free
for viola OR violin (2010; revised for violin 2024)
Duration: 4′
Premiere: Czech Music Camp for Youth, Horní Jelení, Czech Republic, 2017. Rebecca Sinclair Kim, viola.
Kim wrote free in 2017, completing it and gifting it to his wife Rebecca on their third wedding anniversary. Rebecca premiered the work later that summer at the Czech Music Camp for Youth in Horní Jelení, Czech Republic, where the composer spent five years as their symphony orchestra conductor. Simply marked “freely” for its tempo, the work reflects the intent to allow the performer full rein in interpretation. The harmony, starting in one key but ending in a completely different one, also reflects a desire to be free from the need to adhere to traditional norms.
Paul Sanho Kim 