Twelve Preludes for marimba (2023-2024)
I. Prologue
II. Träumerei
III. Springwinter
IV. Intermezzo I
V. Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai
VI. Intermezzo II
VII. Im Mai
VIII. Snow in August (Fugue)
IX. Indian Summer (Gigue)
X. Intermezzo III
XI. Der Lindenbaum
XII. Epilogue
Recording:
10/14/2024 Taplin Auditorium, Princeton, NJ
Composer: Juri Seo
Performer: Garrett Arney
Recording engineer: Carlos Diaz Jr.
Video artist: Four/Ten Media
Score link:
www.juriseomusic.com/store
Program note:
As I grow older, the changing seasons evoke not only excitement but also a touch of apprehension, as I perceive these transitions as a cyclical journey that leads to inevitable demise. Rather than indulging in existential despair, I wished to find joy and healing by reflecting on the beauty of memories through the passage of time. The cycles of rebirth that the seasons bring offer sweet tenderness, and the seasonal anomalies—untimely snow and unexpectedly warm autumn days— inspire deep reverie, compelling us to experience non-linear time.
Twelve Preludes follow roughly twelve months of the year. Musically, the unmistakable allegiance is to Bach and the 19th century Romanticism, but the bulk of programmatic inspiration is owed to The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, a novel I avidly read before embarking on this project. Time is one of the central themes of the novel; sickness and death, dreams, and seasons’ ambiguity are crucial throughlines that tie the narrative. As in the novel and in my piece, Schubert’s Der Lindenbaum (The Linden Tree) occupies the central position as a symbol of many memories of life, longing, and a place of ultimate rest. Another inspiration comes from two poems by Heinrich Heine: Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai and Im Mai. The former is well-known from a setting by Schumann in the song cycle Dichterliebe. The latter, composed from Heine’s deathbed some three decades later, is an ironic poem that turns the beautiful month (“Der wunderschönen Monat”) hideous (“O schöne Welt, du bist abscheulich!”). The two poems by the same poet—one composed in youth, one while dying—make up the middle movements of my preludes.
The twelve preludes are arranged in quasi-palindromic structure. There are echoes, reflections, and variations throughout, inviting the listeners to experience the twelve short movements as a whole.
Commissioned by the percussionist Garrett Arney with support from New Music USA, Twelve Preludes were written in the autumn–winter of 2023–2024. (J.S.)