[On Stage] Organist Professor Kim Hee-sung: "'Pictures at an Exhibition' Suits Organ Better Than Piano"

Pipe Organ Recital at Lotte Concert Hall on the 22nd
Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" Performed on Organ

"'Pictures at an Exhibition' is a piece with a wide vocal range, making it more suitable for the organ than the piano."

Organist Professor Kim Hee-sung of Ewha Womans University explained this about 'Pictures at an Exhibition,' which he will perform again after 15 years. Professor Kim will hold a pipe organ recital at Lotte Concert Hall on the 22nd. He will perform a total of four pieces that day, with 'Pictures at an Exhibition' as the final piece to close the concert. This will be his second time performing 'Pictures at an Exhibition' since his solo recital at the Sejong Center Grand Theater in 2009. When recently meeting Professor Kim at Ewha Womans University Music Hall, he explained, "It is a piece that can be expressed much more effectively when performed on the organ."

'Pictures at an Exhibition' is a piano piece composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (1839?1881), inspired by a posthumous exhibition of a friend's works. Mussorgsky selected ten works left by Viktor Hartmann, who was both an architect and painter, and expressed them through music. The piece is as varied and interesting as the number of paintings. Feeling that it was a pity to express such diverse changes only with the piano, French composer Maurice Ravel arranged it as an orchestral work. Nowadays, Ravel's orchestral arrangement is performed more frequently than the original piano version.

Pipe organist Professor Kim Hee-sung of Ewha Womans University sat in front of the pipe organ at the Kim Young Hall of Ewha Womans University. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Professor Kim said, "I thought it was magnificent when I heard it as an orchestral piece," adding, "If it can be done as an orchestral piece, it can also be done on the organ."

The organ, a keyboard instrument that produces sound by blowing pipes, is capable of producing the most diverse sounds among solo instruments. For this reason, Mozart said the organ would "forever be the king of all instruments." Listening to 'Pictures at an Exhibition' on the organ is expected to preserve the feeling of Mussorgsky's original work while also conveying the rich tonal colors of Ravel's orchestral arrangement.

Professor Kim particularly likes the last movement of 'Pictures at an Exhibition,' titled 'The Great Gate of Kiev.' He said, "'The Great Gate of Kiev' makes me very happy when I play it. It feels like a piece about heaven and eternal life." In this concert, he will perform the version arranged for organ by French organ master Jean Guillou (1930?2019). Jean Guillou was also the first soloist to perform on the pipe organ at Lotte Concert Hall, which opened in 2016.

To provide a richer sound, the Karos Percussion Ensemble will join the stage during the performance.

Professor Kim will open the concert with Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue,' one of the most famous organ pieces. Following that, he will perform 'Variations on the Noel Theme,' composed by French composer and organist Marcel Dupr? (1886?1971) based on the Christmas carol 'Noel Nouvelet,' and will premiere 'Comfort 10 - Gratitude,' a piece dedicated to him by his friend, Professor Lee Hye-sung of Gachon University Composition Department.

Professor Kim said there are many things he is grateful for, including friends composing pieces for him, and that the subtitle of this concert is 'Only Gratitude.'

Two years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a miraculous experience deepened his gratitude for life. At that time, his husband, Professor Kim Ye-sang of Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Architectural Engineering, was in critical condition in the intensive care unit for three months. Although doctors had given a hopeless prognosis, a lung transplant donor miraculously appeared, and now he has recovered enough to resume teaching.

As a Christian, Professor Kim said, "I realized through my husband that God is alive and understood how powerful prayer is." Last year, she held a concert to support lung transplant patients and donated the funds raised to Severance Hospital.

Pipe organist Professor Kim Hee-sung of Ewha Womans University is performing "Toccata" on the pipe organ at the Kim Young Hall of Ewha Womans University. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Professor Kim naturally learned to play the organ, a church instrument, influenced by her father, an elder, and her mother, a deaconess. Her father wanted his daughter to play the organ for church service. After majoring in piano in college, she studied organ performance in graduate school. Since 1995, she has been nurturing students at Ewha Womans University and holds an annual organ recital. "I have to hold a recital every year to show my students that their teacher is continuously studying." Professor Kim will retire next year. She plans to finish her final recital splendidly and leave the school in February 2026.