[On Stage] Cellist Yang Sung-won "I Conveyed the Sorrow of WWI Felt by Elgar"

New Album Release: Elgar's Cello Concerto and Piano Quintet
Celebrating 50 Years with the Cello... Recital on the 27th of Next Month

The cello concerto by British composer Edward Elgar (1857?1934), well known for 'Salut d'Amour' and 'Pomp and Circumstance Marches,' is regarded as one of the greatest cello concertos of all time. Elgar completed this concerto in 1919, the year following the end of World War I, and premiered it in October of the same year, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) himself. Earlier that year, in May, he had published a piano quintet. These two works are consecutively numbered Op. 84 and Op. 85, respectively.

A new album by cellist Professor Yang Sung-won of Yonsei University (pictured), featuring these two pieces, was released on the 15th under the Universal Music Decca label. The album is titled Echoes of Elegy.

At a press conference held at Shinyoung Chamber Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, Professor Yang stated, "By including both pieces together, one can gain a much more three-dimensional perspective on Elgar's late world," adding, "I believe these two works serve as a memorial to World War I."

Elgar's music is often regarded as having become more somber and introspective after World War I.

Cellist Yang Sung-won, a professor at Yonsei University, is taking a commemorative photo at a press conference held on the 15th at Shinyoung Chamber Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, to celebrate the release of his new album.
[Photo by Universal Music]

Due to the immense fame of the cello concerto, Professor Yang placed greater emphasis on explaining the piano quintet. He said, "I think it is a very spiritual piece with poetic elements." He continued, "The music Elgar listened to at the moment of his passing was his own piano quintet. This shows how important the piece was to him. Listening to the second and third movements reveals how well the piece expresses Elgar's inner world."

The album was produced to commemorate Professor Yang's 50th anniversary of playing the cello. He considers the March 1975 concert by Hungarian-American cello master J?nos Starker (1924?2013) at Ewha Womans University Auditorium, when he was seven years old, as the starting point of his cello career. "I still remember that performance at Ewha Womans University Auditorium vividly, and it continues to inspire me deeply. It was the moment I decisively switched my path from piano to cello."

Professor Yang studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and, at age 19 in 1986, became a student of Starker at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. "If I were to name the happiest moment in my life, it would probably be when I received the letter saying I could attend Professor Starker's classes."

The album was recorded in 2022. Notably, the cello concerto was performed with the LSO, who premiered the work alongside Elgar, adding special significance. The piano quintet was recorded with younger colleagues including pianist Park Jae-hong, violinists Song Ji-won and Lim Ji-young, and violist Kim Sang-jin.

Professor Yang said, "Recording the album with the LSO, who premiered the cello concerto, and truly excellent younger colleagues whom I consider among the world's top artists, was very satisfying."

[Photo by Universal Music]

On the 27th of next month, Professor Yang will hold a recital at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center to celebrate his 50 years as a cellist. He plans to perform Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, Elgar's Cello Concerto, and Dvo??k's Cello Concerto. Professor Yang said, "Thanks to wonderful parents, teachers, colleagues, and family, I have been able to pursue the wonderful profession of a cellist for 50 years. This concert is a way to express my gratitude."

Professor Yang Sung-won's father is Yang Hae-yeop, a first-generation Korean violinist and former professor at Seoul National University College of Music, who was also the teacher of violinist Jung Kyung-hwa. Professor Yang's older brother is violinist Yang Sung-sik, former professor at Daegu Catholic University, and his wife is violinist Kim Eun-sik, secretary general of the Beksan Scholarship and Cultural Foundation.