Venue: Alice Tully Hall, at Lincoln Center (NY)
Date: October 19th, 2013

Concert Review by Dawoud Kringle

When I was offered a ticket to attend the performance of the Suwon Civic Chorale at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Centre, I was intrigued. It has been my experience with Koreans (South Koreans, that is) that they devote a great deal of their energy to mastering the arts and music of the west. And while there is nothing inherently wrong or blameworthy about this, I cannot help but wonder if Korea has done this at its own expense. I cannot, in my entire life, recall hearing traditional/classical Korean music.

With this in mind, the idea of hearing this music was more than a little intriguing.

Suwon Civic Chorale, is a Suwon Civic Chorale was founded in 1983. They have performed at countless prestigious venues and festivals through the US, Mexico, China, Great Britain, Europe, and Korea. They have been hailed as having a greater skill at European classical music than the Europeans themselves. They operate under the direction of Music Director and Principal Conductor Dr. In-Gi Min, a graduate of the College of Music, Yonsei University in Korea, New York University and the University of Southern California. He has performed as a guest conductor for the Long Beach Bach Festival, the LA Inter-Cultural Choral Festival, Gwangju Civic Chorale, Bucheon Philharmonic Chorus, Wonju Civic Chorale, Cheongju Civic Chorale, and Ansan City Choir and served as a music director for Gloria Musica Chorale.

Their concert began in the traditional ritualistic manner of classical music performances. They began with the singing of the national anthems of Korea and the US. These were executed with precision and decorous ceremony.

The only instrumentation was piano, and a few hand percussion instruments that would appear later.

They began the concert with “Arirang” by Sung-Hyun Yoon. This piece was performed a cappella, with an unmistakable Asian feel interpreted through the musical form of the west. The lush voices and tight harmonies were quite beautiful, and immediately immersed the audience in their music. The next piece, “Kyrie from Arirang Mass” by Jung-Sun Park was of a more pronounced Korean personality. Again it used western technique but invoked a sentiment one cannot associate with western music or culture.

By this time, the audience was caught in the undertow of this meeting of eastern and western musical concepts. They continued with “Dona Nobis Pacem;” a work commissioned by Keeyoung Kim, and inspired by the wish to achieve world peace (as interpreted through modern Christianity). It began with more assertiveness than the previous pieces. It settled into calm discourse once it got your attention. There were forays into more adventurous harmonies, and occasional solo voices.

The piano began “Gagopa (Wishing to Return)”. This is a popular art song, and its basic structure felt like much Asian music that had assimilated western influence. It invoked the longing to return to one’s homeland.

“Saeya, Saeya” a traditional piece arranged by Moonsueng Lee, followed. It is a song originally composed of only three notes; A, D, and G (each note having a perfect fourth between them). However, it has five variations, and in this performance, there was a brief section that held a sense of drama and contrast that was curiously refreshing.

The next piece, “Miserere” commissioned from Jeeyoung Kim (which uses the Latin text of Psalm 51:1, 14, & 15 as text), began with one of the singers using a Tibetan singing bowl, and the pianist’s page turner using ting sha bells. A female solo voice offered a heavily Asian melody. The chorale came in. With something that resembled Gregorian chant, which evolved into a modern counterpoint and harmonic structure. A male tenor solo voice rose above the lush harmonies, said its piece, and was enveloped in the chorale. They reached an aggressive climax.

Some reassembling of the singer’s positions onstage paved the way for “Sae-Taryung (Bird Song).” Out of nowhere, bird calls announced and augmented the beginning. Four singers had moved to the edges of the stage, combined bird calls with song, and imposed the most fascinating harmonies and counterpoint. The overall effect was astonishing and effective in its imagery. The piece increased in its complexity, and one was impressed with the imagination and inspiration of the composer and arranger, and the virtuosity of the performers.

The first half of the concert concluded with “Mokdorsori (A Song of Pole Carrying).” Originally a song of workers, it was an aggressive anthem in a minor pentatonic melody that the western ear interprets as an Asian spirit broke through the silence, and morphed into complexities that grew from the root of the Asian melody. Sharp dynamics and a clear sense of drama brought the piece to its close.

After an intermission, the Chorale re-emerged; no longer dressed in traditional Korean clothing, but in gowns and tuxedos. This was no accident or idiosyncrasy, as the second half of the concert was decidedly American. They began with “Lux Aurumque,” a piece by Eric Whitacre. They invoked the ethereal feel if the beginning of the concert, but the overall feel had changed. This was followed by”Little Birds,” also by Whitachre. Again, the presence of birds. It began with a sweeping arpeggios on piano. Singing and bird calls invoked the composer’s imagery. The harmonies had a very verdant and idyllic vibe.

The next piece was “Kecak Attack” by Vivian Fung. This piece had no text, no words. The singers rearranged their positions, and even engaged in choreography. The overall effect was dramatic and refreshingly comic. Nothing they’d done before could have prepared the audience for this. The men were noticeably more animated than the women.

The humorous atmosphere was suddenly broken with an arrangement of Samuel Barber’s “Agnus Dei from Adagio for Strings, Opus 11.” The famous piece was powerful in its sobriety and unrequited longing.

The next piece “Shenandoah,” couldn’t get more American. It was performed in a very sober and decorous manner. There were few flourishes that would distract from the original; and no attempt was made to expand on its traditional interpretation.

A very different approach to the gospel song “The Battle of Jericho” (arr. Moses Hogan) was their next offering. Again, the accents contrasted with how the western ear hears this; especially with the song’s African American origin. Nonetheless, it was marvellously performed with an obvious sympathetic understanding of its cultural origins.

Their Korean accents were somewhat noticeable when they sung in English. I even seemed to notice some curious mispronunciations. I wondered if they actually spoke English (Dr. In-Gi Min’s English was good; he addressed the audience several times). But I imagine my own attempts to speak Korean would sound pitiful to their ears.

For an encore, they did “New York, New York”. Executed with a tip of the hat to Broadway; complete with dance and choreography. They certainly knew what city they were in! They also offered an arrangement of the Lord’s Prayer.

The ensemble was extraordinarily well trained and rehearsed. There was nothing they did that was not beautiful. And they had a genuine love of the music they did. A decidedly Christian sentiment permeated everything they did, and it was interesting to see how they sought a spiritual balance between this and their traditional spirituality. This is obviously the result of the meeting between east and west. As extraordinarily beautiful and virtuosic as their performance was, the question of loss of one’s own cultural identity. Without a doubt, the Suwon Civic Chorale has mastered western classical vocal music. I doubt it can ever be done better than they did it. But they seemed to have a firm grasp of their own identity as well; it simply seems as if, by historical necessity, it had to be viewed, interpreted, nurtured, and sustained through the paradigm of western music. The question of the price they paid for mastery of western music was answered.