• for kayagŭm, viola and mime

   

   

   

• Duration: 4'
• In 1 movement
• Composed in 2006
• Commissioned by Hee-sun Kim (version 1)
• First performance: 30.11.07 opus 51, no 1: Hee-sun Kim on 30.11.06/ opus 51, no 3: Zen Ensemble conducted by R Casteels on 17.09.11 National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts (Umeyondan, Korea)/ opus 51, no 3: Poh Ern Shih Temple, Ksitigarbha Hall (Singapore)
• ISMN 979-0-9016504-5-9
• Parts: To rent the parts, please email <rc@robertcasteels.com>
• Downloadable scores for inspection:
  A_line_runs_away__kayagum_.pdf

A line runs away was inspired by the poem entitled ‘Sketches of lines No. 1’ (1966) by Korean poet Moon Deuk-soo: “A line runs away like a thin snake/ A second line pursues quick as light out of darkness/ One after another, other lines bite the petals/ Like a snake, another line pursues and bites/ Like flames blooming out of darkness/ More lines tear to pieces and drop/ The boundless gauze is woven like cobwebs/ A round cosmos like an egg/ lands quietly on the flowery gauze”.

The piece exists in fourversions: a trio for kayagŭm, viola, mime, solo yang qin and Chiense instrumental ensemble, a sextet for two gu zhengs and European classical string quartet and finally in a quartet for gao hu, pi pa, qudi and vibraphone.

Well-known Korean kayagŭm soloist Heesun Kim commissioned and premiered the original trio version in 2007 in the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts (Umeyondan), Korea.