morii (2022)
orchestra (14′)
commissioned by the busan philharmonic orchestra
performance
• june 17, 2022, busan philharmonic orchestra, kwanghyun kim, busan, south korea
program note
‘morii’ is a neologism that refers to the longing to hold onto a fading experience or era.
we live harboring a nostalgia for the past in some corner of our hearts. regardless of the era we live in, the longing for a specific point in the past has always been with us. this sentiment can even be directed toward times we have not personally experienced. consider today, the 21st century. the importance given to ‘retro’ as a trend keyword seems to be more than just a fashion trend cycle. it might be more than just finding retro-style clothing cool. the boundless expansion of this current longing and nostalgia seems to be on the verge of exploding. perhaps these sentiments have given rise to figures like trump, with his ‘make america great again,’ and putin, who sparked a war steeped in nostalgia for the old soviet union.
the piece ‘morii’ consists of three movements. the first movement deals with the collective desire for regression that is happening now, expressing the massive flow toward the past as a form of march. the second movement quotes the american jazz standard ‘i’ve had my moments,’ a piece written and performed during the great depression of the 1930s. it contains a periodical meaning by imagining that this song was written with nostalgia for the prosperous times. the piece also immerses deeply in the fantasy created by nostalgia, sometimes hearing like a stretching cassette tape and teetering on the edge of waking from that dream. the last movement presents questions about the phenomena listed earlier.