for Soprano and String Quartet
Instrumentation:
- Soprano
- Violin 1
- Violin 2
- Viola
- Cello
Program Notes:
Upon reading Hahn Moo Sook’s “Encounter,” a novel about early 19th century Korea and the culture clash between traditional Korean beliefs, and the Western Catholicism that arrived around that time, I was delighted by the many moments of clarity and insight into the livelihood of Korean society in the early 19th century.
There is, somewhat later in the novel, a poem/song titled, “Flower Song”. The words are immensely evocative and intensely reflective of East Asian ideals, and in setting the words to music, I wanted to evoke the beauty, and also the appreciation of nature that is a defining trait of the words present. The music is often linear, serene, and lush and through harmonic and rhythmic layering, the result is an appreciation not only of nature, but of the very words of the poem themselves.
Performance Materials Available Directly from the Composer.