Sarabande Redux

for daegeum, haegeum, and gayageum (7:45)

This reimagining of the Sarabande from Handel’s Keyboard Suite in D Minor was commissioned by the Dahreumi Gateum Project. The aim of this project is to highlight and celebrate the differences and similarities between Western Classical and Korean Traditional music and musical instruments.

    This ensemble features the daegeum – wooden transverse flute, the haegeum – a two string fiddle-like instrument balanced on the knee, and the 25 string gayageum – a zither, or floor harp with movable bridges and dramatic vibrato. My expansion on Handel’s original materials continues on in the style of the time period, while exploring what Handel’s music might have sounded like if Korean performers were to improvise over it. The end result sounds pleasingly as if a troupe of Korean musicians made their way to a Renaissance Faire. 

​Commissioned and premiered by the Dareumi Gahteum Project at Seongsu Art Hall, Seoul, South Korea, November 9th, 2022​