Taegeuk for Solo Cello

Taegeuk is crowd pleaser, often played as a closer to a concert. It has a good blend of technique and beautiful lyrical string writing. Taegeuk (takook) for Solo Cello was composed in 2024 for Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun, Professor of Cello at Purdue University. The term has a long and significant meaning for Koreans. Translated it means "supreme ultimate or great polarity/duality." Some see it as an icon of balance in life: light/darkness, joy/sadness, East and West, North and South, etc. The piece reflects its title in the contrast between the presto, outer sections, and the slower interior of the piece. The outer prestos are rhythmically robust, leaping from one register to another, constantly moving with very pronounced highs and lows. In contrast, the middle section featuring the Korean folksong "Arirang" is lyrical in nature, somewhat contemplative in design, and serves as a "balance" to the energetic prestos. Just prior to Arirang is an extended technique typically referred to as seagull sounds. It seemed appropriate to use the technique since Korea is surrounded by water on three sides of the peninsula. The composition is basically a ternary design where the two outer prestos are essentially equivalent in time to the middle andante section. While having three parts, the work is a contrast of two contrasting musical ideas.