By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
``Ars Nova,'' the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's contemporary classical music program, opens its 2009 season this week in Seoul featuring electronic music.
``Do you think electronic music is difficult? Cell phone ring tones and other tunes you come across on a daily basis are electronic music. Come and discover the charms of electronic music through our upcoming concerts,'' Chin Unsuk, composer-in-residence of the Seoul Philharmonic, told reporters in Seoul last week.
Ars Nova III will commence Thursday at 8 p.m. at Seoul Arts Center and Ars Nova IV will be staged Saturday at 8 p.m. at KNUA Hall, Korea National University of Arts.
This year, the Seoul Philharmonic has collaborated with IRCAM (Institute de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), a French modern music institute founded by Maestro Pierre Boulez, to introduce four pieces developed at the institute: ``Anthemes 2'' by Boulez, ``Double Bind'' by Chin (Asia premiere), ``Nemo'' by Finnish composer Jukka Tiensuu (Asia premiere) and ``Resonance'' by German composer York Holler.
Also included in the program are works by renowned Korean artists, including ``Mutatio Perpetua'' by Sukhi Kang, Chin's former teacher. ``Silhouette of Voice'' by Yim Jong-woo, commissioned by the orchestra, will receive its world premiere on Saturday.
``Electronic music is a genre that holds the most important meaning in contemporary music. As much as German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen once predicted that instrument-rendered music will eventually disappear in the future and only computer-generated electronic music will remain, my faith in electronic music is strong,'' said Chin.
``In traditional methods of composition, a composer cannot be sure of what kind of music will be delivered until a piece is actually played,'' explained the composer. ``Electronic music on the other hand appeals to the composer since one can fully control the form in which it will be presented to the audience.''
Nevertheless, electronic music remains something of a mystery to the average concertgoer.
``Modern man is constantly exposed to electronic music in the form of cell phone ring tones and such. It is in reality a very easy and common type of music but people think it is difficult when it is presented as an art form,'' she said.
``Electronic music ranges broadly from esoteric, difficult-to-hear pieces to easy-to-approach ones. The upcoming concerts will feature pieces that can be effortlessly enjoyed, and I hope concertgoers will discover the beauty of electronic music,'' she said.
Chin's ``Double Bind''is a piece for violin and electronic instruments that she was invited to work on by IRCAM.
``I expressed the love-hate relationship a violin soloist shares with the violin,'' she said. ``The love for the violin is expressed through the sweeping strings while the sound of battering the instrument was rendered through the computer. Listeners can expect to feel a dramatic story.''
Susanna Malkki, music director of Ensemble InterContemporain, which was founded by Boulez, will wield the baton. The Finnish conductor is regarded as succeeding such luminaries as her countryman Sibelius, and covers a wide-ranging repertoire from staple classics to contemporary music.
Malkki said that Finland has a comparatively young culture compared to other European cultures, and so contemporary art and music plays a large role.
``I am attracted to contemporary classical music because I can discover something new,'' said the 40-year-old. ``It is exciting to work with living conductors and exchange musical ideas. Considering that we are creating the future of music, any given musician is bound to feel responsible about contemporary classical music.''
The upcoming concert series will also be a chance to hear violinist Kang Hae-sun perform. Though appointed as concertmaster of the Orchestre de Paris in 1993, she left the highly coveted position to pursue contemporary classical music as part of Ensemble InterContemporain. Kang will be featured in Chin's ``Double Bind'' and ``Anthemes 2,'' which Boulez dedicated to her, as well as Alban Berg's Violin Concerto.
Ticket prices have been lowered with support from the CJ Culture Foundation. Tickets for the concert on Thursday cost 5,000-30,000 won and those for Saturday are marked 5,000-10,000 won. Call (02) 3700-6300.