Sang Yeo (A Hearse)
Small Ensemble - Digital Sheet Music

Sang Yeo (A Hearse) is a programmatic work based on a Korean traditional funeral. The Korean funeral is rather a ceremony with a brilliantly decorated coffin and a group of choruses singing a traditional funeral tune throughout the entire process.

The piece consists of three sections:
The first section represents the scene where the coffin is brought to the burial site. The opening chord in the piano symbolizes the head of the mourning parade who rings a small bell while the casket is carried to its final resting place. The mood of the first section is "heaving" sounding by employing the lowest register of the piano and using triple stops in the violin while maintaining a slow tempo.
The second section characterizes the process of burying the coffin. It implies an irritating, aggressive and desperate atmosphere of the people who cannot face the death and the separation of the recently deceased. The minor second interval, staccatos on the fast passage scales and the constant banging rhythm support the ambiance of this section.
The last section corresponds to the return of the parade. It resembles the first section mostly with the grief, regrets and sighs. The high pitch glissando in the violin and the figure in the piano’s low register express the distance between the soul and the human.