1 © Wasik Anita EUNHO CHANG (*1983) 1 String Quartet No. 2 (2011) 13:21 2 White Shadow (2012) for six percussion players 15:37 3 Gohok (2012/13) for solo flute and five instruments 15:24 4 Panorama (2015) for seven instruments 13:39 TT 58:01 1 Arditti Quartet 2 Ensemble TaCTuS 3 Ensemble Contrechamps 4 Divertimento Ensemble Irvine Arditti violin Raphael Aggery percussion Félix Renggli solo flute Lorenzo Gorli violin Ashot Sarkissjan violin Ying-Yu Chang percussion Laurent Bruttin clarinet Daniel Palmizio viola Ralf Ehlers viola Paul Changarnier percussion Sébastien Cordier percussion Martina Rudic cello Lucas Fels cello Quentin Dubois percussion Antoine Françoise piano Lorenzo Missaglia flute Pierre Olympieff percussion Hans Egidi viola Maurizio Longoni clarinet Thibaut Weber percussion Olivier Marron cello Lorenzo Colombo percussion Gregory Charette conductor Maria Grazia Bellocchio piano Sandro Gorli conductor 2 3 Recording dates: 1 24 Jan 2012 2 25 Jul 2012 3 1 Dec 2013 4 24 Oct 2015 Recording venues: 1 Court Room, Senate House, London, United Kingdom 2 Percussion Center L’Hameçon, Lyon, France 3 Studio Ansermet, Geneva, Switzerland 4 Teatro della Terra, Milan, Italy Recording engineers: 1 Colin Still 2 Pierre Olympieff 3 Jan Nehring, Philippe Hamilton (RTS – Espace 2) 4 Divertimento Ensemble Producers: 1 Institute of Musical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London 2 Ensemble TaCTuS 3 Radio Télévision Suisse 4 Divertimento Ensemble Mastering: Piotr Wieczorek Text: Dariusz Przybylski Graphic Design: Alexander Kremmers (paladino media), cover based on artwork by Enrique Fuentes 4 5 Hypnotising music: About Eunho Chang’s chamber music by Dariusz Przybylski Eunho Chang’s music is, as the composer himself as- serts, a record of his life, a musical diary, souvenirs re- corded in sound. The artist has a characteristic style, exhibiting an original approach to the musical ma- terial, representing an Asian influence several times not only in formal and ideological aspects, but also in spiritual ones: in the sense of time, or in the emotion- al course of his work. The artist describes his musical approach with the following words: My music, simply put, is to express the sound of nature in a combination of various tones. These sounds instantly mix harmoniously and appear as complex second dimensional reverbera- tions of abstract sounds. This is a holistic description of my music. This album, containing four works from 2011 to 2015, reflects the artist’s current attitude. With great exper- tise, the composer creates new, technically advanced music, with deep Korean roots. The artist is also able to work with the best new music ensembles, for whom the present works have been created. Here we have a synergy between Asian spirituality and the executive accuracy and virtuosity of European ensembles. 7 String Quartet no. 2 was recorded in 2012 in London us to interpret the object by its outlines. The applica- accompany the main melodic flute line often in the ter-instrumentally”, thereby rendering the effect of and premiered by the Arditti Quartet. The work draws tion of rare and original instrumental combinations, guise of an echo, leaving us perplexed; in this way, “timbre hypnosis” even more potent. The music flows its inspiration from a traditional Korean painting, which betray a rich style of composition and instru- the piece seems oneiric. Horizontally written coun- in an unknown direction, yet we are securely guided San-Su-Hwa (San – Korean for “mountain”, Su – wa- mentation, is not readily obvious. This technique al- terpoint in relation to the instrumental solo voice re- by the composer throughout. The inner tension does ter) representing the peninsula’s natural landscapes, lows additional levels to be depicted and interpreted flects an interesting texture on a vertical level, which not relax for even an instant, whereas both dense and which are mostly covered by mountains. The com- on a more profound level. evokes an impressionist feeling. Gohok is exemplified light textures augment the effect of inner dynamism poser makes use of a dense musical treatment that by the artist’s understanding of beauty, that is, ten- in the work’s individual fragments. represents a single dense brushstroke of black paint. We desire to experience derness contrasted with harshness. This texture develops throughout the work, eventu- Sensation of softness and a curve The four compositions represented in this recording ally thinning down in order to depict a scene of rock Unity with all behaviors illustrate Eunho Chang’s excellent mastery of com- and waterfall. The most important musical element A thrill in the deepest part of our brains In Panorama, a work for seven instruments, the art- positional technique in terms of chamber music. The is colorfulness, which is achieved by natural brush- Giving off a violet scent ist again undertakes a descriptive theme of beauty: artist explores the “micro-possibilities” of individual strokes, always unique, just like works of nature. Copi- A deadly beauty … beautiful and brilliant, the wonders of nature and vast instruments in a sublime manner, experiments with ous use of new techniques for obtaining sound from power! Most of the things made in nature are always them, and proceeds to arrange the technical possi- a homogenous ensemble of string instruments allows It is with these words, included in the preface to the next to our lives. The random phenomenon created in bilities artistically in order to obtain an immaculate, the artist to enrich the sonorous palette, which is sup- score, that the composer introduces us into the mood nature takes various elements and methods. Among the original sound. This characteristic allows him to cre- posed to highlight the effect of the black ink’s dilu- of Gohok, a composition from 2013 for solo flute and many energies that make life, light and the sun are the ate unprecedented acoustic, harmonic, and textur- tion, as in its monochromatic form, the ink contains five instruments. The work was premiered during the motto, express metaphorically the light and the trans- al combinations. However, Eunho Chang’s main goal an endless amount of shades. finale concert of the 68th Geneve Competition by flau- parent light, and the energy of the light and the sun in is to express the sounds of nature that also inspired tist Felix Renggli and the Ensemble Contrechamps. various ways. Written two years after Gohok, in 2015, traditional Korean art. For this reason, we will never Also in 2012, the composer was able to obtain much The solo flute is accompanied by clarinet, percus- this work features dynamics of sound, which are facil- find two identical musical ideas. The composer al- more colorful combinations in a work written for sion, piano, viola, and cello. In Korean, gohok means itated by the ensemble line-up: flute (including alto ways tries to fashion the repetition of a given idea in a complex percussion ensemble, poetically titled “fascination”. The composer admits that he wanted flute), clarinet (including bass clarinet), percussion, a different way, as a variation, thereby showing the White Shadow. The premiere took place in Mar- to include his own understanding of beauty in this piano, violin, viola, and cello. The premiere was per- given material from a different perspective. Such an mande, France, during the Vacances Percutantes Fes- composition: statics of meditation in contrast to the dy- formed by the Divertimento Ensemble during the approach to composition testifies not only to his ma- tival and was commissioned by Ensemble TaCTuS. namics of timbre attack, statics of the flute in contrast 2015 Expo in Milan. turity and sensitivity for the smallest details in timbre, The three-movement work depicts percussive tim- to the rest of the ensemble. The first association we get but also to his ability to marvel at the most delicate bre in all its majesty. The first movement is a complex while listening to the melodic flute part is the creative This piece utilizes a colorful panorama of sounds sound, a blade of grass or puff of wind. fantasia, contrasted by the second movement which inspiration of a traditional Korean instrument – the which form the basis of the central sounds of the uses exclusively sounds of metallophones. The rhyth- Daegum. The artist achieves sound effects by vari- work’s individual fragments. This reminds one of Gi- mic element, inherent in percussion, is featured in the ous means, like a hum, long static sounds, and mod- acinto Scelsi’s late works; however, one can detect work’s finale. The enigmatic title – white shadow, an ulation at various speeds of vibrato, flutter-tonguing, a different flow of energy in Chang’s music. An en- oxymoron – dictates a metaphorical interpretation glissando, and chords. The work is characterized by a tire spectacle of instrumental virtuosity takes place of the work. Like on a negative, the shadow from rich sonority, and statics predominate, laid out in be- against a background of static central sounds. The in- Translation by Chang’s work emits light, contradicts itself, allowing tween the culminations points. The other instruments dividual musical rhetorical figures have been set “in- Mateusz Zawadzki 8 9 White Shadow (fragment) Gohok (fragment) 10 11 Eunho Chang In 2013, his piece Fantasia Luminosité for solo vio- Percussion Ensemble, The President’s Own Unit- lin and orchestra was awarded the 30th Queen Sofia ed States Marine Band, Ensemble SORI, Neo Quar- Prize (Spain). After its premiere, he was lauded by the tet, Spanish Radio-Television Symphonic Orchestra, major newspaper of Spain, La Vanguardia, and was Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyeonggi Philhar- praised by the critic José Luis Pérez de Arteaga for its monic Orchestra, Suyeol Choi, Sandro Gorli, William “lyrical virtuosity” and as a “powerful energetic rhap- Blank, Carlos Kalmar, Enno Poppe, Jean-Paul Dessy, sodic work”.