Isang Yun Fest Opens in 4 Cities
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff reporter
The annual Isang Yun Festival opens in Seoul Wednesday followed by Chuncheon, Jeonju and Tongyeong through Sunday. Four concerts titled ``Emblem'' will take place to commemorate the late Korean-German composer (1917-1995), who embodied the tragedies of modern Korean history.
Yun, a prominent avant-garde based in Germany, is famous for being implicated in the 1969 East Berlin spy incident, where the South Korean government arrested many artists and intellectuals suspected of corresponding with communists. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released following protests by musicians like Herbert von Karajan and Igor Stravinsky. Afterward the exiled musician permanently settled in Germany, where he died in 1995 without fulfilling his wish to return home. Last year, his widow I Soo-ja visited Korea for the first time in four decades.
The Isang Yun Festival seeks to correct the mistake of overshadowing Yun's music with his tumultuous life story, said the Isang Yun Peace Foundation in a statement. ``We must, rather, pursue Yun's musical ideals and celebrate this man's ability to transform human suffering into art.''
The prolific composer produced some 150 works. While rooted in the European tradition, they possess Korean themes, like ``Exemplum,'' which refers to the 1981 Gwangju massacre, a bloody clash between civilian demonstrators and the militant government regime. ``His composing manner blends Eastern and Western elements into a unique personal style, into the art of gliding transition in the spirit of Tao,'' said the foundation.
Yun's music can be difficult to understand. It is devoid of sweeping melodies, organic harmonies and structured rhythm ― the pieces are in fact based on destroying these three musical principles. His works should thus be approached differently, just as one cannot consume Bach and Debussy in the same manner.
``You cannot perceive the music as it flows according to sad or joyful sounds. Imagine the music as a shape or image. First, vibrant sound waves will appear like a flying rug. The rug suddenly tears sharply, and a strand of thread unravels, moving organically, growing thin and thin at whim. It suddenly splits into three parts and gets tangled into a dark color, producing a vast lump of sound,'' Yun was quoted as saying in his biography by Louise Linser (``The Wounded Dragon: Dialogue of the Life and Works of the Composer,'' Fischer Publishing Company, 1977).
The concerts will take place at Seoul Arts Center, Wednesday; Chuncheon Culture & Art Center, Friday; Chonbuk National Universtiy Cultural Center, Jeonju, Saturday; and Tongyeong Citizens' Center, Sunday. The performance will open with Brahms' ``Tragic Overture, Op. 81 followed by Yun's Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra (1975-76) and ``Exemplum in Memoriam Kwangju (Gwangju)'' (1981).
Jung Chi-young, who has conducted several Korean premieres of Yun's works, will lead the Korean Symphony Orchestra. Cellist Koh Bong-ihn ― a Tchaikovsky youth competition-winning Harvard graduate mentored by Yo Yo Ma ― will appear as soloist.
Tickets for the concert tonight at Seoul Arts Center cost from 20,000 to 70,000 won while those for Chuncheon, Jeonju and Tongyeong are from 10,000 to 50,000 won. Call (02) 723-0364 or visit www.isangyun.org.