Embedded Files
Crashing the Funeral for Chamber Orchestra (2022)
Nomenclature
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet in B♭
Bassoon
Horn 1
Horn 2
Trumpet
Timpani
Percussion
Pianoforte
Violin 1
Violin 2
Violin 3
Violin 4
Viola 1
Viola 2
Violoncello 1
Violoncello 2
Contrabass
commissioned by Mahlerian Orchestra
Premiered live at SAC IBK Chamber Hall, Seoul, 21.JUL.2022
This piece was composed by developing an idea I had been contemplating since last year. It was arranged for the Mahlerian Project 5.5 and is based on the second movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 "Giant". Not only is it the second movement itself, but it is also a piece written for chamber orchestra as an homage to the innovations in symphonic techniques devised by Mahler.
The primary "ingredient" used is the 3rd movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 1, which is a parody based on "Frère Jacques" changed to a minor key. The overarching approach of this piece is also parody, deconstructing the phrases we heard from Mahler and making the listener constantly question, "Am I really listening to Mahler's 1st Symphony, 3rd movement?" The aim was to create intrigue in the listening experience.
The piece is woven "patchwork-like" using fragments from Mahler's Symphony No. 1, combined with similar-sounding folk tune and nursery rhyme fragments and their forms. One of the reasons I've always loved Mahler's works is because of his colorful orchestration, character transitions, and the Stravinsky-like rhythmic instability in his later pieces. Also, there are quotes from Hans Rott and Arnold Schoenberg, who are both closely related to Mahler's musical life, both the beginning and the end. I've tried to use anything and everything I could learn from Mahler in my writing.
This work was inspired by the painting "Hunter's Funeral" which was the basis for Mahler's Symphony No. 1, 3rd movement. It was conceived with the thought, "What if this funeral was ruined by some mischief-maker, who's not in the original painting?" I wrote the piece imagining how to express such a significant blunder, like causing a ruckus at a funeral, in provocative and intense music.
Naturally(?), the "Frère Jacques" mentioned earlier serves as a sort of Cantus Firmus in this work, with similar-sounding fragments appearing frequently following it. After a slow introduction, there's a very unstable rhythmic section followed by several spectral canons, leading to a section that feels like a distorted dance. Overall, while the earlier sections feel tumultuous and swirling, the final part, "Dance on the Coffin," is relatively rhythmically stable. However, while the earlier sections had clearly pitched sounds, the final part is made up of ghostly chants, bells, and noises that are made by wooden instruments, symbolizing the perpetrator dancing on the coffin.
Date of composition: (2021-2022), undergoing revision
Il Colore senza Colore for Baroque Ensemble of five players (2022)
Nomenclature
Soprano Recorder
Percussion
Harpsichord
Violin
Violoncello
commissioned by composer's collective Kkun
Premiered live at Ilshin Hall, Seoul, 2.NOV.2022
Date of composition: (2022)
The Art of Brainrot I for seven Gugak players, Viola, and Violoncello (2024)
Nomenclature
Daegeum
Piri (doubling Taepyeongso)
Percussion
Haegeum
Gayageum
Geomungo
Ajaeng
Viola
Violoncello
commissioned by academy "Music for Tomorrow"
live on 8.AUG.2024
The term noejeol is a newly coined word referring to phenomena that have been overused to the point where their mere reappearance, even just once more, brings deep disappointment in their ugliness. Neojeol is also related to the English slang term brainrot, which describes the sensation of one’s brain turning to mush or becoming dumber from repeatedly consuming something (in this context, short-form media). In the sense that both terms describe the loss of freshness through repetition, they are fundamentally connected—hence the title of this piece, The Art of Brainrot. This is the second work in the series, and, unsurprisingly, it is just as far from fresh.
This piece explores two types of noejeol: one that becomes ugly through excessive repetition, and another that sounds ugly the moment it reappears, due to accumulated overexposure. It consists of twelve movements, each lasting about 30 seconds, each exploring different kinds of noejeol. And this piece explores the creation of brainrot of a sort, but ironically, does not feature the actual instances of brainrot.
Neojeol is ugly. And because of that, it is funny. Perhaps many things that are funny are, in fact, quite ugly.
It negates the freshness from its own birth. Even the brain of the one who composed this is not fresh anymore. But through the player's hands, will it find another dimension of freshness?
Date of composition: (2024)
Weihnachtsmusikkanone for Baroque Ensemble of six players (2024)
Nomenclature
Recorder (Soprano / Alto)
Harpsichord
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola da Gamba (7 string)
Violoncello
commissioned by Gut Cafe Seoul
Broadcasted on KBS FM "Vivid Classic" holiday special
live on 19.DEC.2024
Date of composition: (2024)
More about the work (program notes + additional commentaries)
Nomenclature
Flute (doubling Piccolo & Bass Flute)
Oboe
Clarinet in B♭ (doubling Bass Clarinet in B♭)
Bassoon
Percussion
Pianoforte (doubling toy piano)
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass
commissioned by Lucerne Festival as a part of Composer Seminar 2025 and co-commissioned by Tongyeong International Music Foundation for TIMF Academy 2025
Premiered live at KKL Luzern, Luzerner Saal, Luzern, 24.AUG.2025.
The reminiscences of the boys with spiked goggles, the very ones who have been functioning on antipsychotics led me to the composition of this piece.
This piece is based on several sketches for popular music genres like Bebop, New-age, Pop, and Techno. They are stitched together to make them function like one collective organism, but within the confinement of pre-made timeframe.
Lots of mediocre things consist this piece. Obsessions for aural complexity, some songs from my old playlist, yearning for grooves and gratuitous nostalgia etc. But the piece also includes multiple references of my favorite composers - to point where I can't tell whether the piece is theirs or mine. How can I escape from their shadows? And how much of their music consist me? These were the questions I asked myself during the process of composing this piece. It's a retrospect of my life and work, and also my taste and preferences.
The question of how to be free - free from the boundary of conventions that were set to make things certainly work, were the starting point of the piece. Even though this piece uses all the skills I obtained throughout my life, I wish to go somewhere else - somewhere nice, hopefully.
This piece is dedicated to my friends: Popsick, Mello, and the late Juan (may he rest in peace.)
Date of composition: (2025)
More about the work (program notes + additional commentaries)
Nomenclature
Flute (doubling piccolo)
Oboe (doubling english horn)
Clarinet in B♭
Bassoon
Horn in F
Violin
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass
commissioned by Hwadam Ensemble for SAC International Music Festival 2025
Premiered live at SAC IBK Chamber Hall, Seoul, 5.AUG.2025
I. prologue-procession
II. smolder
III. ashes
IV. flowers/refrain
V. bells
VI. totentanz 1
VII. veils
VIII. remember
IX. epilogue-totentanz 2
The phenomenon in which a being ceases to exist and returns to “nothingness” is what we call death. There was a time when it was widely accepted as common sense that only humans were capable of recognizing death. However, recent studies have observed that animals such as elephants, crows, and chimpanzees also perceive the death of others and perform behaviors that appear to honor the deceased. Perhaps the act of mourning others’ deaths, commemorating them, and keeping them alive in memory is something that appears universally among many living beings.
There are many ways people commemorate death. Undoubtedly, the number of ways is as vast as the number of observable human individuals. Still, wouldn’t we be able to gain some perspective on these sentiments by gathering a sample of, say, around 50 to 60? With this idea in mind, I collected pieces that deal with the deaths of various (already) deceased composers. A total of 59 samples were gathered, and these citations are arranged over a 20-minute performance with varying distributions.
But really, what good is it to grieve more? Our duty is to live on—fully, even for those who have left. Still, let us not forget them. It is because they once existed that we are here now. Let us be grateful and rejoice that they once lived!
Date of composition: (2025)
American Launch Codes (for sale) for ensemble of 8 players (2025~[WIP])
Nomenclature
Flute
Clarinet in B♭
Percussion
Pianoforte
Violin
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass
commissioned by TIMF ensemble
My friend once told me that when someone brought a piece (with a title consisted with only the numbers) to their lesson, their teacher said “Are these American nuclear launch codes or what?”
I like this story very much.
Later in the dark-web, I found someone who was just handing out nuclear launch protocols to literally anyone. I do not know if this is real or not, but I converted these codes in four rows into numbers, then to pitches, and finally, to music. As the original code was in alphabet, I used 26-EDO(equally divided octave) system to arrange the notes. It truly was a pattern-recognition test for me, challenging me to find harmonic, melodic possibilities within these number-pitch conversions. The piece is consisted with four rows, assigning each of them with each row of the code – thus entitling them R1 to R4.
Technically – if the codes are real as they say, one might be able to reconstruct the codes from this piece and then arm themselves with the entire nuclear arsenal of one of the most powerful nations in the world. But unlike any person who might be determined to do any of this, I have no ulterior motives. I just find this conversion process funny. Converting one of the world’s most powerful weaponry into a music with a very static nature….
Date of composition: (2025)
seid ihr nichts der Schwanendreher? for ensemble of 9 players (arr. Hyunmin Kim, 2025)
Nomenclature
Flute (doubling piccolo)
Oboe (doubling english horn)
Clarinet in B♭
Bassoon
Horn in F
Violin
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass
commissioned by ensemble9oodo
Based on a german folk-song with the same title and adaptation of Paul Hindemith on the very song
Date of composition: (2025)
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