HÀLLA FANTASY

The work was commissioned by the organizing committee of the "Jeju Summer Band Festival" and performed during the eleventh edition of the festival. The first performance was conducted by the composer together with the Jeju Wind Orchestra, a renowned group of musicians made up of the woodwind section of the Jeju Symphony Orchestra and the best upcoming talent from the faculty of music at the local university. The piece comprises three movements linked via fantasia wherein fragments of traditional Korean music are worked and reworked. The themes develop freely in pentatonic scale (involving rhythm, harmonies, timbre, etc.) and range from the recognizable to developments that are, at times, difficult to recognize. The piece takes its title from the volcano Halla which dominates the Pacific island where the festival is held and which is believed to be responsible for the original creation of the island.