SEONHYE’S Five Dreams
Currently two “dreams” (“cantos”/movements) of an intended five.
Here premiered in a preliminary version by Yoo Hong (daegeum) and Rah Sewon (viola).
Seonhye’s Five Dreams
선혜의 다섯 가지의 꿈
viola and daegeum, 8’ (2022)
“Seonhye’s Five Dreams” is inspired by the poetic form and linguistic content of the epic 15th century Korean Buddhist poem “The Moon Reflected in a Thousand Rivers”. The piece is structured in five “cantos”, like movements, of which two are performed here. In “The Moon Reflected in a Thousand Rivers”, Seonhye has five symbolic dreams which are interpreted as a sign that he will attain enlightenment and become a Buddha. The form of each musical canto is loosely modeled after the poetic structure of a canto in the original poetry. In addition, the harmonic content of each is loosely modeled after the pronunciation of the original 15th century Korean, which maintained tones, as well as many complex consonant clusters which have disappeared in following centuries.
The dreamlike play of symbols is also reflected in the notation of the music. The daegeum’s part is notated in a mixture of invented tablature and elements from 15th-19th century Korean traditional music notation, and is read top-down, right-to-left in the manner of ancient scores. The viola part is notated in Western staff notation. Both appear together on the same page, as if two interpretations of a dream, or as if two different reflections of the same moon, in two rivers.