Pianist Jo Jaehyuk: "Organ Performance Is a Creative Work"

Organ Album Featuring 6 Pieces Including Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue' Released... Recital at Lotte Concert Hall on July 13

Photo by Classic & Provided

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] "If the piano is a close friend, the organ is a fascinating friend."

Pianist Jo Jae-hyeok (photo) has released an organ album. The piano and organ are similar yet different instruments. The organ is a keyboard instrument and a wind instrument that produces sound through pipe resonance. It has 4 to 6 manuals (keyboards) and a pedalboard, allowing it to produce the most diverse range of sounds as a solo instrument in terms of pitch range, volume, and timbre.

Jo Jae-hyeok said, "During Bach's era, the most complex machine made by humans was the organ."

Jo Jae-hyeok began studying piano at the age of six. However, he had long admired the organ since childhood. The trigger was a photo of the Sejong Center pipe organ on the cover of his elementary school textbook. In middle school, he saw the pipe organ at the Sejong Center in person. He began seriously studying the organ during his studies in the United States.

Jo Jae-hyeok went to the U.S. to study piano in his first year of high school. At the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division, students could learn to play one more instrument besides piano. Without hesitation, he chose the organ.

Playing the organ changed his perspective on music. "Organ scores rarely indicate how to perform. The performer has a high creative role in choosing and producing sounds. Playing the organ broadened my musical perspective and made me think more three-dimensionally, much like when arranging piano pieces into orchestral works and wondering how to do it well."

The album includes six organ pieces, including Bach's most famous 'Toccata and Fugue.' It was recorded on the grand organ made in 1849 at the historic La Madeleine Church in Paris, France. The album was first released in France last November under the Evidence Classics label and was released earlier this year in Korea through Synnara Records.

Among the tracks is 'Pado' (Wave), which Jo Jae-hyeok commissioned from composer Kim Taek-su. Jo explained, "I wanted to include a piece made in Korea, so I asked composer Kim Taek-su for a composition. The harmony of 'Pado' is French in style, but the main melody is based on Korean folk tunes."

Jo Jae-hyeok will hold a piano & organ recital at Lotte Concert Hall on the 13th of next month. He will perform piano pieces in the first half and organ pieces in the second half.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.