About this Piece

In reconnecting with her roots, the composer Sun-Young Pahg offers a dreamlike suite configured like a puzzle between the East and West. Most notably, she features the daegeum, a traditional Korean bamboo flute, within the context of traditional European musical language. L’autre moitié de silence (the other half of silence) is inspired by the collection Silence Half-Filled in a Teacup by Jae-young Yoo, in which the thoughtful perspective of the poet is set in a. Pahg in turn illustrates several elements extracted from the text to create the five miniatures of her suite.  

The first two movements exude a meditative character and captivate with melismatic phrases—ornamentations taken from Korean tradition. They refer in turn to the reflections of the moon and the flight of a dragonfly. In the third movement—which is faster—the expressive Korean ornamentation mixes with the Western framing and rhythm. The daegeum finally assumes the main narrative voice with a freedom afforded to the soloist, revisiting the previous motifs in the manner of a virtuosic improvisation. After describing the fantastical flight of the dragonfly and the vivacity of a crouching lizard in the shadow of a granite rock, the gaze of the poet rests on a pool and the reflection of the moon, echoing the first movement. This return to the point of departure, transformed by the experience of the voyage, closes this lyrical cycle.