By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
The passing of Park Chun-seok (1930-2010), an iconic songwriter from the 1950s to the 1980s, has left a void in the hearts of numerous singers and supporters.
One singer who had a special partnership with Park is the 69 year-old-Lee Mi-ja. It was Park's songs that brought out the best of the melancholic quality that has come to symbolize the artist often referred to as the ``queen of contemporary Korean music.''
Songwriters like Park with a gift to touch the soul of listeners are few and far between, Lee said, at a memorial altar for the composer at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, Sunday.
``What saddens me most is that we are unlikely to see composers like him in the years ahead,'' Lee said. ``I am concerned that the future generation will not be able to duplicate the sheer beauty of his compositions.''
Park penned some 700 songs for Lee alone. His total compositional output is said to be around 2,700. Most of the songs he composed for Lee, such as the ``Lady of Heuksan Island,'' ``Song Is My Life,'' ``Longing in Every Heart'' and many others, have become the trademarks of contemporary Korean music.
``He has a special place in my heart because he taught me everything there is to know about music. I would not be where I am today without him,'' Lee added. ``He is like family. He used to treat me like a younger sister.''
Their long-standing professional collaboration as well as personal affinity was founded on a common ground ― their utmost devotion to music and the desire to connect with an audience through their art.
A composer is usually the source of greatest inspiration to performers and Lee was Park's biggest muse.
During the early days of his career, Park wrote songs in the styles of ballads and semi-classical tunes. But when he met Lee in 1964, he began to specialize in the traditional genre of ``trot,'' the oldest form of Korean pop music developed in the years before and during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945).
The popularity of trot songs started to wane in the 1990s. But they were widely heard and performed from the 1950s to the 1980s, the period of Korea's transformation into a modern nation amid its economic development.
Park's songs reflected the love, sorrow and longings of the average Korean during this transitional period, accounting for their immense popularity.
He was so taken with Lee's genius as a singer that he even switched recording companies to work with her without any restraints.
``I think he was pleased with the way I performed his songs. He taught me how to sing traditional trot with dignity,'' Lee recounted.
Born in Seoul in 1930, the songwriter started to play piano when he was just four years old and was later admitted to the Seoul National University's string department. His musical career began while he was still in high school as a pianist for the Gold Club in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. His professional debut was in 1954 with the release of ``Elegy for a Sunset.''
Park is the first Korean songwriter to work with an overseas artist. In 1978, Columbia Records of Japan asked him to compose for Hibari Misora, the company's top recording female artist.
Some of Korea's greatest singers, including Patty Kim, Nam Jin and Na Hoon-ah were equally inspired by the late composer and paid their respect at his memorial altar.
They were unanimous in their praise and gratitude for Park's contribution in bringing a touch of elegance to the Korean pop music scene.
He will be remembered as a musician totally devoted to his calling. ``I am married to music,'' he once said.
Last year, supporters founded a commemorative association to carry on the legacy of the iconic composer.
Since Park suffered a stroke in 1994 while composing at the piano, he has been out of public spotlight. He reportedly shed tears every time he heard his songs on TV.
Park's burial will take place at a cemetery in Gyeonggi Province, Thursday.