Dal:um
It’s a rare treat to attend a gig with few expectations, and rarer still to have those expectations confounded. To the extent that I’d concluded anything about this Seoul-based musical duo, it was that we were likely to be entertained by something repetitive and percussive – a South Korean version of Philip Glass, perhaps. Dal:um delivered something far more interesting, and frankly challenging, with hints of both Stockhausen and Benjamin Britten coming to mind during this extraordinary performance. And I am very aware that it’s culturally crass to describe Eastern Asian music with Western reference points but the sounds offered up by the traditional string instruments the two performers used were so alien to my ears, I’m afraid it’s the best I can do.
Dal:um are a duo, made up of Ha Suyean, who plays the gayageum, and Hwang Hyeyoung, who plays the geomungo. Both instruments were huge, unwieldy beasts, as long as the musicians were tall. Played by laying it across their laps, it made for a striking image, as they sat symmetrically, side by side, hammering and plucking away in beautifully constructed harmony, demonstrating a deft command of their chosen implement.
The evening was given over to content from the duo’s album, the aptly titled “Similar but different”. The geomungo and the gayageum do look similar – they are both huge, silk stringed, acoustic instruments – but the sound they produce is quite different. At the risk of compounding my cultural vapidity, the geomungo is the bass guitar, albeit played with something akin to a drumstick, while the gayageum is lead guitar, plucked with the fingers. So Hwang Hyeyoung provided all the bass notes, along with some judicious rhythmic tapping, while Ha Suyean offered up the melody. Of the two, the gayageum had the most varied sound - chameleon like, it was capable of sounding like a banjo, a harp, and even a piano. Ha Suyean’s dexterous playing was something to behold, her hands skittering over the strings with remarkable dexterity, ably complemented by Hwang Hyeyoung more muscular handling of her instrument, together creating a wall of sound that Phil Spectre would have been proud of.
That said, the concert started in eerie silence, only fitfully punctuated by the sounding of bells, followed by the repetitive sound made by tapping against the wood of their instruments. When the first pluck of the silk strings - for opening tune Dasreum - finally came, they were as much about the spaces in between. The opening piece unfolded slowly, in no hurry to reveal itself. Silence was clearly a part of the composition, and it was gratifying that the audience respected this, listening intently throughout.
The concert was broken up by explanation from the performers, read from cue cards in a language that they were clearly not entirely at ease with. I struggled, to be frank, to pick up a lot of information, so while songs were introduced, and they both seemed lovely people, the evening remained, for me, a largely abstract experience. There was a tune based on a person being pursued that was urgent and relentless, and another about time collapsing, which was ethereal and otherworldly, but for the most part the abiding sound was thrillingly alien.
It’s hardly news that the Arts Centre is a wondrous place, but I think it’s none the less worth pointing out that this was only one of only two performances that Dal:um gave in the UK. The other was in the altogether roomier Purcell rooms on the South Bank in London. I’ve no idea why we got to see them in Norwich as well, but to do so in such an intimate space was something special.
