Solomon Kim – Composer

When Tigers Smoked Tobacco Pipes

PROGRAM NOTE:

Inspired by traditional Korean folklore, When Tigers Smoked Tobacco Pipes creates a musical world reminiscent of times past. Folk stories that I grew up with are filtered through a Western classical lens — just as my understanding of Korean culture has been filtered through my upbringing in the United States. The title — the rough equivalent of “once upon a time” in Korean folk stories — calls back to a time far removed from our modern era. The orchestra speaks as one voice, yet splits into swirling textures and chaotic, percussive timbres. Tiger and rabbit face off in games of deception and cunning, children transform into the sun and moon, and somewhere, a tiger smokes a tobacco pipe.

Recorded by the Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, and conducted by Dean Whiteside.