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Unit 1: Composer
Chang Su Koh was born in 1970. He is originally from Osaka, Japan and received his Su
Koh, studied composition under Kunihiko Tanaka and Rudolf Kelterborn, and conducting
with Jost Meyer. He holds a degree from Osaka College of Music in composition and has
also spent time after graduation studying at Musik Akademie der Stadt Basel in
Switzerland. Su Koh has participated in many composition competitions and has had
much success. Some of his most prestigious awards include awards from the Twelfth
Asahi Composition prize and the Master Yves Leleu prize from the 1st CominesWarneton International Composition Contest. Su Koh holds positions at Osaka College of
Music and ESA Conservatory of Music and Wind Repair Academy and is a member of
the Kansai Modern Music Association. Other works by Chang Su Koh include Wood
Ling for 18 saxophones, at least 10 sonatas for chamber ensembles, Lament for Wind
Orchestra, and Korean Dances for Wind Orchestra.
Unit 2: Composition
Carnival Day was released into publication in 1999 by De Haske Publications. Carnival
Day is a grade 4 piece in De Haskes Inspiration Series. The complete work takes about 2
minutes and 30 seconds to complete. The piece features a rounded binary form. The
beginning features a motive based on 3 consecutive 16th notes while the B section
features more legato structures and portamenti. The aggressive runs and portamenti are
similar to techniques which are used in Japanese music written for the shakuhachi and
noh. One thing which is nice about the score of this piece is the condensing of clarinet,
alto saxophone, trumpet, horn and trombone into 1 line for 2 or more parts even though
the players will be reading from different parts. Stem directions, A2 and stacked harmony
enable the conductor to read the score with greater ease due to less clutter.
melody and not as the melody itself. This will help to create clarity as to what the actual
melody is.
Harmony
The harmonic motion of this piece is very modern. It does not always follow a I-V-I
pattern like most typical music does, but it does have pitch centers. E-flat is the major
pitch center of the beginning. The 16th note runs in the woodwinds revolve around the
key of E-flat major, but the melody lines in the trumpets is chromatic revolving around
the pitch E-flat. There are a few chord progressions within the B section which sound like
common practice music at first listen, but with a closer look and listen you can easily
discern that the chords are not related in a manner which is traditional what-so-ever.
Rhythm
The rhythm really drives this piece. The constant change of note, syncopation and
rhythmic variety created by Chang Su Koh is incredible. In this piece there are many
times where the rhythmic phrase is handed off to a different group of instruments even
though the melodic line remains within the same choir of instruments. The b section is
very much an rhythmic augmentation of the a section. With no notes quicker than a
quarter-note (except in the transition back to the A section), Su Koh is able to give the
audience a chance to catch up with what theyre listening to. Then he sprinkles on a
gradual accellerado to get us back into the A/B section which functions as a coda, which
layers the 2 sets of rhythms used previously.
MM. 1-2
MM. 3-35
MM. 35-51
Transition
MM. 51-63
Coda (A/B)
MM. 63-82
Unit 8: Suggested Listening
Su Koh, Chang
Sousa, John Phillip
Noday, Ryo
Takemitsu, Toru
Chance, James Barnes
Creston, Paul