Me-Ah-ri (2024)

DURATION
7 minutes

INSTRUMENTATION
solo piano

PREMIÈRE
March 1, 2024 The 2024 University of Tennessee Contemporary Music Festival

"Me-Ah-ri" by Grace Ann Lee was written for the Pianist Eunmi Ko as part of the commission for the MUTED Project

Recorded by pianist Hyerim Lee

Program Notes:

The title “Me-Ah-ri [메아리]” means mountain echo in Korean. As the commission called for the muted piano sound, I wanted to explore the quiet notes in the piano that are resonant and muffled, almost like the sound of an “echo.” The first section explores these muted sound of the piano, introducing the large space and the peace and calm, which later explodes and free into a faster tempo based on “Jangdan [장단]”, a Korean traditional rhythm repeated with a percussion instrument. Here, the piano plays both the lively melodic line and a percussive role, imitating “Jang-gu [장구]” which is a two-sided drum played by two sticks or bare hands.