Dong-Ji Moon’s musical education was greatly  influenced by his mother who is a pianist and teacher. He  came to America in 1997. He participated in  the Montgomery County Honors String Orchestra and has been awarded by The Old  York Road Symphony. He is currently studying composition with Dr. Brodhead at Temple University. 
        “Hae-ga San Ma-loo-eh Ju-mool-uh-do”; Inspired from Korean Traditional  Poetry by So-Wul Kim This music is based on a poem by So Wol Kim: Melodically, this piece  mostly uses a minor-pentatonic scale that is based on key signature. Every  pitch in this scale is exactly matched with her feelings, so it could express  her pains so well. It modulates five times by major-pentatonic scale (f-g-B  flat-c-d) instead of minor-pentatonic which represents the composer’s hope for  happy ending.  Mostly, the pitch is based  atonal harmony, but it also uses quintal harmony. 
      When the Sun comes to an end over the  ridge of a mountain 
      To me, it comes to an end by the  reason of you. 
      When the Sun rises over the ridge of  a mountain 
      To me, the bright morning breaks by  the reason of you. 
      When the ground caves in under my  feet or when the sky falls down on my head 
      To me, all these happen by the reason  of you. 
      Once again, when the time comes, 
        My never ending love to you will  follow you like your shadow. 
      Oh, my beloved, my dear heart. 
    So-Wol  Kim (1902-34)  is one of Korea’s  most famous and beloved poets. His most significant achievement was the  flexibility and versatility he achieved in the use of the Korean language. In  this poem, he presented the sorrow of a woman who was left by her husband.  Here, he indicated the East Asian culture of woman that always had been on  lower position than man. Basically this poem is all about her grief and  yearning for her husband.  |