Hyo-Shin Na
Interview by Shoko Hikage
Photo by Earl Wood
Hyo-Shin Na is a contemporary classical composer who makes beautiful and innovative music for western and traditional Korean and Japanese instruments. Born in Korea, she later came to the US to further her music studies and soon met Cage, Rzewski, Wolff and Takajashi.
She has twice been awarded the Korean National Composers Prize, and in the west she has been commissioned by the Fromm and Koussevitzky Foundations among many others. Her music has been played worldwide by ensembles as varied as the Barton Workshop, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the Kronos Quartet, and the Korean Traditional Orchestra of the National Theatre.
Having recently commissioned and recorded some new works by Hyo-Shin Na, WW Artist Shoko Hikage sat down with Hyo-Shin to ask her about her work.
SH: Hyo-shin, you composed Night Procession of the Hundred Demons for the bass koto, later for solo koto. When you reworked this composition from bass koto to koto, what were your considerations?
HSN: This piece was originally written for three bass kotos. So, making a version for one koto was like pushing ten people into a tiny car. My approach was rather literal – I tried to keep all the pitches and rhythms that were in the original trio. As a result, the texture became very rich in the solo koto version.
SH: Chrysanthemum Song (2012) for koto and kayageum is the first duo you composed for these two instruments. I enjoyed the Korean triple and Japanese duple rhythms in the piece very much. This piece sounds so relaxed and beautiful? How did you accomplish this?
HSN: As you pointed out about the rhythmic differences, I tried to write each individual part so that it would be the most natural for each instrument. I find it very important for a composer to learn to play the instrument for which you’re composing.
SH: Echoes of Harmonious Music for 12 String Kayageum and 13 String Koto (2012) is the second piece of your series of four works for kayageum/koto duo. It is written as a quasi-unison piece where the two instruments follow their own nature.
It is a lovely and lively composition. In this piece, you used a five beat pattern and I’m wondering if you have a special reason for that?
HSN: I just didn’t want to write in the usual 2 or 3 beat patterns and the 5 beat pattern is clearly different from those. Of course, it’s nothing new, as composers as dissimilar as Ravel, Bartok and Stockhausen have all used a five beat pattern. And I’ve used it myself many times in other pieces.
SH: Please talk about your next work for koto/kayageum duo.
HSN: The inspiration of the new duo I’m working on now came from one of the poems written by Han Shan (his name means “Cold Mountain”). It’s a poem about two old women laughing at each other. I like the humorous and light-hearted character of the poem and would like to write a piece that possesses that quality.
Five Pieces on Yoshie Hikage's Poems (2012 - 2013)
Fukushima Refugees
No more!
SH: You chose two works about twin boys from my mother's collection of works.
What is the reason you chose these two poems?
HSN: I think that those poems about two young boys express their uneasy feelings very well – probably because Ms. Hikage actually took two twin boys who were refugees into her own house and lived with them for many months.
For the Wild Chrysanthemum
SH: This composition was recorded for WW Recordings, a women's music label.
The composition is calm & warm, also nostalgic, very beautiful!
The scale is unique, what kind of work did you do to come up with this scale?
HSN: Keep imagining… daydreaming… That’s my work, you know. Also, by moving one or two of the bridges on the koto, you can get a surprisingly unique and new tuning.
For the Adonis
SH: This is a very pretty piece for solo koto.
I believe that you will compose a new version of this piece (For the Adonis) for koto and mixed choir which we will premiere on 2/9/2014.
Could you talk about your work for mixed choir and koto?
HSN: Well, I haven’t begun to work on it yet – so I don’t have much to say about the piece. I was interested in turning the rather short koto piece into something longer and I thought it would be interesting to use the poem as a text for a vocal piece as well.
SH: From a composer's viewpoint, what affects your work? Nationality, gender, the environment that you grew up in, a historical backdrop, etc.?
HSN: Just about anything in a daily life. When I was working on some chamber music for nine wind instruments a few years ago, I was deeply involved in thinking about the piece almost all the time. One day, I went to a meeting with many people whom I’d known for many years. This rather large group of people got into arguing about something. Instead of getting involved in the discussion itself, I found myself observing each person and the way the groups of people act and interact with each other. I was connecting it to the texture of the piece I was writing at the time. It was a most enjoyable argument for me!
You don’t have to go somewhere to be inspired. As long as you stay alert, you get inspired everyday.
HSN: This piece was originally written for three bass kotos. So, making a version for one koto was like pushing ten people into a tiny car. My approach was rather literal – I tried to keep all the pitches and rhythms that were in the original trio. As a result, the texture became very rich in the solo koto version.
SH: Chrysanthemum Song (2012) for koto and kayageum is the first duo you composed for these two instruments. I enjoyed the Korean triple and Japanese duple rhythms in the piece very much. This piece sounds so relaxed and beautiful? How did you accomplish this?
HSN: As you pointed out about the rhythmic differences, I tried to write each individual part so that it would be the most natural for each instrument. I find it very important for a composer to learn to play the instrument for which you’re composing.
SH: Echoes of Harmonious Music for 12 String Kayageum and 13 String Koto (2012) is the second piece of your series of four works for kayageum/koto duo. It is written as a quasi-unison piece where the two instruments follow their own nature.
It is a lovely and lively composition. In this piece, you used a five beat pattern and I’m wondering if you have a special reason for that?
HSN: I just didn’t want to write in the usual 2 or 3 beat patterns and the 5 beat pattern is clearly different from those. Of course, it’s nothing new, as composers as dissimilar as Ravel, Bartok and Stockhausen have all used a five beat pattern. And I’ve used it myself many times in other pieces.
SH: Please talk about your next work for koto/kayageum duo.
HSN: The inspiration of the new duo I’m working on now came from one of the poems written by Han Shan (his name means “Cold Mountain”). It’s a poem about two old women laughing at each other. I like the humorous and light-hearted character of the poem and would like to write a piece that possesses that quality.
Five Pieces on Yoshie Hikage's Poems (2012 - 2013)
Fukushima Refugees
No more!
SH: You chose two works about twin boys from my mother's collection of works.
What is the reason you chose these two poems?
HSN: I think that those poems about two young boys express their uneasy feelings very well – probably because Ms. Hikage actually took two twin boys who were refugees into her own house and lived with them for many months.
For the Wild Chrysanthemum
SH: This composition was recorded for WW Recordings, a women's music label.
The composition is calm & warm, also nostalgic, very beautiful!
The scale is unique, what kind of work did you do to come up with this scale?
HSN: Keep imagining… daydreaming… That’s my work, you know. Also, by moving one or two of the bridges on the koto, you can get a surprisingly unique and new tuning.
For the Adonis
SH: This is a very pretty piece for solo koto.
I believe that you will compose a new version of this piece (For the Adonis) for koto and mixed choir which we will premiere on 2/9/2014.
Could you talk about your work for mixed choir and koto?
HSN: Well, I haven’t begun to work on it yet – so I don’t have much to say about the piece. I was interested in turning the rather short koto piece into something longer and I thought it would be interesting to use the poem as a text for a vocal piece as well.
SH: From a composer's viewpoint, what affects your work? Nationality, gender, the environment that you grew up in, a historical backdrop, etc.?
HSN: Just about anything in a daily life. When I was working on some chamber music for nine wind instruments a few years ago, I was deeply involved in thinking about the piece almost all the time. One day, I went to a meeting with many people whom I’d known for many years. This rather large group of people got into arguing about something. Instead of getting involved in the discussion itself, I found myself observing each person and the way the groups of people act and interact with each other. I was connecting it to the texture of the piece I was writing at the time. It was a most enjoyable argument for me!
You don’t have to go somewhere to be inspired. As long as you stay alert, you get inspired everyday.
