2020
Apr 27 · Release
Apr 27 · Release
A Poor Man’s Life
Piano music by Lee Sang Gul to comfort all who are sad and hurt in this world. May this piece bring even a little peace to your heart…
People drift on, unable to answer the question, “Why were you born?”
They drift on, always weary and busy, unable to accomplish anything.
As they drift, they disappear before they know it.
The burden is too heavy to look back. They simply drift on.
They let out a long sigh. It echoes on, then soon disappears too.
As though nothing had ever been there.
I drift on too. My burden is too heavy even to look back.
I play piano like a long sigh. And disappear.
I disappear, hoping to fade away slowly.
A closer look at the score
Under Adagio’s broad, slow phrasing, the left hand continually repeats sixteenth notes. The right hand sustains notes much longer, moving briefly at the ends of phrases. The coexistence of small accompanying motions and long melodic breaths is central to the score. Both hands begin in treble clef, suggesting a relatively light register rather than a weighty bass.
At the f in bar 15, the right-hand melody widens into octaves and the left hand gains a sustained bass note. With volume and register expanding together, the earlier repetition takes on a different weight. After the repeat and coda, the music returns to the slender texture of mp, leaving a rest after Am. The composer’s image of a long sigh can be considered through the distance between the short, continuing accompaniment and the stretched melody.