I worked with writer Simon Robson – who wrote the libretto for my 2018 opera Schoenberg in Hollywood – to craft a narrative based on Westerford’s growing recognition of the need for radical realignment of our relationship with the non-human world (resulting in Simon’s powerfully sonorous text, printed elsewhere in this program). I immediately imagined Joyce Di Donato – a close colleague and friend since our collaboration on my 1999 Resurrection opera for Houston Grand Opera, in which she sang the lead – as the perfect Patricia Westerford, and fortunately Joyce found that the theme and possibilities resonated with her. Around Joyce/Patricia, I “cast” the string players of Sejong Soloists –augmented by a Marimba with an extended lower register, all conducted by Earl Lee – as a kind of forest, moving from individual voices to an interconnected collective (underlined by Karole Armitage’s striking choreography). This ensemble speaks a language of subtle noises that reveals a wealth of melodies, harmonies and textures the closer one listens. Surrounding voice and instruments is a world of electronic sounds, created in my barn-studio and at the MIT Media Lab, sometimes providing a bridge for the transmission of “tree signaling,” at other times representing catastrophic human intervention that threatens to destroy the natural world, and finally contributing to a sonic vision of a possible merger of human and non-human.
Overstory Overture is organized into four sections, performed without a break. In the first section, LISTEN, Patricia Westerford is learning to listen to the language of the trees as they communicate underground through roots as well as through barely perceptible aerial signals. She notices the trees communicating – to each other and maybe to her – and yearns to understand. In the second section, WHO AM I?, Patricia recounts her life, her discoveries, the disbelief and hatred that her ideas about trees have provoked, and the sheer wonder of individual trees and collective forests that form vast interconnected networks of communication and support. She sings: “Do you hear the molecular telegraphy? The forest as family, the forest as song.” As the forest sings on its own, threatening sounds advance from afar, leading to the third section, CRISIS. “Petrochemical props, chainsaw and machete” burst forth to “take the breath from your baby.” Patricia sings: “Severing and suffocating…We are tearing out the lungs of the world. We are tearing out the mind of the world.” Patricia joins the forest, which lets her in. As the crisis subsides in section four, BE A TREE, Patricia and the orchestra-of-trees blend more and more, swaying in increasing harmony. Patricia invites us to “Breathe connected, breathe together,” and – tree-like – to “stay firm, stand tall, grow so slowly, bend just a little…swaying, scattering, shimmering, still…Be.” With these words, and through the music that finds equilibrium between all elements, Patricia and the orchestra-forest become one, suggesting a synergy and synthesis that could heal the world that surrounds us, and just might save us as well.
2019:
Symphonic Poem YEOMILLAK
Shinuh Lee (b. 1969)Sejong City Arts Center, South Korea
I began the Yeomillak project by researching historical literature and music during King Sejong’s reign. I studied the best materials I could access through books, music, and movies, including King Sejong’s leadership, his great creation Hunminjeongeum (Korean writing system), and Yeomillak, a musical piece created by King Sejong whose title means “sharing joy with the people.”
Korean traditional music was not new to me; I explored it in various ways. My beginning was set to maintain the slow tempo unique to Korean traditional music and to keep it easy to listen to without compromising the unique characteristics of Yeomillak. The rhythm divided into three beats was embedded in the phrase to give a sense of movement even in slow tempo. I also wanted to express the agonizing times King Sejong had to endure. In the midst of a world view centered on Chinese Confucius doctrine, King Sejong created and promoted Hunminjeongeum, which was singularly Korean. Korean traditional music, which had been taken for granted, originated from the performance of Chinese court music. Behind all these great achievements, the immense opposition, despair, failure and indomitable will that King Sejong faced and stood up against is truly unthinkable for me. The part which deals with King Sejong’s inner anguish takes a gradual ascension toward the high-pitched area through the transparent tone characteristic of the string instrument, and deals with the King’s calm and cautious moves taking one step by overcoming hardships, and closes the work by quoting the original Yeomillak at the end.
2018:
Koberia Fantasy
Aleksey Igudesman (b. 1973)Trans-Siberian Art Festival
Tchaikovsky Hall - Moscow, Russia
When the Siberian violinist Vadim Repin asked me to write a piece for 2 violins and string orchestra for him to perform with Clara-Jumi Kang, I knew I wanted to write something that has links to both countries. I invented this beautiful enigmatic place by the name of Koberia, with its own main theme that recurs all together six times. Between every time we hear the Koberian anthem, we delve into themes that could in some way remind one of either Korea or Siberia. The first one is named “Seoul Music” and is essentially a simple Korean sounding melody.
After a brief return to “Welcome to Koberia 2” we go to the second side theme called “Too many Pelmeni“. Since I myself have Siberian roots, I grew up eating a vast quantity of these amazingly delicious dumplings and love them passionately to this day. The two melodies here are both full of fun and delight, truly in Siberian spirit.
“Welcome to Koberia 3” is followed by a section called “The garlic princess“. Here the two solo violins exchange pizzicati, evoking the sound of traditional Korean music. The whole section is based on a simple 4 bar sequence, on top of which I layer more and more little pentatonic melodies.
After "Welcome to Koberia 4", I delve into a theme that consciously sounds like the side theme from the last movement of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto. I always thought the Tchaikovsky sounds like a Bear or a Siberian Tiger; hence the name "Bear the Tiger in Mind" is a play on words in English. The second part of it is a brief Presto in which I take another few notes of the last concerto movement, and build an additional structure.
When we return to “Welcome to Koberia 5”, we suddenly delve into a much slower tempo and I introduce a new tune on top of the Koberian harmonies, changing key in a mini development section. I mix all the themes up together and get the two solo violinists to encourage the audience to clap along at a designated point.
After most of the themes are heard again, we come back to “Welcome to Koberia 6”, where we hear the theme one last time. The final bars are named “Good Bye and come back soon“.
2016:
Talking to Aphrodite
Richard Danielpour (b. 1956)Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall – New York, NY
“Talking to Aphrodite” was composed in August 2015 from start to finish at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. It is scored for soprano, solo horn, and strings. The text, by Erica Jong, was pared down (with the author's permission) from the epic poem of the same title.
What attracted me to this work was the idea that a woman – a mortal - would encounter Aphrodite in a kind of 'dreamscape' scenario. This dreamlike experience portrays a woman at a crossroads in her life, considering a choice between life and death. She summons the goddess of Love for counsel, only to discover that Aphrodite is far more complex than her representations portray. It is in this 'conversation' that the female in crisis begins to understand that Aphrodite--the Spirit of essential female love and life force--has always been within her. In her understanding of this she can ultimately end her attachment to death and instead, choose life.
This dramatic trajectory is portrayed somewhat abstractly in the six songs that comprise the cycle. The solo horn part is a shadow voice, in some ways suggesting the subconscious thoughts and feelings of the woman in question. With all of the aforementioned taken into account, the piece is, like many of my concert works, a "secret opera", with an inferred dramatic scenario: suggested, but not explicitly explained.
2009:
Lacrimae Beati "Tears of the Blessed One"
Richard Danielpour (b. 1956)Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center - New York, NY
"Lacrimae Beati (2009) means "Tears of the Blessed One," the blessed one in this instance being Mozart. The title also refers to the source material for this ten minute work - The Lacrimosa from the Mozart Requiem. It is generally assumed that the first eight bars of the Lacrimosa, are among the last that Mozart wrote. For nearly 30 years, I have thought about those bars, and the circumstances in which that music and most of the Requiem were composed."
2008:
Four Scenes
Jay Greenberg (b. 1991)The Fifth Annual Great Mountains International Music Festival
Nunmaul Hall, Yong Pyong Resort - Gangwon Province, Korea
"Four Scenes is a work for double string quartet, antiphonally spaced; the pieces attempt to capture the mood, if not the actual content, of several Korean folk tales. I was drawn to the subtle but present differences between Korean and better-known European fairy tales; perhaps most importantly, numerous such tales have not been softened up or prettified for more upper-class readers, as is common in Western literature, and thus end in violent, tragic, or unexpected ways and/or feature content that would have been considered unacceptable in Europe of the same period."
2007/2006:
Summer Grasses and Awakened from Haiku for Voice and Strings
Gordon Shi-Wen Chin (b. 1957)The Fourth Annual Great Mountains International Music Festival
Nunmaul Hall, Yong Pyong Resort - Gangwon Province, Korea
"The first time I heard Sejong was when they performed Formosa Seasons, a violin concerto of mine, in 2003. I was impressed not only with their extremely high quality of music playing, but also the special kind of intimacy that was present, maybe due to the absence of a conductor. So when I had an opportunity to explore my newly found haiku-images, I immediately thought Sejong would offer the most desirable "conditions" to carry out my musical ideas.
The voice, added in the midst of the strings, serves more as a commentator and a guide than as a singer. Initially this work was intended only for strings, but for some reason I kept hearing a voice that kept murmuring, sighing, humming, and even "anguishing." Not surprisingly, I realized the vocal sounds were coming from my intensive intention to express the poems. Then I said to myself, why not leave them on the pages, since they definitely open a channel to the meaning of the music. Consequently, the role of the voice appears only sporadically to remind us what the music is about, without becoming emotionally saturated."
Summer Grasses was completed near the end of 2004; Awakened, was added in May of 2006. I would like to dedicate this work to Sejong and its distinguished music director, Mr. Hyo Kang.
2006:
Love Past Cure
Monteverdi (1567 - 1643)Madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi with sonnets by William Shakespeare
Created by Edward Berkeley and Kenneth Merrill
La Jolla Music Society Summer Fest, MCASD Sherwood Auditorium - San Diego, CA
Monteverdi meets Shakespeare: an improvisation in which two 17th Century Masters come together to celebrate and soothe the fever that love brings. In madrigals and sonnets, songs and words, sympathetic strings heal the love-torn hearts of five singers.
2006:
Four Seasons of PyeongChang
Sukhi Kang (1934-2020)The Third Annual Great Mountains International Music Festival
Gangneung Art & Culture Hall, Gangneung City - Gangwon Province, Korea
"The four seasons in the mountains can be told simply by the color and the scent of the grass. The clouds, winds, and energy of heaven and earth alter as the seasons change. The changes are all part of the life cycle of the forest. The budding, blooming, ripening, and the selflessly inevitable departure are all part of the inherent cycle of the four seasons. The slowly budding spring transforms into fickle and animated summer days. Autumn comes to us with a great sense of abundance, which then segues into winter full of intense tension and strain. Winter, the most emotionally charged season, contains all the potential of life in its dark and moist womb, waiting to burst into spring again. The tireless movement of life, the infinite cycles of truth, and the ending that is also the new beginning are all contained in the season of winter.
TheFour Seasons of PyeongChang is composed of eight movements. Of the notes used, the harmonics create the backdrop for the overall tone of the music. In some cases, different modes and whole tones are used and in others, complicated twelve-tone modes are used. At some points, the rhythmic repetitions make up the overall scheme. In other parts, the rhythms are used either in unison or to create rhythmic time differentials."
2005:
Awakening
Behzad Ranjbaran (b. 1955)The Second Annual Great Mountains International Music Festival
Nunmaul Hall, Yong Pyong Resort - Gangwon Province, Korea
"Preserving the sanctity of peace is a common desire of all humanity. It is hard to understand why humans at times are drawn to war, when prosperity and happiness can be gained by peace. It is so fitting to celebrate peace with music, an inclusive art form that transcends time, cultures and generations.
Awakening was composed as a reflection on war and peace. It is one continuous movement with three interconnected sections: Andante con fuoco, Largo spirituali and Andante con fuoco. The melodic and harmonic basis of Awakening is a short motive, heard at the outset of the piece and is continuously varied and transformed as the work progresses. The agitated first section is followed by a meditative and contemplative middle section (largo spirituali). The final section shares many characteristics of the first section but with a sense of optimism that brings the piece to an energetic finale.
The score of Awakening is dedicated to my dear friend, Hyo Kang."
2003:
Sinfonia for Strings
Eric Ewazen (b. 1954)Recorded at American Academy of Arts and Letters - New York, NY
"Sinfonia for Strings is a rich and resonant celebration of the world of string orchestra sonorities. Capable of both great virtuosity and smooth-as-glass legato lyricism, the string orchestra provides the composer with a world of colors and varied musical emotions. The first movement is gutsy and rhythmic, with exciting moments of driving energy, syncopation and sonorous, ringing chords. The second movement, built on a melody which is soft and delicate, builds to a heroic climax, returning to the gentle and understated main theme at the end. The final movement opens with rousing and playful themes which pave the way for a joyful fugue, and a heroic finale.
2001:
Murmurs in the Mist of Memory
Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964)Harris Concert Hall, Aspen Music Festival
"Murmurs in the Mist of Memory is a four-movement work that was composed in 2001. The piece possesses a wide spectrum of nuance, at times, lyrical, abstract, passionate, subtle, vivid, aggressive, colorful, floating, rhythmic, elegant, clean, and light. Each movement features a different attribute of the Sejong Soloists' phenomenal technique?individual and collective?left hand as well as bow arm. The aim was to capture concisely, a specific "universe" or "mood" in each movement in the short space of three or four minutes, such that the musicians would escort the listener through a mini suite of diverse expeditions into remembrances."