I just finished my book of 12th studies for solo viola, commissioned by Hwaum.org.

I was asked to publish pictures taken in Korea, and to imagine music matching the theme of each publication. Music took the form of studies for viola, the instrument I know strangely the most!

It was a very enjoyable challenge for me, exploring my instrument in a new way, imagining sounds and organizing them…

You can find the publications here:

성찰

An etude for solo viola inspired by a few pictures taken in Korea, commissioned by hwaum.org and published by Hwaum Webzine

www.hwaum.org

Since last Autumn the Hwaum Webzine is publishing some pictures that i took in Korea, and for the March Edition i was asked to write music matching the picture selection. You can listen to a “Etude gelée”, a small viola etude focused on double stops harmonics here.

Igor Stravinsky died 50 years ago, his music has always been very important in my life since my first encounter with le Sacre du printemps when i was about 12. I listened to it every day at that time, in the version of Boulez with the Cleveland Orchestra. A few years later I had the tremendous joy to play it with him, and I can still feel the intensity we all shared on stage at that time.

I had the  idea of an arrangement of The Firebird, with a saenghwang (a korean mouth organ) personifying the bird with its extravagance, joined by a viola, a cello and a piano. 

Here is a caption of our performance of the work in Seoul Arts Center on the 14th of may 2021.

One more concert-turned-video-recording, Lutoslawski String quartet from 1964, a magnificent piece using aleatoricism (chance plays a big role in the rendition of the work) in a very clever way.

Composing this piece, Lutoslawski was inspired by Alexander Calder and his mobiles, where the different elements are moving in an always changing and imprevisible manner.

I feel the same grace in this piece and in the works of Calder that I had the chance to watch and feel.  This quartet has an obsessive beauty, with harsh elements transfigured into ecstatic moments.

A Hwaum Chamber Orchestra Project, with

Jiyoon Kim and Jiwon Song, violins

Helen Lee, cello