Seoul City Choir, Harmonizing Kim Sowol's Poems Geumjandi and Sanyuhwa... 'The Place Longing for Spring Sunshine' Performance

Composed of Masterpieces by Handel, Brahms, Schumann, and Korean Songs
New Director Park Jong-won and Seoul City Choir Sing a Message of Hope Together

Seoul City Choir. Photo by Sejong Center for the Performing Arts

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Kim Sowol's poems "Geumjandi" and "Sanyuhwa," which awaken spring, will be presented to the audience as a choral performance.

The Sejong Center Seoul City Choir announced on the 16th that they will perform "The Place Longing for Spring Sunshine" at the Sejong Center M Theater on April 15.

"The Place Longing for Spring Sunshine" is the first stage of the M (Masterpiece) Collection series newly introduced by the Seoul City Choir along with the newly appointed director Park Jongwon in February. The M Collection series was planned to showcase the charm of choral music by balancing masterpieces of music history with choral works by various domestic and international composers.

This performance was prepared to deliver messages of comfort and hope through music to our society, which has been struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though we still cannot take off our masks after enduring a harsh winter and welcoming a warm spring, it expresses the hope that someday we will return to the daily life we once knew, conveyed to the audience through beautiful harmony.

The performance features a variety of pieces, starting with the early masterpiece of Baroque music master Handel, "Dixit Dominus," followed by works by composers such as Schumann, Brahms, Jo Hyeyoung, and Lee Hyuncheol.

The dynamic musical material and expression stand out in "Dixit Dominus," a choral piece composed by Handel in the Baroque style during his twenties. It is the first of Handel's choral works to use a double fugue (a fugue created with two subjects contrapuntally interchanged), demonstrating perfect counterpoint (a compositional technique combining two or more independent melodies simultaneously).

Jongwon Park, Conductor of the Seoul City Choir. Photo by Sejong Center for the Performing Arts

In the second part, not only mixed choir but also women's choir, piano accompaniment including four hands (a technique where two people play one piano), and collaborations with daegeum and piri will be presented in a colorful manner. Schumann's women's choir piece "Mailide" (May Song / R. Schumann, M?dchenlieder Op.103: No.1), which closely integrates poetry and music to create a highly artistic work; Brahms' "Sehnsucht, N?chtens, Warum" (Longing, Fantasies, Why / J. Brahms, Op. 112 No. 1, No. 2, Op. 92 No. 4); Jo Hyeyoung's "Geumjandi," accompanied by daegeum, piri, and four hands piano; and Moses Hogan's arrangement of "Music Down in My Soul" will be performed.

Director Park Jongwon, who is conducting, stated, "While the external choral sound is important, the essence of choral performance and artistic activity lies in how much the singers understand and feel the music and how well they convey that feeling to the audience. We will remain faithful to that essence." Organist Hong Choongsik and Camerata Antiqua Seoul will also participate.

This performance offers a 30% discount to medical staff, firefighters, and police officers who have been working hard in various fields during the COVID-19 pandemic era. This is the highest discount rate excluding statutory and student discounts.

Seoul City Choir's 'The Place Longing for Spring Sunshine'. Photo by Sejong Center for the Performing Arts

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