Sijo Poetry at Rush Hour Concerts
July 30, 2019
5.00pm — Doors Open
5.15pm — Pre-Concert Conversations
5.45pm — Concert
6.30pm — Reception
St. James Cathedral
65 E. Huron Street, Chicago (at Wabash)
Google Maps
Admission free
PROGRAM BOOK online
View Selected Video Clips from the Concert
Program
Nostalgia - sijo by Yi Un-sang, music by Hong Nan-pa
Green Mountain - sijo and music by Kim Yeon-joon
The Swing - sijo by Kim Mal-bong, music by Gum Su-hyun
Ghibong Kim, baritone
Sojung Lee Hong, piano
Video recording (9:10)
Trio
music by Teddy Niedermaier
sijo by Yi Myung-han, Hwang Chin-i, and Yang Sa-eun
Yunji Shim, soprano
Herine Coetzee Koschak, cello
Jennifer Woodrum, clarinet
Video recording (9:02)
Song of My Five Friends
music by Misook Kim, sijo by Yoon Sun-do
Yunji Shim, soprano
Anthony Devroye, viola
Sojung Lee, piano
Jennifer Woodrum, clarinet
Herine Coetzee Koschak, cello
Video recording (8:57)
Ha-yeo-ga and Dan-sim-ga
music by Eun Young Lee, sijo by Yi Bang-un and Chung Mong-joo
Yunji Shim, soprano
Ghibong Kim, baritone
Suwan Choi, Korean drum
Jennifer Woodrum, clarinet
Anthony Devroye, viola
Herine Coetzee Koschak, cello
Video recording (9:34)
Program Information (click to expand)
Nostalgia
sijo by Yi Un-sang | music by Hong Nan-pa
Vividly I see in my mind’s eye the Southern Sea so blue and serene.
How can I forget even in dreams that serene waters of my hometown?
Even now, the seabirds would greet me. Oh, I wish I were back home!
I miss those friends of mine whom I played with when I was a child.
Wherever I go and wherever I am, how can I ever forget them?
How are they doing these days? Oh, I wish I met them again!
While seabirds and friends are all still there at my hometown,
How and why have I come to leave my hometown and live alone?
Shall I go back home right now, leaving everything behind?
Oh, how I long to go back home and mingle with them as before!
How I long to live there and laugh as I did as a child in festive attire!
How I long to go back to those days when there were no tears at all!
translated by Jang Gyong-ryol
Editor's note: though the translated English version doesn't quite match the syllable structure of sijo, the original Korean version does.
Yi Un-sang (1903-1982) is one of the most influential Korean poets of the 20th century. After obtaining a bachelor's degree in history, he received a PhD in Korean literature and went on to teach at Seoul National University and Sook-Myung University. Though his literary works range from biographies to novels, he is primarily remembered as a poet and one of the champions of the revitalization of sijo. Many of his poems served as the basis for some of the most popular Korean art songs.
Born to a musical family, Hong Nan-pa (1898-1941) studied the violin and Western music from an early age, leading to a career as a music critic, violinist, and composer. His compositions primarily consist of art songs, film scores, and children's songs. Hong was initially an outspoken advocate of Korean rights during the Japanese annexation of Korea in the early 20th century, leading to his arrest and imprisonment by the Japanese government. After his release, his stance changed and he wrote essays and songs in support of Japan, though many assert that this was due to coercion. As a result, he is now a controversial figure in South Korea, though politics have not influenced the popularity of his compositions.
Green Mountain
sijo and music by Kim Yeon-joon
I yearn to live on a green mountain with a forest so densely packed
My heart will turn green as I live on the mountainside
This spring, the mountainside turned green once more
I yearn to live on a green mountain, leaving all my worries behind
The world around me has changed over an age
But I yearn to live on a mountain that stays evergreen through time
translated by Jean Kim and Lucy Park
Kim Yeon-Joon (1914-2008) came from a rich family of music-loving merchants. He learned violin from his cousin and joined his church choir at age 8, then went on to study music at Yeon-hee University. He established Dong-A Technical School soon after graduating university, though the school was eventually forced to close by the Japanese colonial government. Immediately after the liberation of Korea from Japan he established Han-yang University, and under his strong leadership, Han-yang University became a premier institution of higher education in Korea. Kim is widely known in Korea as a talented and prolific composer, and his pieces included hymns, art songs, chamber music, and orchestral music. Many of his pieces used lyrics he wrote himself. He was also successful as a business executive in newspaper publishing and long-distance shipping. He received numerous awards as an outstanding educator and musician from Korea and Germany.
The Swing
sijo by Kim Mal-bong | music by Gum Su-hyun
Jade-colored fine ramie-cloth skirt and gilt pigtail ribbons
are leaping into the blue sky and fluttering in the clouds.
A startled swallow stares at them, forgetting to beat its wings.
As she pushes off once, she soars as high as to the treetop.
As she pushes off twice, the world lays itself flat beneath her feet.
Myriad worries of the mind are all blown away in the wind.
translated by Jang Gyong-ryol
Kim Mal-bong (1901–1961) started her career as a reporter at the newspaper Joong-wae Daily and published many works of fiction throughout her life. She is notable for being one of the first highly educated Korean women during Japan’s annexation of Korea. She was deeply involved in social service and operated a home for the poor.
Gum Su-hyun (1919-1992) was a high school music teacher, journal editor, and author of essays on music and music education. His compositions primarily consisted of art songs, musicals, and choral music. During the Korean War, he provided shelter to musicians and artists who were refugees and actively supported artistic exchanges. He is best-known for “Swing.”
Untitled
sijo by Yi Myung-han | music by Teddy Niedermaier
If on the pathways of dreams, a footprint could leave a mark,
The road by your window, though rough with rocks, would soon wear smooth.
But in dreams paths take no footprints, I mourn the more for that.
Yi Myung-han (1595-1645) was a high-ranking government official equivalent to a chancellor. He is known for having been particularly gifted in po¬etry since childhood; as government officials were often highly cultured mem¬bers of the elite, he continued to write poetry throughout his life. His works were compiled into a collection of twenty volumes after his death.
Teddy Niedermaier is an Associate Professor of Core Mu¬sic Studies at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He previously taught music theory at the Oberlin Conservatory, and has served on the fac¬ulty at the European American Musical Alliance summer program in Paris since 2006. Dr. Niedermaier completed a Doctor of Music degree in Music Composition in 2010 from Indiana University, where he studied with Claude Baker and David Dzubay. He earned two degrees in Music Compo¬sition (Master of Music and Bachelor of Music) from the Juilliard School as a stu¬dent of John Corigliano, Samuel Adler, and Robert Beaser. For more information, please visit www.teddycomposer.com.
Untitled
sijo by Hwang Chin-i | music by Teddy Niedermaier
Jade Green Stream, don’t boast so proud, of your easy passing through these blue hills.
Once you have reached the broad sea, to return again will be hard.
While the Bright Moon fills these empty hills, why not pause? Then go on, if you will.
Hwang Chin-i (1506-1544) is perhaps the most famous courtesan (gi¬saeng) in Korean history. She was particularly noted for her exceptional beauty, charming quick wit, extraordinary intellect, mastery of the fine arts—including dancing, music, painting, and poetry—and her assertive and independent nature. She has become somewhat of a mythical figure in modern Korea, inspiring novels, operas, films, and television series. However, few of her sijo and musical compositions have survived, as she was de¬nounced and vilified immediately after her death for her status as a courtesan; there has been some speculation that this sentiment was prompted by jealous contem¬poraries.
Teddy Niedermaier is an Associate Professor of Core Mu¬sic Studies at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He previously taught music theory at the Oberlin Conservatory, and has served on the fac¬ulty at the European American Musical Alliance summer program in Paris since 2006. Dr. Niedermaier completed a Doctor of Music degree in Music Composition in 2010 from Indiana University, where he studied with Claude Baker and David Dzubay. He earned two degrees in Music Compo¬sition (Master of Music and Bachelor of Music) from the Juilliard School as a stu¬dent of John Corigliano, Samuel Adler, and Robert Beaser. For more information, please visit www.teddycomposer.com.
Untitled
sijo by Yang Sa-eun | music by Teddy Niedermaier
Soaring high though a mountain may be, it is a mere mound beneath the Heavens
Climb and climb, and no summit cannot be reached
Yet the people stay at its base, they say the mountain is too high.
Yang Sa-eun (1517-1584) was a government official appointed as the governor of several districts. Talented in calligraphy and poetry, he was referred to as a genius by his contemporaries for his extensive knowledge of various topics. He is particularly well-remembered for his strong sense of morality and wisdom. His poems were considered unique for his time, as many of his works were written to inspire and encourage wisdom in others.
Teddy Niedermaier is an Associate Professor of Core Mu¬sic Studies at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He previously taught music theory at the Oberlin Conservatory, and has served on the fac¬ulty at the European American Musical Alliance summer program in Paris since 2006. Dr. Niedermaier completed a Doctor of Music degree in Music Composition in 2010 from Indiana University, where he studied with Claude Baker and David Dzubay. He earned two degrees in Music Compo¬sition (Master of Music and Bachelor of Music) from the Juilliard School as a stu¬dent of John Corigliano, Samuel Adler, and Robert Beaser. For more information, please visit www.teddycomposer.com.
Song of my Five Friends
sijo by Yoon Sun-do
You ask how many friends I have? Water and stone, bamboo and pine.
The moon rising over the eastern hill is a joyful comrade.
Besides these five companions, what other pleasure should I ask?
Yoon Sun-do (1587-1671) was a noted Korean Neo-Confucian scholar, writer, poet, politician of the Joseon Dynasty. Though he achieved early success as a government official, his straightforward character made enemies at court and he was banished for imprudent criticism of those in power. He spent most of his life in his rustic country home, contemplating the nature of life, and teaching and writing poetry. He is considered the greatest master of the sijo in Korean literature, and his most famous composition is “The Fisherman’s Calendar,” a cycle of forty seasonal sijo. He was also known by his pen names Gosan and Haeong.
Misook Kim received her B.M. with the honor of Cum Laude from Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. After finish¬ing her “New Star Concert” sponsored by the newspaper Chosun Ilbo, she entered graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin; there she completed her M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in composition and a certificate in piano performance. Reviewer Mike Greenberg, writing for the San Antonio Express-News, called the composer “a bold and unrepentant modern¬ist.” He also wrote in the San Antonio Current that “her music was fearlessly mod¬ern—spiky, protean, often highly compressed, proudly declining to participate in the fashion for ’accessibility’—but she was so sure-footed in her instincts and her craft that she earned her listeners’ trust to lead them safely and enjoyably through the strange realms she conjured.” Kim has been featured throughout the United States and Korea as a composer as well as pianist in various concerts of her own and other composers’ works rang¬ing from solo pieces to larger ensemble compositions. In addition to commissions for the MUSICOPIA, Hudson Duo, and Olmos Ensemble, she has won the In¬ternational Alliance for Women in Music Judith Zaimont Award and the Long Island Arts Council International Composition Competition in 2007. She also won the 2008 International Sejong Music Composition Competition. Her music was broadcast on Classical Spotlight of KPAC Texas Public Radio and WFMT Chicago Classical Radio. A founding member of the Chicago New Arts Trio and the Composers’ Alliance of San Antonio, Kim has also served as a board member of the San Antonio Interna¬tional Piano Competition. She is a former faculty member at the University of the Incarnate Word and Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. She has also served as music director at the Korean United Methodist Church. In the fall of 2006, Kim joined the faculty at the Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College, IL.
Ha-yeo-ga
sijo by Yi Bang-won | music by Eun Young Lee
What difference does it make,
this way or that?
The tangled vines of Mansu San
in profusion grow entwined.
We too could be like that,
and live together a hundred years.
General Yi Bang-won (1367-1422) was the fifth son of Yi Sung-gae, a high-ranking general of the Koryo kingdom. The two staged a successful coup d’état to overthrow the Koryo dynasty, establishing the new Joseon dynasty with Yi Sung-gae as its first king and Yi Bang-won as its third king. During the last days of the Koryo dynasty, Yi Bang-won approached Jung Mong-joo, the Koryo dynasty’s prime minister and a highly-regarded scholar, and composed this sijo suggesting that the great scholar should join the side of the Yi generals. The title Ha-yeo-ga was attached to the sijo by later scholars and is a reference to the phrase “this way or that.”
Eun Young Lee has been working with the New York New Music Ensemble, Pacifica Quartet, eighth blackbird, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Gemini Ensemble, ECCE, Antico Moderno, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, dissonArt ensemble, and ensemble mise-en among other ensembles. Many of her works have been commissioned and have received a number of awards, including first prize at the Tsang-Houei Hsu International Music Composition Competition in Taiwan. Her compositions have also been selected for broadcasts. She earned a PhD at the University of Chicago, joined the Boston Conservatory as a faculty member in 2014 and at the Tufts University in 2016 as a visiting professor. Please visit www.eunyoungleemusic.com
Dan-sim-ga
sijo by Jung Mong-joo | music by Eun Young Lee
Though this body die and die,
it may die a hundred times,
my white bones become but dust,
called soul exist or not:
for my lord, no part of this red heart
would ever change. How could it?
Jung Mong-joo was the prime minister of the Koryo kingdom, highly respected as a great scholar. As the generals Yi Bang-won and Yi Sung-gae were preparing to overthrow the Koryo dynasty, Yi Bang-won toasted Jung with a sijo that proposed that Jung join the Yi generals and support their coup. Jung Mong-joo replied with this sijo, declaring his loyalty to the Koryo dynasty; now, this sijo is now a classic example of Korean fidelity – particularly the phrase in the last line meaning, literally, “this red heart.” Shortly after this exchange, the Yi faction assassinated Jung at the Sonjuk Bridge, making this sijo all the more heroic. Jung was so highly regarded that even Yi Sung-gae, the general who ordered his assassination, mourned his death. The title Dan-shim-ga was attached to the sijo by later scholars and means “red heart,” a phrase that is now a symbol of loyalty.
Eun Young Lee has been working with the New York New Music Ensemble, Pacifica Quartet, eighth blackbird, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Gemini Ensemble, ECCE, Antico Moderno, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, dissonArt ensemble, and ensemble mise-en among other ensembles. Many of her works have been commissioned and have received a number of awards, including first prize at the Tsang-Houei Hsu International Music Composition Competition in Taiwan. Her compositions have also been selected for broadcasts. She earned a PhD at the University of Chicago, joined the Boston Conservatory as a faculty member in 2014 and at the Tufts University in 2016 as a visiting professor. Please visit www.eunyoungleemusic.com