June 6 National Gugak Center Umyeondang Creative Orchestra Planned Performance
Six Works Created Through Collaboration Between Six Composers and Members
The National Gugak Center's Creative Orchestra will present six new performances completed through collaboration between composers and performers.
On the 6th, the Gugak Center announced on the 3rd that it will hold the planned performance 'Jachul (自出)' on the Umyeondang stage. The performance consists of works created through collaboration between mid-career composers Jo Hye-young, Ham Hyun-sang, Choi Ji-woon, Lee Kyung-eun, Yoon Min-hee, Son Da-hye, and the creative members. The members participated from the composer selection process and maintained continuous communication with the composers for this performance.
The name of the performance is derived from a distinctive playing technique of the Korean traditional instrument geomungo. The geomungo mainly plays melodies with a bamboo stick held in the right hand, but occasionally the left-hand fingers pressing the frets pluck or strike the strings to produce sound. This technique is called 'Jachul.' The Gugak Center explained that the name of the performance was chosen to signify the left hand, which was a supporting role, making a voice, and also to mean 'to advance and express oneself.'
The performance will feature six ensemble pieces for each of the main melodic instruments of gugak: piri, daegeum, ajaeng, gayageum, geomungo, and haegeum.
The first piece on stage is Jo Hye-young's 'Beonjim' for piri ensemble, based on the poem of the same name included in Jang Seok-nam's poetry collection. Starting with a single note, it gradually spreads over a wide pitch range, echoing from one piri sound to multiple sounds, expressing various forms of 'spreading.' The performers, who thought the piri's tone color and range resembled the human voice, chose a composer experienced in choral works to bring out this aspect well.
The National Gugak Center announced on the 3rd that it will present the planned performance "Jachul (自出)" on the Umyeondang stage on the 6th. The performance consists of works created through collaboration between mid-career composers Jo Hye-young, Ham Hyun-sang, Choi Ji-woon, Lee Kyung-eun, Yoon Min-hee, Son Da-hye, and creative members. [Photo by National Gugak Center]
Next, Ham Hyun-sang's 'Dance of Fire' for 25-string gayageum ensemble will be performed. It expresses the rules and irregularities, creation and extinction, and the constant renewal caused by mutual causality felt in the dancing flames through the various strings of the gayageum. Seo Eun-young, the lead member participating in the performance, said, "We are focusing on embodying the flickering flames through music."
The third piece, Choi Ji-woon's 'Memories of Lights,' is about natural light. It expresses the natural light that appears differently depending on time and place through haegeum ensemble. The piece is performed by eight haegeums plus one cello.
Lee Kyung-eun's 'Onda ga Onda' is a piece for geomungo. 'Onda' means 'wave' in Italian. The piece visually and audibly expresses the turbulent human psyche like natural waves through various geomungo playing techniques, fitting for a composer who was once a geomungo performer. The movement of waves is represented by the suldae technique (plucking or striking the strings with the stick held in the right hand), and the undulation of waves is expressed through the resonance of daehyeon (the third and thickest string of the six-stringed geomungo).
Yoon Min-hee's 'Bogo Jigo Bogo Jigo' for five ajaengs interweaves two scenes from the pansori 'Chunhyangga.' One scene is 'Cheonja Dwi-puri,' where Mongryong, who first saw Chunhyang at Gwanghanru, promises to meet her and waits for her. The other scene is 'Ssukdaemeori,' where Chunhyang sings longing for Mongryong while imprisoned. It tells the story of Chunhyang and Mongryong's love, separation, and reunion in prison. The deep resonance created by the ajaeng's mid-to-low range, excellent for expressing lyrical music, can be fully enjoyed.
Son Da-hye's 'Mansanhongun,' composed for sogeum, daegeum ensemble, yanggeum, and percussion, opens the stage with the most diverse instrumentation. It features one sogeum and seven daegeums ensemble, with yanggeum and percussion added. The piece was inspired by photos of the dinosaur ridge of Seoraksan Mountain. With diverse and rich harmonies, all performers take turns leading the harmony.
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