chanson triste

By taking Tchaikovsky’s theme from his short piano piece Chanson Triste, a series of variations will infuse elements of various musical styles along with Korean literature to morph and extend the theme into a completely different sound world. Chanson Triste depicts an internal feeling of sadness as it was written during a time when Tchaikovsky was greatly struggling with the death of his wife. Being inspired by the poem Azaleas written by a Korean language poet, Kim Sowol during the Japanese colonial era, the first and second variations will express ‘한’ (han) which roughly represents the emotion of a long-suppressed sense of sadness, frustration, and loss. ‘한’ is never expressed outwardly and remains very much an internal feeling.