Episode 88 — February 18, 2021
Salvatore Sciarrino: “Caprice No. 2” for violin
Performed by Siwoo Kim

Violinist Siwoo Kim knew he wouldn’t be going outside during an early February blizzard in New York. Instead, he decided to spend the day recording himself playing Salvatore Sciarrino’s airy Caprice No. 2, assembling a whole production and editing studio to make a video, which ultimately became his House Music series project. Sciarrino’s caprice was an obvious choice to play that day—its delicate textures reminded him of the sparkling snow and cold winds just beyond his window. And while the snow stopped falling by the time he was able to record, the music and video still radiate the feeling of a snowy winter day.

Kim has worked with Metropolis Ensemble since 2011, and has been an integral part of the group, even serving as the ensemble’s concertmaster numerous times. He’s been featured on many of Metropolis’s celebrated recordings, too, like Bill Brittelle’s Spiritual America and Timo Andres’s Home Stretch. But one of the performances he remembers with the most fondness was the first time he ever worked with the ensemble. He was a junior at The Juilliard School, a transplant from Columbus, Ohio who was seeking to find a musical community in New York. Metropolis quickly became that community. They descended upon Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall to record works by Vivian Fung and Timo Andres, promoting and celebrating many ways of making music, and in the evening, he got to know each of the musicians at local bars and restaurants. He was younger than many of them, and they were all extremely good at their craft, but they were encouraging and supportive. The camaraderie he found there is something he’ll always cherish.

Sciarrino’s Caprice No. 2 has been a piece Kim often returns to, especially in times where he wants his audience to focus. He originally learned the music for his Juilliard Master’s Recital as a break between the other works on the program. The work is inspired by Niccolò Paganini’s famed virtuosic and exuberant caprices, but here, Sciarrini channels a quieter virtuosity, writing music made of only harmonics. The result is a wispy sound that illuminates subtle bow scrapes and Kim’s breaths, music that instantaneously inspires attention to detail. Kim had always used this piece as a palette-cleanser during his live performances; here, he hopes it can be a palette-cleanser from the whirlwind thoughts we’ve all had over the past year.

Notes by Vanessa Ague

 
House Music: Bite-sized concerts recorded at homes around the world

In 2020-21, we created a weekly video series featuring short-form concerts of newly-commissioned works, supporting 208 artists around the world during the pandemic.