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Music Grown from Limitations - Pianist Wang Hye-in
Pianists are quite often asked to use their imagination within given circumstances. Coincidentally, yet as if by fate, I began working on Bach's 'The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2' at Hayang Muhakro Church at the end of 2021, where I encountered an upright piano as old as the church itself. (The piano has recently been changed.) Its unique rattling timbre and the difficulty in controlling its volume reminded me of the harpsichord, one of the keyboard instruments of the Baroque era before the invention of the piano. Fortunately, the church building had ample resonance due to the brick walls. I had to completely change many expressive methods, such as techniques and tempos, that I had become accustomed to practicing on my piano at home, on the very day I arrived at the church. The approach I adapted and experimented with there for 12 months became the identity of my Bach performance, and now it remains even when I play a modern grand piano.
Modern piano technique, true to its original name 'pianoforte,' largely relies on changes in volume for expression. In contrast, methods like subtly extending the 'time' between notes to give greater gravity to subsequent notes, or adjusting the 'length' of notes to be slightly longer or shorter than indicated in the score to create rhythmic vitality, are often considered less important. When listening to performances on the 'fortepiano,' an instrument used from the late Baroque to early Romantic periods, one can observe these two approaches naturally blended. My Bach work at Hayang Muhakro Church also led me to experiment with such a hybrid approach.
The instruments that inspired me were not only keyboard instruments like the harpsichord and fortepiano. As befits Bach's compositions, who was also an excellent organist and church musician, 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' also contains pieces that evoke the feeling of playing the organ. The testimony of faith found in his sacred choral works, such as his cantatas and Passions, echoes throughout this collection, which is made up solely of the order of sounds, without lyrics. While there are pieces that sound like they belong in a church or court, there are also compositions that recall the joyful ensemble of folk instruments played in a field. Some pieces resemble a wind ensemble, while others sound like a violin concerto. I am grateful to all who have previously presented me with beautiful instrumental sounds, enabling me to imagine them even with just a piano.
Bach's 'The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2,' like Book 1, consists of preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys. While Book 1 served an educational purpose by demonstrating the possibilities of equal temperament, a new tuning system at the time, Book 2 showcases a beauty that is more intricate and daring in terms of harmony and structure. As I analyzed these pieces, I focused on the power of development unfolding within limited material. The beginning of each piece contains the core idea of the music to be developed later. Like DNA holding the information of an entire organism within a single cell, this idea embeds the logic and direction that will guide the entire piece. This structural cohesion gradually expands as the piece develops, forming an organic whole. I strived to consistently reveal the unique character Bach embedded at the beginning of each piece, both in small and large units. Furthermore, rather than expressing my subjective emotions, I aimed to capture the universal human sentiments of sorrow and joy, hardship and hope, death and the aspiration for transcendence through the objective phenomenon of musical movement.
Every human being lives within their own limitations. Sometimes by conforming to given circumstances, and sometimes by transcending those boundaries through imagination, we grow deeper and broader. When I approach the limitations given to me in this way, playing a single piano is no longer a restriction but an act of expanding the sounds I can produce with my body and connecting with the hopes of humanity that transcend time and space. I hope this album becomes such a meaningful step, and that this music continues to grow amidst the various situations I will encounter in the future.
[Credit]
RECORDING | JANUARY 2025, BRICKWALL STUDIO, KOREA
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | SHIN-JOONG KIM
RECORDING ENGINEER | HYOMIN KANG
MIXING AND MASTERING | HYOMIN KANG
PIANO TECHNICIAN | HONGYONG YANG
DESIGN | ROHSH
PHOTOGRAPHER | SHIN-JOONG KIM
SPECIAL THANKS TO
HAYANG MUHAKRO CHURCH, WONKYUNG CHO, YEONGRYE HWANG
