Melissa Darrow Engleman Composer

The collected works of composer Melissa Darrow Engleman.

Blackbelt Form 8. Hansoo Poomsae (한수)

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The symbol for this poomsae stands for water, as the source of life. This poomsae demonstrates that taekwondo practitioners respond to life (or attacks) with fluidity and adaptability. Hansoo is for the 8th dan.

In the music, the is a rhythmic pulse in the low strings. Over this, descending fluid scales become the main theme in the piece. A rhythmic drum pattern begins at 10 seconds, changing the feel to a more exciting character. In the section following from 11-20 seconds, other instruments are added to the descending fluid scales. The key changes one step up at 20, and builds in instrumentation and volume until the end at 49 seconds.

The descending scales are used to represent the fluidity of the music. The theme in the last section is parallel fifths moving up by thirds in a rhythmic pattern. It has the feel of working through adversity. This Hansoo poomsae music is 45 seconds long, and performed at 136 bpm.