MUSICAL WORKS

PAHG Sun-Young / 박선영

2002

Relief Oktett

Birth Y: 1974 Birth C: KOREA (South) Gender: Female

Dest: Concert

Media Specification: 8-channel Tape

First perf.: Darmstadt, 56th Workshop of the Institute for New Music and Music Education

Perf. Country: GERMANY

Prog. notes: In the winter of 2001 I recorded a variety of environmental sounds in Korea: the sounds of a fish market in Soeul, the sound of scissors „played“ by a traditional sweets seller in order to attract the attention of children, the playing of a farmer’s percussion group, various street noises and so on.

The form of the composition sets two opposing characters in contrast. The first (+): the moving, the active, the light, the clear and the second (-):the static, the withholding, the unclear, having more to do with the creation of spatial atmospheres.

The transitions between these elements are characterized as follows:
from (+) to (-): a sudden, violent, breaking and unexpected transition
from (-) to (+): a calm, gradual transition or a cross-fading of materials.

In the later part of the composition the two opposing characters are consciously mixed. In this case, each hearing of the work can be different: one can alter one’s perception of what are the main and secondary elements, as well as how these elements figure spatially in the background and foreground of the work. This is similar to the impression I get when viewing traditional Korean landscape painting. The element on which one concentrates at any given moment becomes the main theme or the foreground. If one’s focus slightly moves, another point may become the foreground and the previous foreground recedes. This also happened in a moment as I concentrated on the white, empty space lying between the figures or colours of a painting.

Editor: M.B.