Līlā (pronounced as “Lee-Luh”) is a Sanskrit word that can mean any form of performing arts (play, dance, etc.) by gods (though anything can be a god in Hinduism). This piece, Līlā, draws inspiration from the Korean shamanistic ritual called gut. A gut serves various functions: to comfort the dead and send them to where they belong, to heal the unwell by expelling the devil, and to bless a community, such as a family, company, or town. A gut session would be hours long, containing as many as two dozen sections.

While rhythm is the driving force in many sections, as with shamanistic rituals in other cultures, the gut is distinct for its melodic system (called tori), which has become the basis of many different Korean folk music genres, including pansori (epic saga) and sanjo (virtuosic instrumental solo music). The melody in the gut is sung by the shaman and performed by a string or reed player. In this melodic system, specific notes are elaborated by descending glissando and some others by wide vibrato.

There are a handful of basic rhythmic patterns called jangdan (meaning long and short) and their countless variations. Those basic jangdans differ from one another concerning tempo and meter. However, most of them are related to each other by augmentation/diminution, allowing the entirety to be cohesive. This is one of the concepts I applied to my piece, though the principal rhythmic pattern in my work (a seven-beat pattern) is not from the gut tradition. Similarly, no specific gut melody is quoted in Līlā, although the pitch contents reflect the melodic system and speech patterns.

The gut differs from other related traditions (like danse macabre, for example) by its ultimate goal being the pursuit of the well-being of the living. It also exhibits humanistic values through its captivating (thus entertaining) music, full of cathartic quality and boundless energy.
The gut is considered one of the highest art forms in Korea, where the phrase “shaman-like” means “viscerally intuitive as a performer.” This piece is written in memory of the Music Director Laureate of the Oakland Symphony, maestro Michael Morgan (1957-2021), one of the most shaman-like musicians I have worked with.
Līlā is commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University.

~ Notes by Texu Kim, copyright 2024