Unsuk Chin, a Korean-born composer based in Berlin, describes her music as a deliberate effort to translate the visions from her dreams into sound. This captivating profile album by Ensemble Intercontemporain showcases three of her orchestral pieces, presenting a triptych of auditory panels that shimmer and swarm with kaleidoscopic colours, offering listeners a rich and strange musical experience.
Gougalon: A Playful Suite Inspired by Korean Theatre
The album opens with Gougalon, a playful suite that draws inspiration from the travelling amateur theatres of Chin's native Korea. Featuring prepared piano and a percussion section alive with gongs, bells, bottles, and vibraslap, this piece brings a riotous jocularity to six contrasting episodes. Notable moments include the lugubrious Lament of the Bald Singer, the clangorous Grinning Fortune Teller With the False Teeth, and the madcap Hunt for the Quack's Plait. First-class engineering ensures that every sonic detail is savoured, allowing the intricate textures to shine through with clarity and depth.
Double Concerto: A Fusion of Western and Non-Western Sounds
In the Double Concerto for Piano, Percussion and Ensemble, soloists Dimitri Vassilakis and Samuel Favre deliver sure-footed performances across a 20-minute soundscape. This work skillfully blends reference points from both western and non-western music, creating a complex and freely flowing score. Under the confident guidance of conductor Pierre Bleuse, the 19-instrument ensemble illuminates Chin's composition with rock-solid technique and considerable panache, highlighting the piece's dynamic range and emotional resonance.
Graffiti: Oscillating Between Intricacy and Transparency
The album concludes with Graffiti, a three-movement work for chamber orchestra that oscillates between tensile textural intricacy and graceful transparency. It begins with Palimpsest, a skittering, polystylistic hurly-burly, and ends with the abrasive stabs and jabs of the rhythmic Passacaille. In between lies Notturno Urbano, a haunting nocturnal street scene where tolling bells combine with eerie harmonic dissonances to conjure an atmosphere that is uniquely Chin—rich, strange, and deeply evocative.
Overall, this album from Ensemble Intercontemporain masterfully performs Unsuk Chin's intricate music with flair, offering a profound exploration of her dream-inspired visions through vibrant orchestral works.
