Conductor Choi Suyeol and Yang Junmo's Modern Chamber Music Concert 'Around 9 PM'

Presenting Emotional 20th-21st Century Chamber Music
Schoenberg, Ives, and Kim Taeksu's Atonal Music on Stage

The Seoul Arts Center announced on the 26th that it will hold the contemporary music stage "Choi Su-yeol's Around 9 PM" capturing late autumn sentiments on November 2nd at the Recital Hall.

Conductor Choi Soo-yeol ⓒ Park Jae-hyung [Photo by Seoul Arts Center]

This performance is the second installment of the contemporary music series, first introduced in July. Starting at the somewhat late hour of 9 PM, it is a stage that piques the audience's curiosity, accompanied by conductor Choi Su-yeol's commentary to aid understanding of contemporary music. Choi Su-yeol currently serves as the artistic director of the Busan Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and as the principal guest conductor of the Korean Chamber Orchestra.

Musical actor Yang Jun-mo, a senior and junior from the Korea National University of Arts, will appear as a collaborator on stage. The contemporary music pieces personally selected by Choi Su-yeol will be performed by KCO Modernism, composed of members of the Korean Chamber Orchestra.

The first piece begins with "The Unanswered Question" by Charles Ives, America's first radical composer. Subtitled "The Geography of the Universe," it is an experimental work that combines philosophical meditation on the mysteries of the universe with humor.

Following this, a flute quartet, oboe solo, and string ensemble melodies are played independently without blending until the end. The strings represent "silence," the oboe "question," and the flute "answer." This piece expresses frustration and resignation in silence without answering the question, portraying a fragment of our society. The strings and flute perform on stage, while the oboe plays from the second-floor audience seats. The trumpet solo is presented as an oboe solo in this performance, offering a special melody.

Seoul Arts Center Contemporary Music Series 'Around 9 PM with Choi Su-yeol' July Performance.
[Photo by Seoul Arts Center]

Composer Kim Taek-su's "Five Songs Based on Poems by Yi Sang" will also be performed. It sets music to five early Korean poems by Yi Sang, a representative modernist writer of early 20th-century Korea. The songs "Flower Tree," "Such a Poem," "1933.6.1.," "Mirror," and "Ogamdo No.1" will be performed consecutively.

The performance concludes with Arnold Schoenberg's masterpiece "Verkl?rte Nacht," known as a pioneer of 20th-century contemporary music. Inspired by the poem "Two People" from "Woman and the World" by German poet Richard Dehmel, the piece reveals the love and intense emotions of a man and woman walking through a forest under moonlight. It is regarded as a work that pioneered the genres of chamber music and symphonic poem.

A representative from the Seoul Arts Center said, "Especially with the conductor Choi Su-yeol's sincere and approachable commentary added to the sensory awakening contemporary music that stimulates the five senses, this performance has been praised for enhancing both immersion and understanding of contemporary music. We hope many audiences will have the opportunity to experience the sophisticated chamber music of the 20th and 21st centuries on stage."

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