Pandemonium Well (2019) for baritone saxophone and viola
PROGRAM NOTE:
This piece is study of seemingly opposite forces. But it soon becomes apparent that these forces are integrally intertwined and wrapped within each other. Pandemonium is, of course, linked to chaos, noise, confusion, and in terms of certain psychological maladies, a battle between demons within the mind. A well, on the other hand, is a place of tranquility; calm and separate, hidden away and yet important within a community, it is both life affirming and engulfed in a mysterious darkness. So, this piece shows, through a sound landscape, the sameness of disparaging elements, the bedlam within which lurks stillness, the flash of light lying buried within darkness.
The internal and external beauty of the well is experienced through the performance. The mind, in itself a great well of knowledge and surety, but sometimes a darkened sphere of doubt, is beset by demons, the two instruments, who are locked in a battle. This confrontation leads to a journey ever upward, rising in intensity, that attempts, like a ‘Shepard tone’, to attain a boundary that is unseen, beyond auditory hearing, and perhaps unreachable.
Inevitably the piece arrives both inside and outside the well of understanding. As is often the case in life, the answers remain unclear although the battle between forces must continue moving towards a solution, sometimes frightening and cacophonous and sometimes completely still. This stillness is an illusion, however, and only leads to more chaos and a return to the demon-filled pandemonium.
DURATION: ca. 5’30’’
PERFORMANCE:
Link to video:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/emux99tyijceis9/NahyunKim-Synthetis2019.mp4?dl=0
This piece is study of seemingly opposite forces. But it soon becomes apparent that these forces are integrally intertwined and wrapped within each other. Pandemonium is, of course, linked to chaos, noise, confusion, and in terms of certain psychological maladies, a battle between demons within the mind. A well, on the other hand, is a place of tranquility; calm and separate, hidden away and yet important within a community, it is both life affirming and engulfed in a mysterious darkness. So, this piece shows, through a sound landscape, the sameness of disparaging elements, the bedlam within which lurks stillness, the flash of light lying buried within darkness.
The internal and external beauty of the well is experienced through the performance. The mind, in itself a great well of knowledge and surety, but sometimes a darkened sphere of doubt, is beset by demons, the two instruments, who are locked in a battle. This confrontation leads to a journey ever upward, rising in intensity, that attempts, like a ‘Shepard tone’, to attain a boundary that is unseen, beyond auditory hearing, and perhaps unreachable.
Inevitably the piece arrives both inside and outside the well of understanding. As is often the case in life, the answers remain unclear although the battle between forces must continue moving towards a solution, sometimes frightening and cacophonous and sometimes completely still. This stillness is an illusion, however, and only leads to more chaos and a return to the demon-filled pandemonium.
DURATION: ca. 5’30’’
PERFORMANCE:
- premiered on July 26th, 2019 by Saxophonist Wojciech Psiuk and Violist Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska at Radziejowice Palace, Poland
- Performed on April 29th & 30th, 2023 by newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble at Kansas City, MO
Link to video:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/emux99tyijceis9/NahyunKim-Synthetis2019.mp4?dl=0
