Mother Tongue
for piano trio (9:30)
I. Echo of a Dream II. Tongue Tied Mother Tongue is based on my experience learning to both speak Korean and play Korean traditional music as a Korean American adoptee. For many adoptees, the process of reclaiming one's mother tongue, among other aspects of culture of origin, can be a slow, difficult, frustrating, and at times shameful process. Fluency can seem like a far off dream, and no matter how long one studies another language, they will likely always have an accent, and their mind and psyche will forever be influenced by the language that formed it. As a musician, raised and educated in the US, my musical native language is also divorced from my country of origin, and that western accent will likely always color my style as a musician. Echo of a Dream is about the phenomenon of dreaming in a second language. When you begin to dream in a second language, it signals deep learning and language acquisition. When I first began learning Korean, it would appear in my dreams as an incomprehensible nonsense language, based on my fears and anxieties about traveling to Korea and being rendered mute. Now, I am occasionally visited by a dream fully in Korean, some parts I can understand, and some parts I cannot. For me, Korean language and music still hovers at the edge of my mind, almost within my grasp, but just beyond my reach. Tongue Tied is an expression of frustration and anxiety about speaking a second language. I often find myself becoming tongue tied when trying to switch quickly between Korean and English. The rapidly changing time signatures and fast switching between styles eventually give way to episodes of fluid thought, in which the speaker is finally able to express themselves comfortably. Commissioned and performed by Trio Suits, premiered at Seoul Arts Center, January 26, 2024. |
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