Both concertos emphasize the soloist’s role with crystalline, dazzling passages the orchestra, meanwhile, has a more functional, accompanying role. All pianists and lovers of piano music owe a debt to Chopin, who revolutionized 19th century piano composition.Ĭhopin wrote his two piano concertos as musical business cards they were useful vehicle for self-promotion, particularly when the young Pole arrived in Paris in 1830. The name Frédéric Chopin is essentially synonymous with music for piano, especially solo piano. Instrumentation: solo piano, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, trombone, timpani, and strings Most recent Oregon symphony performance: MaJean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor Bertrand Chamayou, piano Its primary motives are derived from the sound of a cheering crowd and balls bouncing around on the table (and occasionally on the floor) its alternating harmonic pattern and somewhat random form reflect the alternation of service and unpredictable results, respectively … I only hope that I share the sheer fun I have with the audience through this piece.” “Spin-Flip is an eight-minute overture which is all about Ping-Pong, and conveys the driving energy of a (good) Ping-Pong match. Though the answer is ‘No,’ this silly coincidence has led me to write a musical piece about it. For this reason, when meeting new people in Korea, I am often asked if I am good at table tennis. With regard to Spin-Flip, Kim continues, “I happen to share my name (spelled differently in English) with a legendary Korean table tennis player, Taek-soo Kim (b.1970), who coached the Korean National Team of table tennis. Much of Kim’s compositional output also reflects his personal fascination with everyday objects in a humorous and sophisticated way, as in Bounce!! (2014) and Shake It!! (2014), inspired by bouncing basketballs and grinding coffee beans, respectively.
Regardless of its meaning in physics, I titled my piece Spin-Flip simply because a spin serve and flip shot are ping-pong techniques.” Through basic musical elements, Kim modifies and synthesizes short musical ideas into new sonic material. The same term can also mean a sudden change in a rotating black hole’s spin axis. When the directional relationship changes due to absorption or emission of a certain type of energy, it is called Spin-Flip. They can rotate in the same direction (clockwise-clockwise, for example), or the opposite way. Drawing on his background in science – Kim earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Seoul National University while he was also working toward bachelor’s and master’s degrees in composition – Kim explained the origins of the title Spin-Flip in his program note: “The proton and the electron in a hydrogen atom spin permanently with their rotation axes parallel to one another. Texu Kim’s music combines a fascination with how things work and an affinity for contemporary sound worlds. Instrumentation: 3 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (1 doubling English horn), 3 clarinets (1 doubling bass clarinet), 3 bassoons (1 doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 2 castanets, crotales, flexatone, hi-hat, kick drum, log drum, snare drum, 3 suspended cymbals, tambourine, 5 temple blocks, 2 tom-toms, triangle, vibraslap, water gong, xylophone, harp, and strings