https://dongryullee.com Dongryul Lee, Composer Fri, 29 May 2026 18:05:04 +0000 https://dongryullee.com en https://dongryullee.com/Catalog Fri, 08 Apr 2022 02:36:04 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/Catalog https://dongryullee.com/Home Wed, 25 Dec 2019 22:44:43 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/Home COMPOSER, 작곡가 이동렬 I am a composer who seeks to write music that is both bodily and spiritual, intuitive and structured. I seek to reconcile and sublimate these tensions not through stylistic eclecticism, but through clarity of expression and depth of process. "Alluring, sparkling, thoughtful, and carefully crafted" “깊은 생각과 장인 정신으로 빚어진, 매혹적이며 반짝이는 음악” – Augusta Read Thomas&nbsp;"Positively apocalyptic" “압도적으로 묵시론적인” – Chicago Classical Review"Sounding like dense reefs of exotic corals" “얽히고 설킨 이국적 산호초 같은 사운드” – The Strad <img width="3020" height="1698" width_o="3020" height_o="1698" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ad2baf28466081f53882b6115404747c025e80b1141a26f145e5fb0704abe5bd/TimeStory_top5.jpg" data-mid="250297799" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ad2baf28466081f53882b6115404747c025e80b1141a26f145e5fb0704abe5bd/TimeStory_top5.jpg" /> Four Excerpts from Missa Laudato Si’ (2023–25)Commissioned by The EcoVoice Project, World premiere, Loyola University Chicago, March 2025 TIMESTORY, BOOK I: An AstroPastoral for 13 soloistsThe Grossman Ensemble, The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, December 2021, Commissioned by the Center for Contemporary Composition at the University of Chicago A finite island in the infinite ocean for solo violin, Miranda Cuckson 2021 Fromm Players at Harvard Co-curated by Miranda Cuckson and Anne Shreffler "Gleichsam auf einer geistigen Leiter" from Goethe's Garden (2016-17) for two pianos tuned in a quarter-tone apartHanah Choi and Hanqian Zhu, pianos, 18th Annual 21st Century Piano Competition Concert The Ci(r)cadian Tree (2025)for violin and piano, Commissioned by Benjamin Sung and David Kalhous for their extension project [Video] [Details] Unending Rose (2017-19 rev. 2021, 2025) A five movements / 45 minutes microtonal work for string quartetSupported by the Theodore Presser Foundation, Arts Council Korea, and Kultur Büro Elisabeth Berlin [Video] [Details] CATALOGUE SOLO &amp; DUO&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; CHAMBER ENSEMBLE &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; LARGE ENSEMBLE &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; VOCAL &amp; THEATRE&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; ORCHESTRAL https://dongryullee.com/Missa-Laudato-Si-2023-2025 Tue, 09 Apr 2024 16:43:49 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/Missa-Laudato-Si-2023-2025 Missa Laudato Si’ (2023–25)An environmental Mass uniting spirituality, ecology, and climate justice, reflecting Pope Francis’s encyclical Duration: ca. 55 minutes for Six Singers, SATB Chorus, Treble Chorus, and 12 Instruments여섯명의 솔로이스트, 합창단, 높은 음 합창단, 열 두 악기를 위한, “찬미받으소서 미사" I. KYRIE ELEISON&nbsp; The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species II. GLORIA Canticle of the Creatures III. AGNUS DEI Refugee; quasi una poesia, original text by Abdullah Kasem Al YatimIV. ITE, MISSA EST One person’s truth,&nbsp;original text by Shiva Ryu, trans. by Dongryul Lee 제 1악장, 자비송-“IUCN 멸종 위기종 목록” 제 2악장, 영광송-“창조물들의 찬가” 제 3악장, 주의 어린 양-“압둘라 카셈 알 야팀, 난민” 제 4악장, 퇴장송-“류시화, 한사람의 진실” ”Sister [Mother Earth] now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. [...]The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life.” – Pope Francis, Laudato si’ <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/07c51679e131d8c8b29c4b6a5fbfc092dbdb3967bf7434e8b3c4c2754a960374/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p02.jpg" data-mid="249769778" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/07c51679e131d8c8b29c4b6a5fbfc092dbdb3967bf7434e8b3c4c2754a960374/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p02.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ff6a61ce8772376224adbaa80f3b973e2657d3ae0f0c7c177cb2f94028cde8c/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p25.jpg" data-mid="249769779" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6ff6a61ce8772376224adbaa80f3b973e2657d3ae0f0c7c177cb2f94028cde8c/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p25.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/00e9e75e093dc0a42521322f02c94305926e22202523e62997db6531b59b457d/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p53.jpg" data-mid="249769780" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/00e9e75e093dc0a42521322f02c94305926e22202523e62997db6531b59b457d/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p53.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/12c4f0602e1a3c0ebb14e4b2843d8a484cd364456efaf6b2e937c107def55db5/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p76.jpg" data-mid="249769781" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/12c4f0602e1a3c0ebb14e4b2843d8a484cd364456efaf6b2e937c107def55db5/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p76.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94bbd51dfe8ecf350a6e38ac5167770b35c7de72bfd9ea463b054c562bc83db8/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p132.jpg" data-mid="249769782" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/94bbd51dfe8ecf350a6e38ac5167770b35c7de72bfd9ea463b054c562bc83db8/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p132.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/423b9c4a3af9092ab3c556a6979d10508251d2c11d2520171c48f64bf9c7c915/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p152.jpg" data-mid="249769783" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/423b9c4a3af9092ab3c556a6979d10508251d2c11d2520171c48f64bf9c7c915/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p152.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1eca894715bbc828416fd2baf12dd78caeab610f2f9d3c7cd4a939337212d41c/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p166.jpg" data-mid="249769784" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1eca894715bbc828416fd2baf12dd78caeab610f2f9d3c7cd4a939337212d41c/DongryulLee_Missa-Laudato-Si_FullScore_October102025_p166.jpg" /> Missa Laudato Si', Sample Score Scores and parts: Please contact the composer <img width="1934" height="534" width_o="1934" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6e86b3974f5154f8f9e6213646900b8ac1fac82f58c34e2c896a7f2a678c5872/MLS_top.jpg" data-mid="225880787" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6e86b3974f5154f8f9e6213646900b8ac1fac82f58c34e2c896a7f2a678c5872/MLS_top.jpg" /> Commissioned by The EcoVoice ProjectDedicated in memoriam to Pope Francis and with deep admiration to Kirsten Hedegaard "Positively apocalyptic. Quotations of the Dies Irae mingle with Buddhist chant to dispel any notion of a silver lining." “전적으로 묵시론적입니다. 심판의 날 선율이 불교적 염불소리와 뒤섞이며, 한 줄기 희망조차 철저히 지워버립니다.” – Chicago Classical Review "Composer weaves climate crisis themes into new choral work" “기후 위기 주제를 담은 새로운 합창곡” – Yale Climate ConnectionsWorld premiere of the whole cycle: The EcoVoice Project, New Earth Ensemble, Ignatian Voices, University Singers, and University ChoraleKirsten Hedegaard, conductorMarch 2025, Jo Ann Rooney Hall, Mundelein Center, Chicago, IL &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Video and Audio director: Garry Grasinski New Earth EnsembleLydia Walsh Rock, sopranoTiana Sorenson, sopranoGabrielle Timofeeva López, altoSteven Wilson, tenorJoe Labozetta, baritoneJohn Orduña, bassClaudia Cryer, flDeb Stephenson, obMichael Tran, clBen Riodl Ward, bsnJohn Corkill, percNolan Ehlers, percBen Melsky, hpChungho Lee, pfCaitlin Edwards, vn 1Sarah Kim, vn 2Vannia Phillips, vlaMatthew Agnew, vlc Trailer: Four Excerpts from MISSA LAUDATO SI’ I. KYRIE ELEISON–The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species II. GLORIA–Canticle of the Creatures III. AGNUS DEI–Refugee; quasi una poesia IV. ITE, MISSA EST–One person’s truth ”As we added the spoken parts, the instrumentals, the dancers, and the rest of the choral parts, it evolved into something entirely unique and hauntingly beautiful. The energy as we performed was unanimous, from start to finish. Every single performer and audience member felt connected to our planet and called to its defense.” – First-year student reflection Program notes–Missa Laudato Si’ (ver. Dec 30 2024) Korean notes below (아래에 한국어 설명 있습니다.) Missa Laudato Si’ is a new mass written in the spirit of Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, where he deplored: “For human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, […] for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins.” In the form of a Mass, it contemplates climate change and caring for the earth by intertwining the Latin Mass text with prayers, poems, and texts about contaminated soil and water, and all the threatened creatures living under the climate and plastic crises, including “the tragic effects of environmental degradation on the lives of the world’s poorest.” When Kirsten approached me in the summer of 2023 with her vision of creating a new ecological mass setting, I saw significant possibilities. I view this opportunity to create a mass, one of the oldest musical art forms, as a vehicle to convey forward-looking perspectives and propose an emotional and spiritual solution to one of humanity’s most urgent and critical issues, focusing on the voices of the earth and the marginalized. The mass encompasses a full spectrum of human expression, including forgiveness, anger, lament, celebration, despair, joy, faith, awe, and mercy. It infuses the traditional Missa Solemnis text without the Credo and Sanctus section, while including an additional Ite, Missa est section—with additional texts from Canticle of the Creatures by Saint Francis of Assisi, the poem Refugeeby Syrian refugee poet Abdullah Kasem Al Yatim (used with permission) with my own contribution, names and other data of critically endangered species from the IUCN RedList (The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species— www.iucnredlist.org, used with permission), the poem One Person’s Truth by the Korean zen-poet Shiva Ryu, and prayers from Pope Francis’ Missa Laudato Si.’ &nbsp;In Agnus Dei, Al Yatim’s poem is paired with an AI-generated translation of Agnus Dei into ancient Syriac/Aramaic—a language closely related to what Jesus and his apostles would have spoken. This pairing emerged as I reflected on the poem and the Mass text, searching for the deeper reason these two intersected in my mind. Additional sound sources and compositional materials include my research on the Schumann resonance of the Earth—an electromagnetic low-frequency “breath” of the planet—and my own adaptation of the Arabic Maqam scale in the third movement. <img width="1496" height="784" width_o="1496" height_o="784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7f34c9617a27a681b3c1e63d60a4ed509abe93fafa99323c134f8816dd16a65c/laudato-Si.jpg" data-mid="238394636" border="0" data-scale="50" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7f34c9617a27a681b3c1e63d60a4ed509abe93fafa99323c134f8816dd16a65c/laudato-Si.jpg" /> ”O God of the poor, teach us to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.” Pope Francis, A prayer for our earth&nbsp; (also featured in the first and fourth movements) Pragmatically, Missa Laudato Si’ is designed to be performed by university-level choir singers. The performance difficulty is meticulously calibrated so that student singers can actively participate, supported by graduate-level/professional performers who handle the more virtuosic material. I aim for this opportunity to be a transformative experience for students, deepening their understanding of the interconnectedness of our planet and cultivating awareness of our spiritual connection to the rest of creation. By participating in the performance of the mass, students will have an immersive opportunity to actively engage in climate activism through the arts. The first movement, Kyrie eleison, was performed in April 2024 by Loyola’s Ignatian Voices (Kirsten Hedegaard, instructor), University Chorale (Kirsten Hedegaard, instructor), University Singers (Jennifer Budziak, instructor), along with the New Earth Ensemble from The EcoVoice Project (The EcoVP) in Madonna della Strada Chapel in Chicago. The entire mass cycle will be world-premiered in March 2025 with the same performance forces. Missa Laudato Si’ is commissioned by the EcoVoice Project, and dedicated to Pope Francis, in memoriam, and to Kirsten Hedegaard, with deep admiration. <img width="1600" height="1715" width_o="1600" height_o="1715" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7a460d0b82be44eb76ee0332bcf049bc08caf9e7927231cbb583b603b8a57de4/St.-Francis-BrMartin_sm.JPG" data-mid="208601945" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7a460d0b82be44eb76ee0332bcf049bc08caf9e7927231cbb583b603b8a57de4/St.-Francis-BrMartin_sm.JPG" /> Image: Br. Erspamer, OBE. Used with permission. <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/336265df3b65449c77912bf02eb1fe5f308cf134014d1adc33e84f219237a8df/Missa_Laudato_Si_Poster_01.jpg" data-mid="228314300" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/336265df3b65449c77912bf02eb1fe5f308cf134014d1adc33e84f219237a8df/Missa_Laudato_Si_Poster_01.jpg" /> Premiere Concert Poster, Printed in March 2025 ”Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope.” – Pope Francis, Laudato si’ The following is from my Facebook post introducing four excerpts from Missa Laudato Si’, each included in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUd8Wm9sAcw The first movement, Kyrie eleison, unfolds as a form of musical theatre/documentary, where multiple musical events, sonic objects, and narratives converge/collide. Its structure is inspired by the image of melting glaciers, portrayed through a massive descending chord sequence, emerging from the Earth’s Schumann resonance, a low frequency electromagnetic “breath” of the planet. Within this apocalyptic musical landscape, the audience hears desperate narratives of extinct, dying, or critically endangered species, drawn from the IUCN Red List (www.iucnredlist.org). The second movement of Missa Laudato Si’, composed in response to Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, is the Gloria, titled “Canticle of the Creatures.” This movement sets Canticle of the Creatures, a poem by Saint Francis of Assisi (from whom Pope Francis took his papal name), to music and pairs it with the Latin text of the Gloria. The Canticle offers praises to God, the Sun, Moon, stars, wind, fire, water, and the Earth, and this sequence forms the structural framework of the movement. It is the longest and most central movement within the approximately one hour long Missa Laudato Si’. This movement was probably the one that received the most passionate response from our students. The third movement of Missa Laudato Si’, composed in response to Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, is the Agnus Day, titled Refugee, written by the Syrian refugee child, Abdullah Kasem Al Yatim, whose poem I discovered on the UNHCR website. It took me almost a year to understand why this poem resonated so deeply with me and how it connects to Agnus Dei. Later I realized that the Aramaic language is what Jesus spoke, which is what we now know as Syriac. I then rewrote the poem, reflecting my own interpretation and seeking the meaning of Agnus Dei in the context of our time. Currently I am revising the Syriac text referring to the Peshitta version bible (John 1:29). In this excerpt, you will hear: “All wounded countries and shattered countries are my home. All starlight countries and morning bird countries are my home. Dona nobis pacem.” The last movement, Ite, Missa Est, is not usually included as part of a musical Mass. But I interpreted the heart of Pope Francis's Laudato Si’ to be in this title: Go, it is sent (out into the world). The fourth movement is about delivering the message, transforming spiritual insight into action and justice, into the world to inspire real change. It is set to the poem "One Person’s Truth" by the Korean Zen poet Shiva Ryu (류시화), in my English translation: One Person’s Truth - Shiva Ryu, trans. by Dongryul Lee One person’s truth, that is enough One person’s truth, can change the world It is impossible for everyone to be truthful But for one person to be truthful That’s entirely possible Even if everyone speaks lies What we need is just one person’s truth For morning to come, there’s no need For every bird in the world to come and sing at the window Just one bird’s song Can push away the darkness resting on eyelids Even if one flower is not the whole of spring Even if only one flower’s spring “I feel that this piece does a great service to Pope Francis' encyclical and to the world in bringing awareness to these problems. Missa Laudato Si' should be performed around the world to not only to raise awareness, but also to inspire others to make a positive impact.”&nbsp; “The piece was unlike anything I had sung before, and it challenged me in a way that helped me grow as a musician.“ “I felt so many emotions moving through the individual pieces. […] I witnessed what I deem as “magic” that is your composition. I am still processing my thoughts as the piece invited me to reflect on my own words, thoughts, and actions.” – Student Reflections 소셜 미디어에 간략하게 쓴 내용입니다. 프란치스코 교황님의 ‘찬미받으소서’ 회칙에 영감을 받아 작곡한 ‘찬미받으소서’ 미사곡의 제 2악장, 영광송-“창조물들의 찬가” 입니다. 프란치스코 교황님의 세례명인 성 프란시스 아씨시 성인이 쓴 시, 창조물들의 찬가에 노래를 붙여 라틴어 영광송과 같이 노래합니다. 창조물들의 찬가에는 하느님, 해, 별, 달, 바람, 불 물, 지구에 대한 찬양들이 순서대로 나오는데, 이를 곡을 구성하는 기본적인 형식으로 사용하였습니다. 총 한시간동안 진행되는 찬미받으소서 미사곡 중 가장 길이가 긴 악장이며, 가장 중심이 되는 악장이기도 합니다.학생들에게서 가장 뜨거운 호응을 받은 악장입니다. 찬미하소서 미사의 세 번째 악장인 ‘난민’은 프란치스코 교황의 회칙 Laudato Si’에 대한 응답으로 작곡된 ‘주의 어린양’으로, 유엔난민기구(UNHCR) 웹사이트에서 발견한 시리아 난민 소년 압둘라 카셈 알 야팀(Abdullah Kasem Al Yatim)의 시에 기반하고 있습니다.이 시의 의미와 이 시와 주의 어린양의 관계를 깊이 이해햐는 데에 거의 1년이 걸렸습니다. 언젠가, 예수가 사용했던 언어가 현재 우리가 ‘시리아어(Syriac)’라고 부르는 아람어(Aramaic)라는 사실을 알게 되었고, 그 시를 나만의 해석으로 다시 써 내려가며 현대의 상황에서 ‘주의 어린양’의 의미를 탐구하기 시작했습니다. 현재 저는 시리아어 본문을 페쉬타 성경(요한복음 1장 29절)을 참고하여 수정하고 있는 중입니다.이 편집된 영상의 뒷부분에는 다음 구절의 노래가 나옵니다.“모든 상처 입은 나라들과 부서진 나라들이 나의 고향입니다.모든 별빛의 나라들과 아침의 새의 나라들이 나의 고향입니다.도나 노비스 파쳄(Dona nobis pacem).”마지막 악장, “미사가 끝났으니 가서 전합시다”는 보통 미사곡에는 포함되지 않습니다. 하지만 저는 이 부분이 미사와 프란시스 교황님의 찬미하소서 회칙의 가장 중요한 메세지라 생각했습니다. 제 4악장은 메세지의 세상에서의 실천에 대해 이야기하며, 한국의 류시화 시인이 쓴 시, “한 사람의 진실”을 영어로 번역하여 곡을 붙였습니다.한사람의 진실 류시화한 사람이 진실하면 그것으로 충분하다한 사람이 진실하면 세상이 바뀔 수 있다모든 사람이 진실한 것은 불가능하다그러나 한 사람이 진실한 것은얼마든지 가능한 일모두가 거짓을 말해도세상에 필요한 것은 단 한사람의 진실모든 새가 날아와 창가에서 노래해야만아침이 오는 것은 아니므로한 마리 새의 지저귐만으로도눈꺼플에 얹힌 어둠 밀어낼 수 있으므로꽃 하나가 봄 전체는 아닐지라도꽃 하나만큼의 봄일지라도 https://dongryullee.com/TIMESTORY-Book-I-2020-2021 Wed, 01 Sep 2021 19:08:36 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/TIMESTORY-Book-I-2020-2021 TIMESTORY, Book I:&nbsp;An Astropastoral for 13 soloists (2020-21) 13명의 솔로이스트를 위한 “시간 이야기”Duration: ca. 19 minutes Commissioned by the Center for Contemporary Composition at the University of ChicagoDedicated in admiration to Augusta Read Thomas 1. Motuum Cælestium 2. Star&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;flies&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;over&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;dark&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;matter Scoring: 1(=picc).1.1.1(asx).1 – hp, pno/synth – perc(2) – 2.0.1.1Horn in F part performed on a double horn with the F side tuned a quarter-tone lower. Piano is accompanied by a synthesizer or MIDI keyboard triggering a virtual piano tuned a quarter-tone lower (−50¢), placed on top of the piano. <img width="6600" height="10200" width_o="6600" height_o="10200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abad4d1a34798d301391b258934ed4aac700b6e3b5510565c131780352d4c227/Timestory_innercover_GIF.gif" data-mid="130268936" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/abad4d1a34798d301391b258934ed4aac700b6e3b5510565c131780352d4c227/Timestory_innercover_GIF.gif" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9dfca0d48968be68918b8279a3ffb90c25eafa1243e4b24afe66541780d81862/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p01.jpg" data-mid="249769909" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9dfca0d48968be68918b8279a3ffb90c25eafa1243e4b24afe66541780d81862/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p01.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/96afb1d66fbe6210db2d66204c10625d9ba04556955a2ba84407fb46d687e79b/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p02.jpg" data-mid="249769910" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/96afb1d66fbe6210db2d66204c10625d9ba04556955a2ba84407fb46d687e79b/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p02.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/10b375e69654fdf8c5b58da690e0601c2e4256a69b0347e2a93db426c2c578eb/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p15.jpg" data-mid="249769911" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/10b375e69654fdf8c5b58da690e0601c2e4256a69b0347e2a93db426c2c578eb/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p15.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6672b9ab749e3d82d95d23853da3efeaa4b9d622d5eb305b024bcdf67b3800c0/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p60.jpg" data-mid="249769912" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6672b9ab749e3d82d95d23853da3efeaa4b9d622d5eb305b024bcdf67b3800c0/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p60.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="5100" width_o="3300" height_o="5100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd4be60ef46da1f52aaa38ef9d96fb9d90c0654b5604e7f4ed0a2ef35cf0f6c2/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p62.jpg" data-mid="249769913" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fd4be60ef46da1f52aaa38ef9d96fb9d90c0654b5604e7f4ed0a2ef35cf0f6c2/DongryulLee_TIMESTORY_Final_p62.jpg" /> TimeStory, Sample Score Scores and parts: Please contact the composer Commissioned by the Center for Contemporary Composition at the University of ChicagoDedicated in admiration to Augusta Read ThomasThe first performance was given by the Grossman Ensemble, conducted by Vimbayi Kaziboni at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago, on December 3 2021 1. Motuum Cælestium 2. Star &nbsp;flies&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;over&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;dark&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;matter Score Follower Video Program notes Kids love storytime. It invites them to a completely new world in which anything can happen, even something beyond their imagination. In that world, they become new beings, which don't necessarily have to be anthropic (actually, it is very common that they become non‐human beings, e.g., frogs, rabbits, butterflies, whales, rainbow fish, unicorns, and even cars or gloves), and experience a sequence/timeline of a story deployed in a fantasied space and dimension.While attending a storytime at a public library with my 5 years old little one, the idea came to me: writing a storytime; in this case it is not about a story unfolding on a timeline, but it is about the time unfolding in the storyline. Since music is the closest medium to the nature of time (physically, the definition of pitch is the times of oscillation in a unit time, and rhythm is the time), I wanted to write a piece about time, and invite the audience to experience being the time and join the journey of time. As I inhabited this new cosmic carnival/metaphysical amusement park, I realized that there were so many construction materials with which to design this time‐land architecture, because all music is somewhat about time, and time is the heart of music. The first book of TIMESTORY is about stars, bells, movements, time, and their allegories, as the subtitle, An Astropastoral, suggests. The bell material builds upon my doctoral dissertation research. It uses the spectral data from the acoustical models of bell sounds and the modelling of virtual bell shapes by synthesizing engineering physics and campanology, using the Finite Element Method (FEM) technique. Note that the bell has always been the time keeper in our history, as the linguistic origin of “clock” is from the medieval Latin word “clocca,” which means bell. In this movement, there are multiple epiphanic moments when the clockwork sequence stops, and the ensemble becomes a gigantic bell/bell‐ecology. In the bell‐space there are multiple temporal and spatial layers, where various time‐beings are living and singing. The second movement is a passacaglia, which is interrupted twice by static episodes built upon a strong descending force. Here the falling stars/dying time metaphor is not about the morbid fear of death, but is about the beauty of the eternal return, the gravity of time.The subtitle of first movement is from Newton’s book, PRINCIPIA: “Gravitas ergo non erit occulta causa motuum cælestium; siquidem ex phaenomenis ostensum est, hanc virtutem revera existere,” which can be translated as “The gravity of the cause of the motions of the celestial things, therefore, is not an occult; Indeed, the phenomenon has been shown that this force actually exists.” <img width="3020" height="2268" width_o="3020" height_o="2268" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/74ce8c6b2bd6bdb21fdf387da1bf8a49296aa5ea11d705dad9a810d6ba4aed95/15EF12AB-3656-4478-AF0B-0CDD16AAC2FB.JPG" data-mid="133204393" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/74ce8c6b2bd6bdb21fdf387da1bf8a49296aa5ea11d705dad9a810d6ba4aed95/15EF12AB-3656-4478-AF0B-0CDD16AAC2FB.JPG" /> From the original idea sketch for Quasi una Campana–now withdrawn, later became a subconscious seed for TIMESTORY Text from The Bells (1848) by Edgar Allan Poe I. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hear the sledges with the bells—&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Silver bells!What a world of merriment their melody foretells!&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the icy air of night!&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;While the stars that oversprinkle&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;All the heavens, seem to twinkle&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With a crystalline delight;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Keeping time, time, time,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In a sort of Runic rhyme,To the tintinabulation that so musically wells&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From the bells, bells, bells, bells,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bells, bells, bells—&nbsp; From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. [...] IV. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hear the tolling of the bells—&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Iron bells!What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the silence of the night,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How we shiver with affright&nbsp; At the melancholy menace of their tone! &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For every sound that floats&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From the rust within their throats&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Is a groan.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And the people—ah, the people—&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They that dwell up in the steeple,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;All alone,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And who tolling, tolling, tolling,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In that muffled monotone,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Feel a glory in so rolling&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On the human heart a stone—&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They are neither man nor woman—&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They are neither brute nor human—&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They are Ghouls:&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And their king it is who tolls;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And he rolls, rolls, rolls,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rolls&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A pæan from the bells!&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And his merry bosom swells&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With the pæan of the bells!&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And he dances, and he yells; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Keeping time, time, time,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In a sort of Runic rhyme, [...] <img width="1802" height="901" width_o="1802" height_o="901" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/57aead1905408e0e74d75de3a022a705bd85a455d1c24f29b224df0eecefefad/bell_mesh3.gif" data-mid="154570350" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/57aead1905408e0e74d75de3a022a705bd85a455d1c24f29b224df0eecefefad/bell_mesh3.gif" /> Bell geometries with extra fine mesh (3D tetrahedral element) calculated and rendered by the Finite Element Method Research link TIMESTORY for 13 soloists is commissioned by the Center for Contemporary Composition at the University of Chicago and dedicated in admiration to Augusta Read Thomas. The first performance was given by the Grossman Ensemble: Tim Munro (flute), Andrew Nogal (oboe), Katherine Schoepflin Jimoh (clarinet), Taimur Sullivan (saxophone), Matthew Oliphant (horn), Greg Beyer (percussion), John Corkill (percussion), Ben Melsky (harp), Daniel Pesca (piano and synthesizer), MingHuan Xu (violin), Hanna Hurwitz (violin), Dominic Johnson (viola), and Hannah Collins (cello), conducted by Vimbayi Kaziboni, at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts on December 3rd, 2021. <img width="1600" height="900" width_o="1600" height_o="900" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ed49d16c9dda90caf7e6873a2019cabce133beb3c30ca19789a6fde7b6cd39cb/NASA_Chandra_Supernova_190724132005-05-universe-x-ray-vision-supernova-remnant.jpeg" data-mid="130265397" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ed49d16c9dda90caf7e6873a2019cabce133beb3c30ca19789a6fde7b6cd39cb/NASA_Chandra_Supernova_190724132005-05-universe-x-ray-vision-supernova-remnant.jpeg" /><img width="1600" height="900" width_o="1600" height_o="900" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e5a946e4a6b12137f982c7ced1353b9ad03f56d02b2e14bce699061ff5bb00d/ZTF_BH_Merger_webready.original.jpg" data-mid="130266047" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8e5a946e4a6b12137f982c7ced1353b9ad03f56d02b2e14bce699061ff5bb00d/ZTF_BH_Merger_webready.original.jpg" /> TimeStory: Concept images, Image credit: NASA, Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC) https://dongryullee.com/Mu-ak-Soul-Unbinding-2026 Fri, 29 May 2026 18:05:04 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/Mu-ak-Soul-Unbinding-2026 Mu-ak: Soul Unbinding&nbsp;(2026) for flute, clarinet, and piano 목관 삼중주를 위한, "무악(巫樂)" I. Dew Descending 제 1악장. “이슬 내림” II. Soul Unbinding 제 2악장. “넋풀이"III. Smoke Ascending 제 3악장. “연기 오름" Duration: ca. 13 minutes Commissioned by Ensemble .thrum, 앙상블 쓰룸 위촉Kelly Sulick, flute, Jiyeon Choi, clarinet, John Mayhood, piano July 2026, Clarinet Festival 2026, Incheon, Republic of Korea <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2adb24ee631e64e071567d7663329d917ca9c67e9c046c003aab0a5aeadd3469/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611.jpg" data-mid="249717904" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2adb24ee631e64e071567d7663329d917ca9c67e9c046c003aab0a5aeadd3469/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611.jpg" /> <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6d27ca2893bf918bc06a40015473a63b657c6b68fb1e2e12c4643d290a3be051/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611_p01.jpg" data-mid="249784012" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6d27ca2893bf918bc06a40015473a63b657c6b68fb1e2e12c4643d290a3be051/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611_p01.jpg" /> <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2241e7f8b181edd42036993c22d65fb386fcf80904cb84920098d2dd72e7241a/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611_p05.jpg" data-mid="249784013" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2241e7f8b181edd42036993c22d65fb386fcf80904cb84920098d2dd72e7241a/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611_p05.jpg" /> <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d0d7dd87a1921ca92b04b6c395950e06f44dd3e8b5eea233543677445f4e745e/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611_p10.jpg" data-mid="249784014" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d0d7dd87a1921ca92b04b6c395950e06f44dd3e8b5eea233543677445f4e745e/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611_p10.jpg" /> <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e2260386fa7bc10c3eaa06ca9d36f3d49a428afa3b8c84140ca2790ebb4c30db/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611_p30.jpg" data-mid="249784015" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e2260386fa7bc10c3eaa06ca9d36f3d49a428afa3b8c84140ca2790ebb4c30db/DongryulLee_Mu_ak_20260611_p30.jpg" /> Mu-ak: Soul Unbinding, Sample Score Scores and parts: Please contact the composer Program notes&nbsp; Korean notes below (아래에 한국어 설명 있습니다.) Mu-ak: Soul Unbinding draws inspiration from Korean gut (굿), a shamanistic ritual tradition performed by a mudang (무당, 巫堂) that serves both communal and spiritual functions. More specifically, the work is inspired by Jin-o-gui-gut (진오귀굿, also known as Ssit-gim-gut, 씻김굿), a ritual from Korea’s Jeolla region (전라도) traditionally performed to guide the soul of the deceased toward peace. In many respects, Jin-o-gui-gut may be understood as a Korean counterpart to a requiem, unfolding as an intimate, largely solo vocal ceremony occasionally supported by rhythmic instrumental accompaniment. Through music, dance, invocation, and singing, the ritual seeks to resolve lingering attachments and sorrows (한, 恨, han) that bind the soul to the world of the living. The ceremony unfolds through a sequence of stages: Ch’ogamangsŏk (초가망석), the invitation of the spirit and opening of the threshold; Nŏkp’uri (넋풀이), the unbinding of the soul; Isŭl Tŏlgi (이슬털기), the shaking away of worldly residue; Nŏk Olligi (넋올리기), the raising of the soul; and Kildakkŭm (길닦음), the clearing of its path toward departure. Among its many striking ceremonial elements is the construction of a paper boat that symbolically carries the soul across the threshold between life and death. While Mu-ak does not attempt to recreate the form of Jin-o-gui-gut itself, it draws inspiration from its dreamlike progression, spiritual symbolism, and transformative journey. The work also incorporates elements of Korean rhythmic practice, particularly jangdan (장단), traditional cyclical rhythmic patterns that serve as a foundation for much Korean music. Some jangdan appear in relatively direct form, including Ŏtmori (엇모리), Jinyang (진양), and Jungmori (중모리), while others are transformed and reconstructed within the work’s own musical language. Over the course of three movements, the piece traces the journey of a summoned soul: from shrill invocations and a descent into earthly attachment, through bodily rite and vigorous ceremonial release, and ultimately toward the transcendence of evaporating dew. 무악(巫樂) (약 13분) 1. 이슬 내림 2. 넋풀이 3. 연기 오름 프로그램 노트 《무악》은 한국의 전통 굿에서 영감을 받은 작품입니다. 굿은 공동체적 기능과 종교적 기능을 함께 수행하는 한국 고유의 의례 문화입니다. 특히 이 작품을 위해 저는 진오귀굿(씻김굿)을 중점적으로 공부하였습니다. 진오귀굿은 전라도 지역에서 전승되어 오는 굿으로써 망자의 영혼이 평안히 저승으로 오를 수 있도록 인도하는 의례입니다. 어떤 면에서 진오귀굿은 한국적 진혼곡이라 할 수 있습니다. 그러나 대규모 합창과 기악 편성을 통해 연주되는 서양의 진혼곡과는 달리, 진오귀굿은 한 명의 당골(무당)이 중심이 되어 이끄는 비교적 친밀한 규모의 의식으로 진행됩니다. (물론 굿판이 아우르는 전체적 시간과 공간을 고려한다면 결코 소규모의 의례라 할 수는 없을 것입니다.) 고인(鼓人, 고수를 포함한 굿의 반주자)들의 노래와 악기 연주, 그리고 바라지가 이를 받쳐주며, 음악과 춤, 의식과 노래를 통해 망자의 영혼을 이승에 붙들고 있는 한(恨)과 살(煞)을 풀어내고자 합니다. 의식은 초가망석(初家望席)에서 이승과 저승의 경계를 열고 영혼을 청하는 것으로 시작하여, 넋풀이를 통해 영혼의 매듭을 풀고, 이슬털기를 통해 세속의 흔적을 떨쳐내며, 넋올리기를 통해 영혼을 끌어 올린 뒤, 길닦음을 통해 저승으로 향하는 길을 마련하여 보내는 순서로 진행됩니다. 이 과정에서 하얀 배를 만들어 영혼을 삶과 죽음의 경계 너머로 보내는 상징적 행위 또한 진오귀굿의 인상적인 의례 요소 가운데 하나입니다. 무악은 진오귀굿의 형식 자체를 재현하려는 작품은 결코 아닙니다. 대신 해당 의례가 가진 초현실적 네러티브와 형식, 다양한 영적 상징들, 그리고 엉킴, 어울림, 풀이의 여정을 음악적으로 탐구하고자 하였습니다. 또한 작품에는 한국 전통 리듬 구조인 장단(長短)의 요소들이 포함되어 있습니다. 엇모리, 진양, 중모리와 같은 장단은 비교적 직접적인 형태로 등장하기도 하며, 때로는 작품 고유의 음악 언어 속에서 변형되고 재구성되어 나타나기도 합니다. 세 개의 악장으로 구성된 이 작품은 소혼(召魂)의 의식과 함께 시작하여, 역동적 어울림과 해원의 과정을 거친 뒤, 마침내 허공으로 흩어지는 이슬처럼 자유로워진 영혼이 초월의 세계로 나아가는 모습을 그립니다. 《무악》은 켈리 설릭(플룻), 최지연(클라리넷), 존 메이후드(피아노)로 구성된 앙상블 쓰룸 .thrum에 의해 위촉되었으며, 2026년 7월 인천에서 개최된 클라리넷페스트 2026 (ClarinetFest 2026)에서 초연되었습니다. 이동렬 <img width="2216" height="1298" width_o="2216" height_o="1298" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/010ad2fe17eec1008ef044a1111e0e19e4dd8010abb100a4e07b1d7d23652f49/202608_54thNFA.jpg" data-mid="250528049" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/010ad2fe17eec1008ef044a1111e0e19e4dd8010abb100a4e07b1d7d23652f49/202608_54thNFA.jpg" />Ensemble .thrum, 앙상블 쓰룸: Kelly Sulick, flute, Jiyeon Choi, clarinet, John Mayhood,piano The 54th National Flute Association Annual ConventionFriday, August 7 at 11:30 am PDT, Room A 107-109Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon <img width="1650" height="2550" width_o="1650" height_o="2550" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7bbd0b1f9e78e924c730d6aa586dd5961faeb1ef21c4a36276fc3b482e011dfe/ClarinetFest-2026-DV11.jpg" data-mid="250006291" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7bbd0b1f9e78e924c730d6aa586dd5961faeb1ef21c4a36276fc3b482e011dfe/ClarinetFest-2026-DV11.jpg" />Ensemble .thrum: Kelly Sulick, flute, Jiyeon Choi, clarinet, John Mayhood, piano ClarinetFest® 2026, Incheon, South Korea, July 11, 2026Salon de Musique, 251-4 Buam-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea, July 5, 2026<img width="1000" height="791" width_o="1000" height_o="791" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dde8e3f60a25f925ec5fda231ac9fb99b179c5be17492848071303fe4c6a8918/Hyewon-Munyeo.sinmu-br.jpg" data-mid="248906212" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dde8e3f60a25f925ec5fda231ac9fb99b179c5be17492848071303fe4c6a8918/Hyewon-Munyeo.sinmu-br.jpg" /> Shaman's Dance (무녀신무, 巫女神舞), by Shin Yun-bok (申潤福, 1758–early 19th century), from Hyewon Pungsokdo Album (혜원풍속도첩, 蕙園風俗圖帖). Collection of the Kansong Art Museum, Seoul. https://dongryullee.com/The-Ci-r-cadian-Tree-2024-2025 Sat, 04 Jan 2025 17:44:27 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/The-Ci-r-cadian-Tree-2024-2025 &nbsp;The Ci(r)cadian Tree (2024-25)&nbsp;for violin and piano바이올린과 피아노를 위한, "순환(매미)의 나무"Duration: ca. 35 minutes I. Every black is an infinity of colors (The ascension hole) II. The song sparrow and a trillion impossible questions III. Interplanetary lightstorm-blossoms IV. Kinderszenen: The whole world is a playground Outer Rings: I and IV / Inner Rings: II and IIIThis work may be performed as a complete piece, in two groups corresponding to the outer and inner rings, or with each movement performed independently. Commissioned by Benjamin Sung and David Kalhous for their extension projectDedicated in gratitude and admiration to and premiered by Benjamin Sung and David Kalhous Live recording from the World Premiere Skowronski Music Hall, Loyola University Chicago October 31 2025Benjamin Sung, violinDavid Kalhous, piano I. Every black is an infinity of colors (The ascension hole) Featured on the Contemporary Classical YouTube channel <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f8034b3df82f0875bdaa2bc5be176df3a43c767f63f1de29620b1b61b47daa69/1stmvt.jpg" data-mid="247974339" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f8034b3df82f0875bdaa2bc5be176df3a43c767f63f1de29620b1b61b47daa69/1stmvt.jpg" /> II. The song sparrow and a trillion impossible questions <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5c39ab6b79269589b2847ad1e0da3eed8ae9e63ca46d7953f4b9d9de907e93d/2ndmvt_.jpg" data-mid="247974355" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5c39ab6b79269589b2847ad1e0da3eed8ae9e63ca46d7953f4b9d9de907e93d/2ndmvt_.jpg" /> III. Interplanetary lightstorm-blossoms <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/16272f5721b569c099983eb8e640a98b9e402c6e63536706884e4523fd5e56ff/3rdmvt.jpg" data-mid="247974341" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/16272f5721b569c099983eb8e640a98b9e402c6e63536706884e4523fd5e56ff/3rdmvt.jpg" /> IV. Kinderszenen: The whole world is a playground <img width="2550" height="3300" width_o="2550" height_o="3300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7cd33a767c35a2db4a4f576c0cf7e9bdc37f947f8428ecd0a1bca01b109c2c99/4thmvt.jpg" data-mid="247974342" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7cd33a767c35a2db4a4f576c0cf7e9bdc37f947f8428ecd0a1bca01b109c2c99/4thmvt.jpg" /> Score: Please contact the composer Program notes In the summer of 2024, I encountered two extremely rare phenomena in the same month. That year, two different types of cicadas simultaneously emerged in Illinois. Theoretically, this can happen every 221 years, when the cycles of the two prime numbers coincide: Brood XIII, the Northern Illinois Brood, hatched and burrowed into the ground 17 years ago, in 2007. Brood XIX, the Great Southern Brood, hatched in 2011 and has spent 13 years underground, sipping sap from tree roots.[…] This spring the two broods will surface together, and are expected to cover a similar range. Up to a trillion cicadas will rise from the warming ground to molt, sing, mate, lay eggs and die. – Jonathan Corum, Maps of Two Cicada Broods, Reunited After 221 Years (New York Times, May 2, 2024) One day, my daughter asked to visit the “cicada” trees at her school and I thought it was an excellent idea for her to do some nature exploration activities. When I arrived at her school, I was absolutely mesmerized by the unreal, colossal scale of the scene. I saw countless dead cicadas covering the tree stumps, some hung on the trees while thousands on the ground like piles of sand. From time to time, I could hear the snapping sounds of birds shredding or tearing cicadas apart. Abandoned wings on the ground gave the impression that birds enjoyed these snacks like potato chips, eating the bodies and discarding the plastic bag. “Which happened once in time is repeated endlessly in eternity“ –J.L. Borges, from Three Versions of Judas My daughter played with the cicadas, placing some on her shoulder or palms to watch them crawl, throwing some to see if they soar before hitting the ground, and even petting them with adorable eyes. The sight of the trees with thousands of holes where cicadas emerged from years of underground slumber, piles of living and dead cicadas with their cocoons, desperately flying cicadas chased by birds, my daughter playing among them by the playground, imprinted a philosophical question: A Buddhist zen question about the meaning and the origin of life. This was on May 31st 2024. Three weeks before our cicada adventure, there was another rare event. A massive series of solar storms in early May, caused by three coronal mass ejections from the sun, made the northern lights visible in many areas of the northern hemisphere (Kp index of 9 out of 10 – likelihood that the aurora will be visible.) After missing this celestial show on May 10th, my family tried to watch it again the following night with many of our fussy Chicago neighbors. At 11 PM, after dropping off my other family members at home following an exhausting and unfruitful night-chase, I finally set up my base camp at the park near my daughter’s school, right by the cicada playground. Miraculously, around 11:30 PM, I glimpsed about two minutes of the Northern Lights—a cosmic image that I had never encountered before. &nbsp;While writing the piece, I realized that the cicadas might have seen the same celestial fireworks, which inspired the third movement. The title The Ci(r)cadian Tree reflects the circular daily lives of a trillion cicadas. They emerge in the morning from the holes under their mother trees after the longest and darkest waiting, with some being eaten by predators in the afternoon while others survive. (The original title of second movement was Duel: Sing-Song sparrow sharpshreds snapping snacks.) In the early evening, they hear probably the only song during their lifetime from the playground from children, and at night, those that succeed to reproduce might enjoy the beautiful Northern Lights. Ci(r)cadian Tree is commissioned by Benjamin Sung and David Kalhous and dedicated to them with deepest admiration. It is premiered in February 2025 at Loyola University Chicago. <img width="2276" height="1492" width_o="2276" height_o="1492" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7228fbebfb597412008b285d6ac82e83555dd5bd22bf0b954fdc47eba65d7d7d/202509_EarTaxi_AC_31_Sung-Kalhous2.jpg" data-mid="238166195" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7228fbebfb597412008b285d6ac82e83555dd5bd22bf0b954fdc47eba65d7d7d/202509_EarTaxi_AC_31_Sung-Kalhous2.jpg" /> <img width="1080" height="1080" width_o="1080" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/173ff5f9ce19ea6e1800aa39e4801d26dd99ec6c187965e84b987ecb4df4f8ba/202509_EarTaxi_AC_31_Sung-Kalhous.jpg" data-mid="238166197" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/173ff5f9ce19ea6e1800aa39e4801d26dd99ec6c187965e84b987ecb4df4f8ba/202509_EarTaxi_AC_31_Sung-Kalhous.jpg" /> Part of Accent Concerts at the Ear Taxi Festival, presented by New Music Chicago World Premiere of the Complete Work October 29, 2025, at 7:30P, Smith Memorial Hall, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, ILOctober 31, 2025, at 7:00P, Skowronski Music Hall, Loyola University Chicago Premiere of the first movementMarch 4 2025 at 7:30P, Longmire Recital Hall, Tallahassee, Fl <img width="1600" height="1027" width_o="1600" height_o="1027" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f369e53e573c16cde5465f28be1eb2e2696da2026464f40c5ca5eadc590b049e/Ben-Sung.jpg" data-mid="225725859" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f369e53e573c16cde5465f28be1eb2e2696da2026464f40c5ca5eadc590b049e/Ben-Sung.jpg" />Benjamin Sung <img width="4898" height="3265" width_o="4898" height_o="3265" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ad304f9396da69287ba7a20377ff65c42598baf10f4b981c31434b934a2c2c2/David-Kalhous.jpg" data-mid="225725860" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2ad304f9396da69287ba7a20377ff65c42598baf10f4b981c31434b934a2c2c2/David-Kalhous.jpg" /> David Kalhous, Photo credit Pavlina Schultz <img width="1526" height="1262" width_o="1526" height_o="1262" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5956036a8425f2f99435df23e62a26259f361ab3f022d3a3fee953be41c44207/BW.jpg" data-mid="224144175" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5956036a8425f2f99435df23e62a26259f361ab3f022d3a3fee953be41c44207/BW.jpg" /> Photo Credit: The Circadian Trees. Photo taken by the author on May 31, 2024 at 10:26 AM in Morton Grove, IL <img width="1024" height="1365" width_o="1024" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6b1944492dd12db77381aeac65f6076c77e162b20dc31d7ab76bc5517661f02f/_IMG_9850-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="224144670" border="0" data-scale="49" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6b1944492dd12db77381aeac65f6076c77e162b20dc31d7ab76bc5517661f02f/_IMG_9850-copy-2.jpg" /><img width="1024" height="1365" width_o="1024" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/93309dd306a34239581c33fd3ed6fcc6e2af95631470c3f6e4a2abaa95761694/_IMG_9879-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="224144671" border="0" data-scale="49" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/93309dd306a34239581c33fd3ed6fcc6e2af95631470c3f6e4a2abaa95761694/_IMG_9879-copy-2.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="1365" width_o="1024" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b47cbcab2f0e1431c0e9adfe465db80b7a99b9295355cf9229b64f098dda9539/IMG_9870_jpg.jpg" data-mid="240145094" border="0" data-scale="49" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b47cbcab2f0e1431c0e9adfe465db80b7a99b9295355cf9229b64f098dda9539/IMG_9870_jpg.jpg" /><img width="1024" height="1365" width_o="1024" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/59772c4fa49062762a27894b7a59c0a8ac4a8861737ba4820bff595d2146fe20/IMG_9871_jpg.jpg" data-mid="240145095" border="0" data-scale="49" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/59772c4fa49062762a27894b7a59c0a8ac4a8861737ba4820bff595d2146fe20/IMG_9871_jpg.jpg" /> The Circadian Trees. Photo taken on May 31, 2024 at 10:26 AM in Morton Grove, IL <img width="1024" height="1365" width_o="1024" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5132c9d27878e2c3ed76c0aee3dbaefb79448f914a364b34c5851071180f33ad/_IMG_9843-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="224144669" border="0" data-scale="49" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5132c9d27878e2c3ed76c0aee3dbaefb79448f914a364b34c5851071180f33ad/_IMG_9843-copy-2.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="1365" width_o="1024" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1542dd0d9a36398ea9228370684c9abbd5383654f746b8fa8db12221bf9949a2/IMG_9896-copy.jpg" data-mid="224156465" border="0" data-scale="49" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1542dd0d9a36398ea9228370684c9abbd5383654f746b8fa8db12221bf9949a2/IMG_9896-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ba588947d8b08dc9f3e33c872f8c6f8aa8cc10a79b53972afb603202a72836e/northernlights.jpg" data-mid="224144754" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2ba588947d8b08dc9f3e33c872f8c6f8aa8cc10a79b53972afb603202a72836e/northernlights.jpg" /> The Circadian Playground and Northern Lights. Photo taken on May 11, 2024 at 11:32 PM in Morton Grove, IL https://dongryullee.com/A-finite-island-in-the-infinite-ocean-2020 Sun, 28 Mar 2021 04:51:17 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/A-finite-island-in-the-infinite-ocean-2020 A finite island in the infinite ocean (2020)&nbsp;for solo violin 바이올린을 위한, "무한한 대양의 유한한 섬" Dedicated to and premiered by Miranda Cuckson Duration: ca. 15 minutes <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a6476db7d8d3db5c1cb2cb8953a7b76db7c311013f628fc557d1527fab768651/DongryulLee_AFiniteIsland_p01.jpg" data-mid="249769925" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a6476db7d8d3db5c1cb2cb8953a7b76db7c311013f628fc557d1527fab768651/DongryulLee_AFiniteIsland_p01.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a20113f605f3be3ea154dfa983c2255ed3bd30491348cdf8df95807a2330c0e9/DongryulLee_AFiniteIsland_p08.jpg" data-mid="249769926" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a20113f605f3be3ea154dfa983c2255ed3bd30491348cdf8df95807a2330c0e9/DongryulLee_AFiniteIsland_p08.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a9f6e27248ab924d05e0c008e3082d9cc883af254c450059abc1a6806b1f32c5/DongryulLee_AFiniteIsland_p10.jpg" data-mid="249769927" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a9f6e27248ab924d05e0c008e3082d9cc883af254c450059abc1a6806b1f32c5/DongryulLee_AFiniteIsland_p10.jpg" /> A Finite Island in the Infinite Ocean, Sample ScoreScore: Please contact the composer “Lee is exploring a complex net of tunings that foreground unfamiliar kinds of consonances between notes of the solo violin. [...] but Lee raises the ante by allowing considerably more complex sonic relationships to emerge. The result is a piece which sounds entirely fresh yet somehow natural in its unfolding.” – Robert Hasegawa, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Orchestration Studies, On A finite island in the infinite ocean Special thanks to:Harvard's Media Production Services, especially Jeffrey Valade, Mike Mayo, and Johnny DeKam, for the preparation of the concert video and interview videosGrace Edgar, Enrique Marquez, and Nancy Shafman from the Department of Music for all their help in organizing the many facets of this project.Ryan Caruso, Charles Hagaman, and the video team at National Sawdust, for their recording and filming of the concert Video Interview with Anne Shreffler and Miranda Cuckson,The Fromm Players at Harvard 2021 2021 Fromm Players at Harvard&nbsp;Co-curated by Miranda Cuckson and Anne ShrefflerStreamed on Harvard's Music Department YouTube ChannelApril 16, 2021 at 8:00pm EST Concert Program Booklet Score Video,&nbsp;Uploaded with permission from the Fromm Music Foundation and the Harvard University Department of Music Program notes As the title of the two movements might suggest, the first is a toccata, prelude, or intonazione-like improvisatory movement as from the Baroque period, which historically included either fast virtuosic scalar passages or small whimsical fughetta subjects without strict structural development or motivic manipulation. After this brainstorming net being cast by composers of that era to capture musical ideas from the subconscious sea of their musical mind, there usually followed a structural contrapuntal (learned) style movement. On top of this characteristic formal style, I added two more elements in the first movement: this movement can function as an in-tuning movement for a general audience and the performer to submerge into the relatively new sound world of this work, or a gateway which guides to a deeper level sound world of the second movement with more precise tunings and harmonies created by natural overtone/undertone ratios. The other element is the möbius-like form of the movement, where the beginning ascending chaconne passage is also becoming the final arrival point of the movement. <img width="2880" height="2160" width_o="2880" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a618e404297ea4c7faed178ba33f734387647438956d472608f643d266d201a8/FC_20210419_0049.JPG" data-mid="105784282" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a618e404297ea4c7faed178ba33f734387647438956d472608f643d266d201a8/FC_20210419_0049.JPG" /> While the first movement is primarily about exploring the unknown (as in space travel), the second movement is discovering or arriving at the unknown, here the “finite island.” The system is now emerged, and we play, sing, and stroll on this new terrain. Although a new world does not always welcome us, in this piece, it indeed welcomes us and sings formerly unheard melodies. A finite island in the infinite ocean was written during the summer of 2020 and is dedicated to Miranda Cuckson whom I met in 2017 at the Composers Conference led by Mario Davidovsky. The title is from Einstein’s book, Relativity: “[…] and that as we proceed outwards from this centre the group-density of the stars should diminish, until finally, at great distances, it is succeeded by an infinite region of emptiness. The stellar universe ought to be a finite island in the infinite ocean of space.” Dongryul Lee <img width="1280" height="1280" width_o="1280" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/28453cca43e8f8a6e55f0066026bb3bca8cf9610c90e3371dd6bc20c0a0e88f4/AFinite_01.jpg" data-mid="152877189" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/28453cca43e8f8a6e55f0066026bb3bca8cf9610c90e3371dd6bc20c0a0e88f4/AFinite_01.jpg" /> A Finite Island in the Infinite Ocean, Concept Image https://dongryullee.com/Le-Tombeau-de-Harvey-2018-rev-2019 Tue, 09 Mar 2021 20:57:09 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/Le-Tombeau-de-Harvey-2018-rev-2019 Le Tombeau de Harvey (2018, rev. 2019) for solo piano&nbsp; 피아노 독주를 위한, "하베이의 무덤" Duration: ca. 15 minutes (revised version, 2019) Awards: Third Prize, The First Bartók World Competition - Composition, Budapest, Hungary, 2018Adjudicated by the jury: Thomas Adès (chair), Unsuk Chin, Chaya Czernowin, and Gyula Fekete <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/43050852c7c5941cdd5e4d779f819d30f2c46e7284fc0a660c7f24a0a5e64b21/DongryulLEE_LeTombeauDeHarvey_p01.jpg" data-mid="249769999" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/43050852c7c5941cdd5e4d779f819d30f2c46e7284fc0a660c7f24a0a5e64b21/DongryulLEE_LeTombeauDeHarvey_p01.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/25b832ffad0cc0af800919de68f0c7adbd211c367ca7a244e75a4ad8c2a323d9/DongryulLEE_LeTombeauDeHarvey_p06.jpg" data-mid="249770000" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/25b832ffad0cc0af800919de68f0c7adbd211c367ca7a244e75a4ad8c2a323d9/DongryulLEE_LeTombeauDeHarvey_p06.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/35b2379c91aded78bd5342c587a14537c7b4d5064045e8a3449936a0edae498f/DongryulLEE_LeTombeauDeHarvey_p12.jpg" data-mid="249770001" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/35b2379c91aded78bd5342c587a14537c7b4d5064045e8a3449936a0edae498f/DongryulLEE_LeTombeauDeHarvey_p12.jpg" /> Le Tombeau de Harvey, Sample ScoreScore: Please contact the composer “liquid, sculptural, expansive, resplendent; a playing/listening experience that feels like peeling back the layers of the piano to find new resonances, release some ancient voice that's always been part of it but new to our ears.”Arie Mo, pianist, on Le Tombeau de Harvey Live recording from the world premiere of the full/revised version:"Callithumpian Consort: Karchin, Murail, Chacon, Rădulescu, Lee, and Montgomery"Ariel Mo, pianoJordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, US, January 18, 2022 Nov 2018, Balázs KÁLVIN, Bartók World Competition Finalist Gala ConcertGrand Hall, Liszt Academy, Budapest, HungaryScore video featured on YoutubeAriel Mo, piano, Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, US, January 18, 2022 Program notes &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; This work is strongly based on bell acoustics. The bell’s luminous and sometimes even spiritual sonic physiognomies include not only inharmonic spectral components that come from its primeval shape of a simple circular plate (R. Perrin and T.D. Rossing, 1984), but also a myriad of artificially created non-tonal intervals generated by an infinite number of vibrational modes described as hum, prime, quint, and nominal. Besides this idiosyncratic frequency content, the evolutional behavior of each harmonic spectrum in the time-domain has very unique features, which includes an eruption of splash tones and hauntingly-long beatings afterwards. These unusual sonic properties with religious aura attracted not only composers (such as Debussy’s Cloches à travers les feuilles, Schoenberg’s Op. 19, No. 6, and Knussen’s prayer bell sketch, to name a few) but also poets, scientists, painters, and all manner of people for more than a thousand of years. All of these campanologic features became the core materials of this work. <img width="2016" height="1512" width_o="2016" height_o="1512" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/68f4ca569e804115d40ae10bcccdc0048b7270b37fa498b3730fca20d6f4ef15/Tombeau_original-copy.jpg" data-mid="161501257" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/68f4ca569e804115d40ae10bcccdc0048b7270b37fa498b3730fca20d6f4ef15/Tombeau_original-copy.jpg" />The original handwritten scores &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jonathan Harvey wrote his early magnum opus, Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco (1980) based on sounds from the tenor bell at Winchester Cathedral and the voice of his own son. The original bell spectrum he employed in the piece became the aural seed of this work; I magnified the sound space of the initial spectra by creating additional tones resulting from frequency modulation equations—also frequently used by Harvey: one that Harvey called ‘equal addition compression’ (Michael Downes, 2009) is a customized version of FM formula—while preserving the original bell frequencies as a quasi-Cantus Firmi. For the opening Allegro Spiritoso section, I used an algorithm devised by my teacher, Heinrich Taube, which is included in the FM composition tutorial for his software, GRACE. This process creates astonishingly beautiful and concise compositions in real time, based on a simple FM formula and its algorithmic deployment. I developed and accreted this algorithm for my own compositional purposes in MATLab to magnify the aural details of Harvey’s original bell sounds and to formally plan and control those harmonic materials. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Harvey’s music has always been a profound source of inspirations in my musical journey, and so this work may be considered an hommage. As a student, I carried at least one of his scores in my bag for a substantial period of time and thus, the title given is to honor to him and express my gratitude. <img width="1028" height="771" width_o="1028" height_o="771" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3febb39c52c74dc68cbccd209e112bbd9e070946a958cc1ed6e5b95116a725a2/Schillerglocke_SH_Inschrift_1s.jpg" data-mid="101425324" border="0" data-scale="55" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3febb39c52c74dc68cbccd209e112bbd9e070946a958cc1ed6e5b95116a725a2/Schillerglocke_SH_Inschrift_1s.jpg" /> image:https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetterläuten <img width="2481" height="1749" width_o="2481" height_o="1749" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fdd36dce90fb4115137695f9158893c1d00ff0503eda81c7f90158b028cc7876/THYG-591-Ariel-Mo-midterm-graphic-score.jpg" data-mid="163073605" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fdd36dce90fb4115137695f9158893c1d00ff0503eda81c7f90158b028cc7876/THYG-591-Ariel-Mo-midterm-graphic-score.jpg" /> Formal diagram of Tombeau. Illustrated by Arial Mo. Uploaded with permission. &nbsp; https://dongryullee.com/Unending-Rose-2017-2019-rev-2021 Thu, 26 Dec 2019 01:32:55 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/Unending-Rose-2017-2019-rev-2021 <img width="1280" height="720" width_o="1280" height_o="720" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/46f1080fbcaf4419f49077dc0270c276a58c5137894a22c90063577e46c01406/Borges.jpg" data-mid="155300589" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/46f1080fbcaf4419f49077dc0270c276a58c5137894a22c90063577e46c01406/Borges.jpg" />Unending Rose (2017 – 2019, rev. 2021, 2025) A five movements / 45 minutes microtonal work for string quartet 현악 사중주를 위한, "무한의 장미"Duration: ca. 45 minutes “Quaerendo Invenietis,” first movement from Unending RoseNov 2018, Jupiter Quartet, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana, US “Quaerendo Invenietis,” first movement from Unending Rose, with Score <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/096937e98fae66b9ab38502db1beffca18b6590fb05f3be52186555657d845fb/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_p01.jpg" data-mid="249770102" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/096937e98fae66b9ab38502db1beffca18b6590fb05f3be52186555657d845fb/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_p01.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d71d0d87fa823a77bfa850db8ae5f8bb2a249ff7edf09f476aa28ba1fe91adc5/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_p11.jpg" data-mid="249770103" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d71d0d87fa823a77bfa850db8ae5f8bb2a249ff7edf09f476aa28ba1fe91adc5/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_p11.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/552085dbf2139f0f1603020aba47669b48c03b1fea08d1470f27b9e82abace26/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_p20.jpg" data-mid="249770104" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/552085dbf2139f0f1603020aba47669b48c03b1fea08d1470f27b9e82abace26/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_p20.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9623c2e27e9710b722c3fc3ef2c757feb1aef0aaf39dad0d4e7498a8dd5eea89/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_p33.jpg" data-mid="249770105" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9623c2e27e9710b722c3fc3ef2c757feb1aef0aaf39dad0d4e7498a8dd5eea89/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_p33.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/22ba872aa972f4f4c16cad9823f8d73be0dc9cdd1f45fa8f3621c0114cc0f904/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_pB21.jpg" data-mid="249770107" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/22ba872aa972f4f4c16cad9823f8d73be0dc9cdd1f45fa8f3621c0114cc0f904/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_pB21.jpg" /> <img width="2700" height="3600" width_o="2700" height_o="3600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a70e7ec3ed8bdbb3c9a4a0d74ba02aa37c257fcce94927c812d7accf13759686/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_pB29.jpg" data-mid="249770109" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a70e7ec3ed8bdbb3c9a4a0d74ba02aa37c257fcce94927c812d7accf13759686/DongryulLee_UnendingRose_rev2021_pB29.jpg" /> Unending Rose, Score SampleScores and parts: Please contact the composer Awards and supports: <img width="821" height="101" width_o="821" height_o="101" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7f5ccadf8319acc054567ce46a00039aaba74bcb4b65b81cd95d9aece7f808ec/presser.jpg" data-mid="83766411" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/821/i/7f5ccadf8319acc054567ce46a00039aaba74bcb4b65b81cd95d9aece7f808ec/presser.jpg" />the Theodore Presser Foundation Award in Music, 2019 <img width="400" height="399" width_o="400" height_o="399" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f1bf52e31614a403cf94cb359f921827cf68719da98278e507af445c46c6d7b/ARCO.jpg" data-mid="83766426" border="0" data-scale="49" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/400/i/9f1bf52e31614a403cf94cb359f921827cf68719da98278e507af445c46c6d7b/ARCO.jpg" />Arts Council Korea – Selected for an International Exchange Program Funding in Music 2019 <img width="467" height="240" width_o="467" height_o="240" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/400329d3909681c70012874112d467ac5b32fbd1353dbd56d01d5dc2c6a4cf77/elisabeth.jpg" data-mid="114107767" border="0" data-scale="70" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/467/i/400329d3909681c70012874112d467ac5b32fbd1353dbd56d01d5dc2c6a4cf77/elisabeth.jpg" />in cooperation with Kultur Büro Elisabeth <img width="1200" height="913" width_o="1200" height_o="913" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/032bd31377e29e748da1c7badda7ae17aa352de9853f6e939070056b5f752e8d/Logo.png" data-mid="107916250" border="0" data-scale="47" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/032bd31377e29e748da1c7badda7ae17aa352de9853f6e939070056b5f752e8d/Logo.png" /> Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the Land Brandenburg Excerpt from III-2. Cavatina: "that the Lord will show to my dead eyes" Entire movements:Live Recording from the World Premiere, The Kairos QuartettOct 3 2020, Villa Elisabeth, Berlin, Germany PART 1I. Quaerendo InvenietisII. The Thorn of the Sung Rose PART 2III-1. RicercarExcerpt from III-2. Cavatina: "that the Lord will show to my dead eyes" Second Excerpt from III-2. Cavatina: "that the Lord will show to my dead eyes" III-3. Coda: "Masks, Agonies, Resurrections" “So the Nightingale pressed closer against the thorn, and the thorn touched her heart, and a fierce pang of pain shot through her. Bitter, bitter was the pain, and wilder and wilder grew her song, for she sang of the Love that is perfected by Death, of the Love that dies not in the tomb. And the marvelous rose became crimson, like the rose of the eastern sky. Crimson was the girdle of petals, and crimson as a ruby was the heart. … Then she gave one last burst of music. The white Moon heard it, and she forgot the dawn, and lingered on in the sky. The red rose heard it, and it trembled all over with ecstasy, and opened its petals to the cold morning air. Echo bore it to her purple cavern in the hills, and woke the sleeping shepherds from their dreams. It floated through the reeds of the river, and they carried its message to the sea.” Oscar Wilde, “The Nightingale and the rose,” in The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888). Program notes&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Unending Rose is my modest prayer, gift and homage à Saint Mary, my own version of the Holy Rosary: a musical rose, made up with pure, pristine, and unprecedented sounds. For this I devised a program which explores unknown consonance scales and harmonies from different tuning systems. Here the word ‘consonance’ hews closer to its original meaning in counterpoint–the harmonious ratios between voices (punctus contra punctum), but expanded and developed with the help of technology. I wanted to navigate a myriad of multivalent tuning systems, scales, and most of all, harmonies. My goal is to manifest the nature of this material and let the harmonies shimmer by writing a piece for string quartet for a most precise intonation.To create an artwork with this otherworldly quality, for the first movement, “Quaerendo Invenietis,” I imagined a parallel world in which music is unlike our Western art music (à la Ligeti’s imaginary childhood world, Kylwiria), and established a short musicological history of an epic age: the birth of scale, melody, harmony, and musical drama. The second movement, “The Thorn of the Sung Rose” (from To the Nightingale), is a poetic musical sculpture of concise shapes, in which the musical materials are more celestial (even higher ratios between 16 to 32) and pure (deviation values within 3 cents, 3/100 of a half step from pure ratios), since the thorn denotes not only the agony of crucifixion, but also a pathway towards love and infinity (e.g. the symbolism of Nigredo, or the love-death theme of the nightingale in the Philomela myth, Persian fairytale, and Oscar Wilde's short story). The third, fourth, and fifth movements, “3–1. Ricercar,” “3–2. Cavatina: that the Lord will show to my dead eyes,” and “3–3. Coda: Masks, Agonies, Resurrections” respectively, form the second part of work and were completed in November 2019 and revised in 2021 after the world premiere. Related to the microtonal American traditions by Harry Partch and Ben Johnston, the lucid harmonic material is intertwined with a wealth of complex rhythms, some of them derived from traditional sources such as the Aksak, and melodic structures from earlier Western chamber music. The five-part structure of its own logic, the internal references, and the transcendental meaning of Unending Rose has a total duration of about 45 minutes. The title is from Borges’s poem cycle, The Unending Rose, which gave me ceaseless inspiration. The first movement, “Quaerendo Invenietis” is commissioned to be premiered by the JUPITER STRING QUARTET in November 2018. The second movement, “The thorn of the sung rose” was premiered by the MIVOS quartet at June in Buffalo Summer Festival in June 2019. The entire work was world-premiered by the KAIROS QUARTETT in Berlin in October 2020 supported by the Presser Foundation Award, Arts Council Korea, and Kultur Büro Elisabeth Berlin. The second performance at the Schloss Theater in Rheinsberg, to be supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the Land Brandenburg, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. &nbsp; The Unending RoseJ. L. Borges, Trans., Alastair Reid Five hundred years in the wake of the Hegira,Persia looked down from its minaretson the invasion of the desert lances,and Attar of Nishapur gazed on a rose,addressing it in words that had no sound,as one who thinks rather than one who prays:"Your fragile globe is in my hand; and timeis bending both of us, both unaware,this afternoon, in a forgotten garden.Your brittle shape is humid in the air.The steady, tidal fullness of your fragrancerises up to my old, declining face.But I know you far longer than that childwho glimpsed you in the layers of a dreamor here, in this garden, once upon a morning.The whiteness of the sun may well by yoursor the moon's gold, or else the crimson stainon the hard sword-edge in the victory.I am blind and I know nothing, but I seethere are more ways to go; and everythingis an infinity of things. You, you are music,rivers, firmaments, palaces, and angels,O endless rose, intimate, without limit,which the Lord will finally show to my dead eyes." Unending Rose, Sample ScorePerformance(s) history: <img width="1260" height="1220" width_o="1260" height_o="1220" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/858d514e40327c994742e3a4d8157e91c085f817debac4774ddc6a8c9f31e61a/Screen-Shot-2020-09-22-at-1.09.33-PM.png" data-mid="83766105" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/858d514e40327c994742e3a4d8157e91c085f817debac4774ddc6a8c9f31e61a/Screen-Shot-2020-09-22-at-1.09.33-PM.png" /><img width="1190" height="1192" width_o="1190" height_o="1192" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/adbb38756b94264ff13285ed0040729a5f68e2cd652d280367d2881855e46213/Screen-Shot-2020-09-22-at-1.09.46-PM.png" data-mid="83766106" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/adbb38756b94264ff13285ed0040729a5f68e2cd652d280367d2881855e46213/Screen-Shot-2020-09-22-at-1.09.46-PM.png" /> <img width="2002" height="1374" width_o="2002" height_o="1374" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f9010ecb2fb884cf1ca4c652b90b63db65c3963c23bb8a3dccb9000e2e99eea4/Screen-Shot-2021-07-16-at-12.40.31-PM.png" data-mid="113993384" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f9010ecb2fb884cf1ca4c652b90b63db65c3963c23bb8a3dccb9000e2e99eea4/Screen-Shot-2021-07-16-at-12.40.31-PM.png" />Premiere: Kairos Quartett, Oct 3 2020, Villa Elisabeth, Berlin, Germany “The Thorn of the Sung Rose” - June 2019, Mivos Quartet, June in Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, US “Quaerendo Invenietis” - Nov 2018, Jupiter Quartet, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana, US“That the Lord will show to my dead eyes” (sketch version)- July 2018, ConTempo String Quartet, ICSS 2018, Conservatory of Music and Drama, Dublin, Ireland https://dongryullee.com/Goethe-s-Garden-2016-2017 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 03:58:01 +0000 Dongryul Lee, Composer https://dongryullee.com/Goethe-s-Garden-2016-2017 Goethe’s Garden (2016-2017) for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart 미분음 조율된 두 대의 피아노를 위한, "괴테의 정원" Duration: ca. 36 min.I. Die Urpflanze - the Primordial TreeII. Steigerung - IntensificationIII. a Pentaprismic CaterpillarIV. Polaritat - the Polarity of ArborescenceV. gleichsam auf einer geistigen Leiter - as on a spiritual ladderAwards: the 21st Century Piano Commission Award, 2017 <img width="3300" height="4200" width_o="3300" height_o="4200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3b1a625806f51494258dd9bef0db769b91a1c9b52da49da1b824d04ef0809fda/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p01.jpg" data-mid="249784003" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3b1a625806f51494258dd9bef0db769b91a1c9b52da49da1b824d04ef0809fda/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p01.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="4200" width_o="3300" height_o="4200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6c65ba297febc3a62828b63d22ea646859dc6d68d8c5d6f91bce9ce503ec421f/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p06.jpg" data-mid="249784004" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6c65ba297febc3a62828b63d22ea646859dc6d68d8c5d6f91bce9ce503ec421f/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p06.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="4200" width_o="3300" height_o="4200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/10527d49b9e778c18bca4dc8996963b25c29d1a85cbd17f9e5bc31dff2745a97/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p22.jpg" data-mid="249784005" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/10527d49b9e778c18bca4dc8996963b25c29d1a85cbd17f9e5bc31dff2745a97/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p22.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="4200" width_o="3300" height_o="4200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9ccd9a96010d59e87f31a1e678352284ae7fbc392e0ea85d6addea88075f4cee/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p36.jpg" data-mid="249784006" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9ccd9a96010d59e87f31a1e678352284ae7fbc392e0ea85d6addea88075f4cee/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p36.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="4200" width_o="3300" height_o="4200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fee3323cf1b20a271351ce716c41d99f909616cfd85e69c2657ce4462b189dfc/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p54.jpg" data-mid="249784007" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fee3323cf1b20a271351ce716c41d99f909616cfd85e69c2657ce4462b189dfc/DongryulLee_GoethesGarden_p54.jpg" /> Sample ScoresScore: Please contact the composer Awards:Commissioned by the 21st Century Piano Commission Award, 2017 V. gleichsam auf einer geistigen Leiter - as on a spiritual ladder Hanah Choi and Hanqian Zhu, piano18th Annual 21st Century Piano Competition Concert, February 10, 2017, 7:30 pmFoellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts Music with score, ScoreFollower 2018 from the fall 2018 follow my score call for works Program notes &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Goethe’s Garden is based on the tree figure or pattern (Xenakis calls it arborescence), both metaphorically and structurally. This idea of the world tree, a tree as a root or the original source of universal energy, appears in numerous mythologies and religions throughout the world. Examples include the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, Yggdrasil in Norse mythology, the Bodhi tree of Buddhism, the Seonangdang(성황당) of Korean shamanism, and so on. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; It is no coincidence that I found Goethe’s writing about trees, The Metamorphosis of Plants (Die Metamorphose der Pflanzen), while reading Webern’s book, The Path to the New Music. Here Webern introduces the idea of the tree to evoke the concept of musical unity. Although the image of the World Tree per se doesn’t appear in Goethe’s book, he does indeed mention the idea of a primordial tree in a series of letters to Charlotte von Stein. It is a metaphysical prototype-tree, in which all the essence of trees is immanent, which he calls “Die Urpflanze.”&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; In my piece I have rendered the image of this primordial tree as the overtone series: not as a simple ascending integer series, but rather as a 2nd dimensional tree-type data structure: each of its inner nodes has its own overtone sub-branches (this idea of using tree type data structure emerged while I was reading an interview with the composer Philippe Leroux, in which he explained the idea but didn’t actually realize it in his compositions, and Ben Johnston’s writings as well).&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; This structural foundation of musical materials led me to try to portray trees “graphically” as well. The visual representation of sonic entities (or vice versa) has a long history, from the Geiger counter (developed in 1928), to Debussy’s geotropic signature melodic contours and musical paintings of clouds (Nuages) and the sea (La Mer), to Takemitsu’s gardenic geological orchestrations (Arc) or his more intimate composition, Rain Tree Sketch. Other examples include Xenakis’s arborescent figures in many of his works, including Evryali, along with the digital waveforms of Grisey’s Vortex Temporum, or recently the sonic alphabets of Leroux’s Vox Rei, and acoustical genes of Stephen Taylor’s Writhe series.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; To render the infinite variations of tree forms and physiognomies, I adopted Barnsley’s Fern model, which uses a transformation matrix with probability variables, in a mathematical formula of self-similarity: Iterated Function System ​(IFS.) <img width="1250" height="466" width_o="1250" height_o="466" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e6b2b65b134023e6b604921d6992099c5f2423243065ed28d00c320511fa8603/barnsley_fern_03.jpg" data-mid="57266669" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e6b2b65b134023e6b604921d6992099c5f2423243065ed28d00c320511fa8603/barnsley_fern_03.jpg" /> Michael F. Barnsley, Fractals Everywhere, new edition ed. (New York: Dover Publications, 2012), 90. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; What the audience will actually hear is possible with two pianos, each tuned a quarter-tone apart: an infinite, quasi-overtone series, with thousands of variations and ramifications with different interval orders, rigorously coherent because of a limited number of core, just intervals. Certainly this idea has a strong connection with Lutoslawski’s harmonic language. While he uses only limited intervallic content, he is able to create a myriad of harmonic tableaux in 12-tone harmonic fields by rearranging his intervals in different registers and timbres. Here I have developed these intervals by combining a recursive fractal algorithm with just intonation. The result, I hope, is a palette of diverse harmonic and timbral colors with idiosyncratic intervallic characters, created by repeating, ever-changing probability transformation operations. The harmonies, with their microtonal deviations or distortions, are engendered by just intervals of prime number ratios. But just like a tree in the forest, Goethe’s Garden is a single, unified entity: every tree is an overtone simulacrum (self-similarity), with randomness and variability, of the ur-Pflanze. On Goethe's Garden: 36 min. video presentation on Goethe's Garden, May 2021“Structural Foundation of Musical Materials in my Goethe’s Garden: The graphical representation of infinitely recursive fractal tree figures and It’s projection onto the sonic pane” Notes on tonight’s program (from the original concert program, the 18th Annual 21st Century Piano Competition Concert, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana,&nbsp;February 2017) One of our musicology professors says that a good paper demonstrates directions for future research: or in other words, a possibility for different paths to a topic. I think this is what I have tried to do for tonight’s concert. We humans, artists, aspire to see something beyond, or unknown. Plato described this as shadows of the cave. In mythology this was symbolized as death or night (Tenebrae), and during medieval period, it was alleged to be evil. As an order or system arises, there also arises chaos or disorder as a counter-force, a complementary set. We are designed to see only what we are used to; for example we understand something mostly defined by our languages, as Lacan pointed out. But we struggle to enlarge our visions: to see or at least to grope towards something which we have not yet recognized or perceived with our current faculties. Something in-between, something unknown, something which is out of our “system,” or something even recognized as ugly in current society. Mathematicians use equations to search for the beyond. They use “transformation” formulae to solve specific equations which cannot be solved in their original domain (for example, the Laplace transform in differential equations). They try to see something in a different perspective, guiding them to a (literally) new dimensional thinking, enabling them to see objects previously invisible. This new sight is not a creation, but a discovery. The answer has been with us, in our own dimension, but either hidden, overlooked or ignored. The value of truth reveals itself only when properly illuminated. For this concert, I tried to posit one question about beauty. I hope this trial of “asking,” similar to transformation formulae in mathematics, experiments in physics, or Buddhist zen questions, can give us room to think about us—about music, our society, our earth, and beauty, either transcendental or ephemeral. This society is in danger, this earth is in danger, and this species is in danger. We need to see and think differently, and we have to do this during our lifetime. All artists need to be in danger whenever they try to create something. They need to see something without them in it, by killing (removing) themselves. Tarkovsky wrote: “True artistic inspiration is always a torment for the artist, almost to the point of endangering one’s life… The artist seeks to destroy the stability by which society lives, for the sake of drawing closer to the ideal. Society seeks stability, the artist—infinity” (Sculpting in Time, 1986). We are incomplete beings, and this awareness of weakness and ignorance of ourselves makes us stronger. But ignorance of our ignorance will destroy us in the end. Thankfully, this society has good people who are aware of our incompleteness. I deeply appreciate Richard Anderson and Jana Mason, the donors who made the 21st Century Piano Competition Concert possible. I also appreciate Han-ah Choi and Hanqian Zhu, two great pianists who spent endless hours to learn and speak through these pieces; and I truly appreciate my teachers and the composition faculty of the University of Illinois who generously supported and encouraged me to keep composing. I appreciate my wife Hyelin and my dearest daughter Jera, who everyday give me a new transformation formula to see the world differently. And most of all, I thank you all who came here to attend this concert and listen to this unfamiliar and “unstable” music. Thank you. <img width="1442" height="290" width_o="1442" height_o="290" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a16d05fb26148d85dbc0f53a59c834dc78ab7063e8ca173e8ba70347fbec3a6e/Goethe_01.png" data-mid="116963192" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a16d05fb26148d85dbc0f53a59c834dc78ab7063e8ca173e8ba70347fbec3a6e/Goethe_01.png" />Tree figure 57 – source material for the 2nd movement left leaf ratio = just perfect 4th (4/3); right leaf ratio = septimal minor 3rd (7/6)fundamental frequency = 28.5851 (A-half sharp - 7th ovt of C) <img width="1402" height="294" width_o="1402" height_o="294" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6696c00c885e58414205aff13505ab4bae29ec936ea133c96b2bd361c98ca257/Goethe_02.png" data-mid="116963196" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6696c00c885e58414205aff13505ab4bae29ec936ea133c96b2bd361c98ca257/Goethe_02.png" />Tree figure 64 – source material for the fourth movement left leaf ratio = 1.2083 (29/24): 28 cents lowered eq-temp minor 3rd; right leaf ratio = 1.4375 (23/16): 28 cents raised eq-temp tritone (a happy coincidental symmetry)fundamental frequency progression: F-quarter flat - E-flat - D-quarter-flat - (C) - B-quarter-flat - A<img width="1000" height="1000" width_o="1000" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3fab40ca17c09224d94a029fa854e568bfd9181aa07b4fc24a68934e81608dfd/05_flower_3.jpg" data-mid="57266356" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3fab40ca17c09224d94a029fa854e568bfd9181aa07b4fc24a68934e81608dfd/05_flower_3.jpg" /> Goethe’s Garden, Concept Image &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;