Author Archives: AlexKim

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Tron: Legacy is a science fiction film, a sequel to the 1982 film Tron. To give a brief plot, the movie takes place mostly in a futuristic virtual world, in a video game to be exact. It’s about a programmer becoming part of a neon-glowing computer mainframe. After being shot with a laser, the programmer gets trapped in a video game where he is tasked to revive the virtual world.

What makes this movie notable is its soundtrack composed by Daft Punk in a fusion of electronic/orchestic style. Typically, film scores are composed by traditional film composers, people like John Williams, Alan Silvestri, and Danny Elfman; orchestral pieces that still hold up today. But Joseph Kosinski approached Daft Punk to “try something fresh and different” and he asked Daft Punk to compose the entire soundtrack.

Of course, Daft Punk does not have any previous experience of handling orchestra music and it was the French electronic duo’s first attempt at tackling soundtrack. It was a noticeable deviation from the duo’s electronic style music. Personally, I feel like choosing Daft Punk for Tron: Legacy was a great decision. They look like as if they have been pulled out of the “grid” of the virtual world with their neat and flashy helmets.

After recently watching the movie again, I was surprised how orchestral the film score was. It was notable that Daft Punk attempted to present more orchestral elements rather than simply focusing on synthesizer sound. There were a lot of classical period inspired strings and horns played with a mix of 100 piece orchestra. There is certainly some genre fluidity by combining string sections and synthesizer sound. The entire soundtrack manages to maintain continuity with a series of rhythmic devices for the strings. Jeff Bridges’ deep narration in “The Grid” works as an effect of ostinato and the ostinato merges with the electronics by “The Game Has Changed”.

Overall, I found the film scores to provide the movie with an extensive range of excitement that fit the scenes they’re heard in and the balance of electronic and orchestral sound just about right.

It is also interesting to note from the soundtrack review by Barry Walters from SPIN that the original 1982 Tron combined complex orchestrations performed by the London Philharmonic with subtle electronics scored by Moog maestro Wendy Carlos. Daft Punk’s compositions for the sequel are far simpler; the main theme resurfaces through the album’s 22 fully instrumental cuts, and its synths unambiguously sound like synths.

I really enjoyed watching the movie again with more knowledge and understanding on music. I was able to interpret and appreciate the amazing techniques, consideration, and effort put by Daft Punk to enhance genre fluidity in film scores by fusing electronic music and orchestra.

Sources:

https://www.spin.com/2010/12/daft-punk-tron-legacy-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-disney/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron:_Legacy_(soundtrack)

On the second day of the World Music Week at UBC, I attended the Korean percussion ensemble concert on April 2. As I am currently taking contemporary Korean music class also known as K-pop class, I was interested to see the ‘Pungmul nori’ performance here at UBC. Keeping in mind that the performance was directed and organized by student performers who did not have previous training in Korean percussion instruments, I was surprised at the level of the quality of the performance and the dedication put together by the performers. The Korean percussion ensemble, ‘pungmul nori’ is an interactive Korean folk music tradition where the performers play drums, dance and sing together. The tradition started around early 18^th century in Joseon/colonial era in Korea. The music has been traditionally associated with farming as it has been played by farmers during harvest period or festive events. Since it is a ‘farm music’, it is usually played outdoors. Therefore, the nature of the Korean percussion ensemble is very interactive and fun often encouraging the audiences to participate in the play.

Luckily, the weather was warm and sunny, and we were able to enjoy the performance outdoor as anticipated. At the beginning, it was performed in a seated position which I knew was not a typical introduction of ‘pungmul nori’. After the performance, I learned that the ensemble team incorporated the elements of ‘samul nori’ in the beginning explaining why they started in the seated position. ‘Samul nori’ is a relatively new genre of farm music which the performance involves 4 traditional Korean musical drumming instruments called ‘Kkwaenggwari’ a small brass drum, ‘Jing’ a small gong, ‘Janggu’, a larger gong, and ‘Buk’, a barrel drum similar to the bass drum. And ‘samul nori’ is usually performed in concert halls. I liked that the performance started off in the seated positions and at a slower pace. It had that prelude/overture effect to the overall performance.

When a performer started playing ‘Kkwaenggwari’, I was surprised at the loudness of the instrument even though I was already aware of the loudness from my previous experiences of hearing them. ‘Kkwaengwari’ is small and made of brass so it is a relatively cheap instrument. Back in 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Korea, ‘Kkwaengwari’ was often sited being played during the matches against the national South Korean football team just like how ‘Vuvuzela’ noise filled up the stadiums back in 2010 World Cup. (Of course, the noise level of ‘Kkwaengwari’ is incomparable to the noise of level of ‘Vuvuzela’ which was eventually banned in the World Cup games.)

As the pace of music started to become faster, the performance transitioned into ‘pungmul nori’ where the performers started to stand up and did a type of circular marching choreography. Although it was a percussion ensemble concert, it was not purely instrumental. As mentioned in the first paragraph, ‘pungmul nori’ is an interactive performance, therefore the performers would often shout out a short and repeatable Korean phrase and encourage the audiences to participate along.

It was particularly fun for me since I have not had a chance to enjoy a Korean music performance ever since I moved to Canada. I really enjoyed the performance by the UBC Korean percussion club and appreciate the time and effort they put in to show this incredible performance.

Sources:

http://www.antiquealive.com/Blogs/Samulnori_Korean_Percussion_Quartet_Music.html

What is pungmul?

On March 23, I attended Guillaume de Machaut – Remede de Fortune / A Remedy for Fortune directed by Blue Heron at Christ Church Cathedral. This programme was performed by six people, each taking on more than one instrument or role such as countertenor & percussion, tenor & narrator, recorders & harp, lute & voice, fiddle & harp. The programme ran for about one and a half hour which was shorter than I expected. Within one and a half hour, the programme was divided into eight segments including an interval in the middle.

The lyrics and music are composed from the poem of the same name. Scott Metcalfe, the director of Blue Heron mentions that the narration part of the poem is mostly replaced with motets. The theme is about the courtly love in the medieval period and the story is about a “woebegone lover who is counseled by Lady Hope on how to be happy and persevere in the face of the ups and downs dished out by Fortune and her Wheel.” The excerpt from the concert mentions “it’s the women here who are wise, deft, and strong. Hope is all-knowing and comforting, Fortune is powerful and implacable, and the Lady is a slightly manipulative powerbroker who’s well aware that her position affords her the ability to extract favors and to grant or withhold happiness.” “The Lover, on the other hand, is naive and self-indulgent, a bit of a sot who is reduced to quivering and puddles of tears at the slightest glance from his Lady.”

I did not realize there is this gender role reversal in the tale until I read the excerpt. Personally, I find this fascinating that the poem was written in the 14^th century and gender-reversing theme was employed back then in this type of poem. Being in the medieval period, I imagined this type of love themed song would be in troubadour style, but it seems to be the opposite as troubadour is etymologically masculine. The poem is written in motet style song and sung in alternating monophony and polyphony.

The concert started with a prologue in monophony of beautiful voice of countertenor by Martin Near. It was my first time hearing the voice of a countertenor and alternating voice between modal and falsetto felt flawless to me and it sounded as if sung in the same style voice. When the tenors, Owen McIntosh and Jason McStoots joined along in singing, the countertenor voice was certainly distinguishable in the polyphony and complimented the delicate nature of the theme and tale told by the “woebegone lover” seeking advice on love. Also I was able to experience that medieval vibe through the charming sound of fiddle and harp instruments throughout the entire concert.

Overall, I enjoyed the whole experience of attending Guillaume de Machaut’s Remede de Fortune concert. The atmosphere of the Christ Church Cathedral did help set the mood of being in the medieval times and I felt like I was part of a group listening to chamber music at the same time.

Source: http://www.earlymusic.bc.ca/events/machaut-le-remede/

First of all, I have never seen an opera in my life and I wasn’t very familiar with any operatic works either. So I decided to attend the “Die Zaberflaute”, or “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed by the UBC Opera production team, I was not too sure what to expect. I have heard about the Magic Flute but frankly knew nothing about it. I hardly knew any Mozart operas or works at that time either. All the more for this reason, the Magic Flute seemed like the perfect place to start exploring opera and works by Mozart. Since I am in the Music Appreciation class, I figured it was time I knew Mozart better. I have to say the whole experience did certainly surpass my expectation and I am now more intrigued in learning more about well-known operatic works and also works by Mozart as well.

At the time I attended this opera, I was learning about the Baroque period music and I was convinced that many music scores in the Magic Flute were influenced from the Baroque style of music. I was able to recognize imitative polyphony with various emotions portrayed by each character throughout the play. Of course, later when I learned more about the Magic Flute in the classical era lectures, I was able to recognize more various styles and purposes behind employing such styles in deeper and wider context.

All of the performers were very impressive. But what struck me first was the amazing vocal range of the Queen. The Aria and Recitative in No. 4, I (“Do not tremble”) was impressive and No. 14, II Aria (“My heart is seething”) by the queen was on another level of amusement. I thought I have never heard of any piece from the Magic Flute but I was wrong; I was very familiar with No.14 II Aria (“My heart is seething”). To be able to hear a piece of music live that I recognized was an amazing experience.

Secondly the strong voices accompanied by the male performers sounded richer as their parts were contrasted to soprano tones by the female performers. Although Papageno’s character is light and witty, his baritone voice gave some weight to the development of character. The bass tone of Sarastro was very deep and enriched, and this complimented the character style that Mozart probably wanted to convey to the audiences. The last excerpt, Finale, II (“Whoever walks this path”) was an emotional piece and it felt almost soothing after listening to such dramatic high and low tones in all the previous excerpts.

Personally, I was glad and relieved the story had the happy ending because I did not want my first experience with opera to end miserably. Overall, I really enjoyed the performance by the UBC Opera production team and the experience is further enriched with more learning in the Music Appreciation class about the Magic Flute. I look forward to watching more operas and certainly keep an eye on more upcoming conerts!

On Sunday, March 17^th, I attended the L’Histoire du soldat by Stravinsky. It was one of the music on the point concerts with personality. I did not have any background knowledge of L’Histoire du solat. To be frank, I was excited to attend a concert with my Music on the Point season pass. After attending this concert, I am very glad that I was able to see this masterful work by Stravinsky which is considered one of the most famous and significant chamber works of the early twentieth century.

The story is about a young solider making a deal with a devil in the first synopsis. On the road to his home after being dismissed from his duty, the young soldier stops to play his fiddle and encounters the devil. The devil offers him a trade: the fiddle for a book that can tell the future. Joseph accepts the deal and stays at the devil’s place for four days. When the young soldier returns to his home, he finds that actually three years has passed during his four day stay at the devil’s place and his finance is now married to a different guy. The devil tricked the young soldier. The young solider becomes rich with the future-telling book. But soon he realizes that he cannot buy happiness he has lost, and he falls into despair and sorrow. The devil in disguise again approaches the young solider and sells him his old instrument but the young soldier realizes the fiddle no longer plays. He throws the fiddle away and tears up the book into pieces.

In the second synopsis, the young solider hears about a sleeping princess: the king has offered her hand in marriage to the one who can awaken her. The young solider lies to the king that he is a doctor and gets an opportunity to awaken the princess but encounters the devil there again. There, the young soldier breaks the spell held over him by the devil and awakens the princess by playing his fiddle. After the happy marriage between the young solider and the princess, they decide to visit the soldier’s old town to reunite with his mother, ignoring the warning by the devil that his soul will be taken away once he leaves the castle. The moment the soldier steps outside of the castle, his soul gets taken away by the devil.

The story reminded of the story of Faust, a German folktale, where the protagonist Faust trades his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures which leads Faust to a tragic fate eventually. I think the story is certainly well dramatized by accompanying instruments such as violin, contrabass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet and trombones creating asymmetrical meters, composite syncopation, and multiple rhythms that adds a disarticulated and astonishingly interesting sense of time to the animated performance. In the scene where the soldier returns to the village after three years and people think he is a ghost, clarinet and bassoon play a sorrowful tone. When the solider marches to the kingdom of the sleeping princess he is accompanied with trombones fanfare and a circus music. I was also able to recognize components of military music, jazz, Russian folk music and chorale throughout the concert.

The concert was genuinely enjoyable and being able to recognize the instruments and musical components and interpreting them with what I learned in this class added another layer of pleasure.