Ahn Trio
Lucia Ahn, Piano
Angella Ahn, Violin
Maria Ahn, Cello
Program for Power Center for Performing Arts, Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 8:00pm
danceband.......................................................................Kenji Bunch
Slip Jig
Sarabande
Backstep
Waltz
Disco Boogie
Yu Ryung.........................................................................Pat Metheny
Composer's Notes
Yu Ryung
I first became aware of the Ahn Trio from their recording of "This is Not America" a piece that I co-wrote with David Bowie. Their thoughtful, original and evocative take on that composition made me want to hear more and I have become a major fan of theirs.
I had the occasion to meet them for the first time recently at the Tria Gallery in New York where we were all attending an opening. In that conversation, they asked if I would write an original piece for them. My first reaction was that it would be a lot of fun to do and my second reaction went to thoughts of the great musical tradition that writing for their instrumentation evokes and that it might be something that I might be able to offer after five years or more of research into the subject.
Much to my surprise, I went home and wrote this piece that night. I decided to sit down and just see what would happen.
In our conversation that night, we also spoke a lot about Seoul - the Ahn's hometown and one of my favorite places to play in the world - and the fascinating culture and people of Korea.
Coincidentally, I had read an article that day about a recent phenomenon in Seoul where there is an entire fleet of drivers who pick up people late at night who have been drinking too much and take them home. There are now apparently thousands of these drivers called "대리운전사". I decided to write from the point of view of one of those guys, who gets a brief window into the lives of all these strangers and yet has a life of his own where a job like that (which must be especially unpleasant) is something that he himself has to get through to get to the next stage in his own life.
Th Korean word "Yu Ryung" (which translates roughly to "ghost figure",) evoked the image of these drivers to me, thus the name of the piece.
It is rare that I actually create a narrative built on something from real life as an entry point into music. But in this case, a door flew open and the piece almost wrote itself. It was done in a matter of hours.
I would like to thank the Ahn Trio for this chance to write for such great musicians. When I heard them play the piece for the first time I was in awe of their amazing skills and their commitment to what they are doing. And their willingness to play new music at such a high level is an inspiring and exciting quality that will continue to define the unique spot that they are carving out for themselves in the music world.
Danceband
"danceband" is a celebration of the inextricable link between music and dance. For centuries, the symbiosis has infused concert music with the robust flavors of folk dances, the elegance of the court, the sensuality of an evening soiree, and much more. This suite of five dances (each about five minutes in length) travels in time between the Old and New Worlds to explore just a few of these many moments. I was especially interested in dances that were is some way idiomatic for the instruments of the piano trio.
"Slip Jig" focuses on the highly syncopated 9/8 feel characteristic of that Irish folk dance, with elusive, unpredictably winding melodic lines over an angular, syncopated backup.
The distinctive rhythm of the "Sarabande" is an emphasis on the second of three beats. This dance, which was actully brough back to Europe from Central America in the 1600's, often has a slow, somber, almost mournful quality. After a Baroque inspired opening, this Sarabande wanders into more contemporary, increasingly passionate territory before inevitably retreating to a final statement in the cello with plucked piano strings suggesting a harpsichord.
"Backstep" refers to a step in lively 2/4 Appalachian folk dances that is often reflected in the accompanying music by an extra, irregular beat, giving musical backsteps a "crooked" feel. To simulate the distinctive sound of this genre, the strings almost constantly drone an open A while playing their melodies, and the piano strings are muted with a towel to recall an open-backed banjo.
It's been suggested that the brutality of the 20th century killed the "Waltz", or at least reduced it to a ghostly half-life of sentimental, bittersweet memories - an Old World souvenir from a moreinnocent, elegant time. With this notion in mind, I wrote a waltz that drifts in and out of the angst-ridden present, at times indulging in nostalgic reverie with varying degrees of conviction.
"Disco Boogie" pay homage to the much maligned music of the disco era. Ironically derided as synthetic, artificial drivel, this music was some of the last popular music to make full-fledged use of acoustic, orchestral instruments, with soaring string melodies over the insistent stride beat. I simply couldn't resist!
Danceband was written for and dedicated to The Ahn Trio through a commission from The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. It's a work that represents my long, fruitful, and ongoing collaboration with my dear friends the Ahns, who have been one of the most significant driving forces for my mucial creativity throughout my career.
