Koreana Spring 1992 (English)

When the Power of a Nation Like Korea Is on the Upswing ...

From the publish.er Lew Hyuck-ln 2 Profiles in Excellence 3 Parade of Brilliant Stars Enlivens Korean Music Scene 4 Contemporary Music Skyrocketing in Vigor Kang Sukhi 9 17 Western Music Causes All Manner of Change Suh Woo-suk Battle Went Right On under Colonial Rule Noh Dong-un 25 Some call Siblings the Chung Dynasty Kim Won-koo 36 Expanding Galaxy of Top Luminaries Kim Hyung-ju 41 Korean Sensibilities Fortify Musicality Hahn Myung-hee 54 Marvelous Venues for Music-Making Lee Jang-jik 59 Education Requires Wholesome Balance Cho Sang-hyun 70 Tons of Won Needed for Music Industry Tak Gye-seok 77 Uphill¡ Battle Goes On for Celebrating Opera Han Sang-woo 83 Pan Music Festival Opens New Horizons Kim Choon-mee 89 Interview/Brave New Tomorrow Awaits Korean Music Pak Yong-ku 94 Review/Theater Theater Fests Score Success Han Sang-chul 97 Review/Dance Dance Fests Help Provincial Troupes Kim Chae-hyun I0I . Review/Cinema No Blockbusters, No Critical Hits Lee Seung-ku I 05 The Korea Foundation

I 08

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Editor's Note

Korea Foundation

KOREANA A quarteri!J OH Korean culture

Vol. 6 No. I 1992 KOREANA is published quarterly by THE KOREA FOUNDATION 526, Namdaemunno 5-ga. Chung-gu, Seoul. Korea KOREANA was registered as a quarterly magazine with the Ministry of Information.

Republic of Korea. on August 8. 1987.

Registration No. Ba-1 03 3 "'The Korea Foundation 1992

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the Korea Foundation.

PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Lew Hyuck-ln EDITORIAL BOARD: Choe Chungho. Hahn Man-young, Rhee Sang-woo, Yoo Young-ik EDITOR IN CHIEF: S. Chang ART DIRECTOR: Kim Shi-joong ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Song Jung-sok {text) Cho Sang-yin. Ahn Chong-sun {design) CIRCULATION: Overseas/The Korea Foundation C.P.O. Box 214 7. Seoul. Korea Tel: (02) 752-6171 Fax: (02) 757-2049

Domestic/Myung Hwa Sa C.P.O. Box 7852, Seoul. Korea Tel: (02) 274-5443. 269-2209 Advertising inquiries should be addressed to: AD Seoul. RM 601. Lions Bldg .. 50.

Chungmuro 5-ga, Chung-gu, Seoul. Korea Tel: (02) 274-8336 Fax: (02) 274-8337 LAYOUT: Yang Ahn Graphics TYPESETTING: World Compugraphic PRINTING: Samhwa Printing Co. (Ryu Sung-keun)

Printed in Korea, March 23. 1992

Pianist-conductor Chung Myung-whun (center). Violinist Chung Kyung-hwa il eftJ and Cellist Chung Myung-h wa {right).

When The Power Of A Nation Like Korea Is On The Upswing ....

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any years ago when I began working for Time. l befriended a young Japanese man in New York. Already an assistant to Leonard Bernstein. he sometimes made no bones about saying that he didn't have enough money for lunch. We had lunch together often. for it was fun listening to his passionate discourse on music. Who was th is fellow? Sei ji Ozawa. He has since shot to international prominence. Yes. I talk of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's music director and permanent conductor.

Three years ago when Korea's Chung Myung-whun was picked to serve Paris' Bastille Opera as its music director and conductor. I was all at once reminded of those days I spent with Ozawa in New York. And I thought I had a new theory (or is this new?). When the strength of a nation is on the upswing. there's bound to be a new luminary skyrock!2ting from that country to world stardom in music.

This issue of KOREANA is dedicated to reviewing the musical state of affairs ~ mainly classical music of the Western kind and contemporary music - in South Korea. The reason is not complicated. Music scenes today are among the most exciting of phenomena in Korea. And they always strike me as the sharpest reflection of the nation's bursting energy.

Of course. conductor Chung is but one of the dramatis personae on the lively stage. And I should like to invite the attention of our readers in particular to another old friend of mine. Professor Kang Sukhi. today one of the world's best known champions of the cause of advancing contemporary music. His activities. along with those of Chung and other Korean musical personages. are fu lly covered in this issue.

Price per copy: US$5 (W 3, 500)

Vol. 6 No. I KOREANA 1992

From the Publisher

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE: ITS NEW START t is my great pleasure to greet the readers of KOREANA as the first president of the newly born Korea Foundation.

In view of the increasing demand for crosscultural exchange. a keen desire had been growing to establish a new effective and comprehensive organization which would satisfy such a demand. With this in mind. the Korea Foundation was launched at the onset of this year. absorbing the International Cultural Society of Korea (ICSK). in accordance with the Korea Foundation Law which was promulgated by the Korean government at the end of last year.

The Foundation has taken over the major activities carried out by ICSK for the past two decades. and will further strengthen all international exchange activities. aiming at the better understanding of Korea abroad and promoting mutual friendship and interest between Korea and the rest of the world.

Among others. the publication program will be one of the top priorities of our Foundation. since we believe that bringing Korea to you through printed media is one of the most effective ways to acquaint the world community with our country and people. Therefore. we will continue to publish KOREANA in English. Spanish and Japanese and do our utmost to make it better by carrying more interesting and informative articles. and to get ourselves ready to expand ana diversify our publication program.

On behalf of all the editors and staff of KOREANA. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your encouragement and support that you have rendered to our journal. and sincerely hope for your kind counsel and continued interest in the new Korea Foundation in the years ahead.

I

~~~ President

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Profiles In Excellence L___v_r _H_w_A_N_G_ (_1_5o_1_-_1_5_70_:_)____JI

I CHONG soN (16 76- 1759)

hough he reached the apex of bureaucracy as minister of rites. Yi Hwang was too devoted to learning to remain a government official. Himself a revered Confucian scholar. he resigned as a member of the cabinet and opened Tosan Sowon. a private hall of advanced learning in Andong. While heading his own academy, he worked hard to expand the scope of dualism as proposed by the 12th

T

century Chinese philosopher Chu Hsi. Chu argued that every existence in the universe was marked by two interdependent elements: "i" (reason) and "ki" (material force) . Yi Hwang went further and brilliantly analyzed the role played by "i" in the function of human psyche.

By the time he died at age 70, the great scholar had educated, all told, 300 disciples and made his academy one of the largest of its kind in the Chason period ( 1392-191 0).

Chong's """"'._....._..____. masterpiece

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ntillate in the 17th century, most Korean painters were so much influenced by

Chinese masters that their landscape tableaus seemed all but dedicated to glorifying natureChinese style. Not Chong. An aristocrat by birth. he was never destined to be another copycat. Instead. time and again he traveled deep into the countryside for his keen studies of nature. Soon he broke away from the habit of many of his confreres by establishing a style of his own, a style marked by a highly rewarding brand of realism . Among his masterpieces were landscape paintings of Mount Kumgang in North Korea and Mount lnhwang, located just north of his home town, Seoul. Clearly Chong, commissioned to do paintings for the court from the early stage of his career. was vastly talented. But that did not prevent him from continuously working hard. Sure

Tosan Sowon

enough, posterity calls Chong one of the three greatest painters of the Chason period.

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PARADE OF BRILLIANT STARS ENLIVENS KOREAN MUSIC SCENE All at once. musical activities have turned into perhaps the most fascinating of cultural phenomena in today¡s South Korea. Through these pages.

KOREANA takes pleasure in introducing some of the brightest luminaries in various fields of music of the classical Western and contemporary varieties - all the way from orchestras to operas. Most of the organizations and performers featured here are dwelled upon in a long series of articles that appear in this issue.

KBS Symphony Orchestra

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Conductor Lim Won-sik

Korean Symphony Orchestra.

Korea Festival Ensemble.

Vocalist Oh Hyun-myung.

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Korean Opera Chunhyang;on . performed by the Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company

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Scene from Opera High Priest Wonhuo

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Seoul Arts Center concert hall

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CONTEMPORARY MUSIC SKYROCKETING IN VIGOR Kang Sukhi

century ago the names Beethoven or Mozart meant nothing to the Korean people.

Western music was first. introduced to Korea in the form of hymns taught by foreign missionaries arriving in 188 5. In the 1890s the Choson court hired a German composer and conductor named Eckert to establish Korea's first Western-style military band. providing those close to the court with a taste of march music and national anthems. Domestic composition of Western-style music did not come until the 1920s when Hong Nanpa composed "Pongsonhwa." Korea's first lyrical song or kagok. The value of the early kagok lay in their simple melodies and unpretentious arrangements since the lyrics themselves lacked artistic significance. It is difficult to say exactly when Korean composers became interested in contemporary music but it must have been well b~fore the first attempts at 12-note music were made in the 1950s.

The history of Western music in Korea is not so much the history of changes in form as the history of a process of accommodation. But we also must realize the unique feature of this history of accommodation was the fact it did not correspond with the history of changes in musical forms. Korean composers came to feel comfortable with a broad range of different musical forms. such as baroque. classical. romantic. modern and contemporary music. without regard to the order these forms were introduced to the Western musical world.

Amateur composers of the Hong Nanpa school never went beyond an elementary understanding of the harmonic vocabulary of Western music. and although a number of composers. such as Kim Soung-tai. were able to express themselves in the classic and romantic idiom. they did not progress to an exploration of contemporary music. There was one school of composers which included Chung Hoe-gap. however. that was not satisfied with simply mastering the tonal idiom of 18th and 19th century Western music and so delved into experimentation with advanced Western music. Other young composers. such as Choe In-chan. rejected any attachment to the music of earlier eras and attempted to compose contemporary music from the very beginning.

Future research in the field of Western music in Korea must provide a detailed analysis of the results of the import of Western music to Korea .

A

Born in Seoul in 1934. Kang Sukfli graduated from tfle Composition Department of Seoul National Universitr/s College of Music in 1960. He continued flis education at tfle Department of Composition at Hanover National Music College in 1970-71 and at tfle Berlin University of Tecflnology and tfle Berlin National College of Music wflere fle studied composition and computer music from 1971 to 197 5. Professor Kang flas been teacfling at Seoul National University College of Music since 1982 and flas been cflairman of tfle Composition Department since 1987. He flas also served as tfle music director of tfle Pan Music Festival since its inauguration in 1969 and as tfle flead of tfle Korean brancfl of tfle World Association of Modern Music (W AMM) since 197 2. He was vice president of tfle WAMM and International Society for Contemporary Music (!SCM) from 1985 to 1990.

Professor Kang flas been tfle leading proponent of contemporary music in Korea since tfle 1970s and flas received numerous awards for flis work botfl at nome and abroad.

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TURNING POINT The year 194 5 was an important turning point in the history of Korean music as it marked the restoration of freedom. the most basic prerequisite for artistic creativity, and an end to the psychological suppression and cultural restraints of Japanese colonial rule. Traditional Korean music was completely repressed by the Japanese colonial policy aimed at the obliteration of Korean culture. but this did not mean any progressive musical forms were introduced to take its place.

Kim Sun-nam and Yi Kon-u were two central figures in the history of contemporary music during the 1940s. Proponents of atonal music and a national music movement Kim and Yi were two highly progressive individuals who embraced expressionism as opposed Composer Chung Hoe-gab to most Korean composers of that period who were either rank amateurs or devotees of the traditional musical vocabulary. However. these two composers fled to North Korea for ideological reasons. and performances of their works. analysis of their scores and even the mention of their names was banned in the South. As a result it is almost impossible to find evidence of these composers' influence on the creative development of the modern music genre.

Korea was essentially a creative wasteland during the 1940s when new cultural movements such as futurism. Dadaism. Bauhaus and expressionism were spreading throughout the world thanks to the efforts of international organizations such as the International Pen Club and the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM). The establishment of the Kyongsong Music College and Composition Department forerunner of today's College of Music at Seoul National University (SNU). in the midst of this vast wasteland was a momentous event because it provided a place to educate young people determined to study composition and soon became the birthplace for so much of the creative talent which has made contemporary music possible in Korea.

The newfound freedom brought on by liberation from Japanese rule in I 94 5 carried with it great expectations for growth among Korea's young composers. Unfortunately the sociaL political and economic chaos of the postwar period acted as a damper on their youthful enthusiasm.

And in the midst of the efforts to reestablish order throughout society, the Korean War broke out in 1950. The war rendered efforts to restore Korean culture useless and everything had to be started from scratch once more.

KOREAN WAR One would expect the dispatch of American forces to Korea during the war to provide an opportunity for the transmission of American and Western culture to Korea. but in fact the American presence did not help Koreans gain a better grasp of the fundamental or advanced

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aspects of those cultures. Nevertheless. the activities of a number of American musical figures are worthy of attention. The American composers Lou Harrison and Allen Hovannes introduced the concept of "a new traditional Korean music" based on their two-year study of Korea's traditional music. and Philip Corner. composer and pianist with the American military. performed in 1960 Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et d'intensites. the work that set off the total serialism trend in Europe during the 1950s. These two events reflect the degree to which the Korean audience had been isolated until that time.

Although creative activity was sharply reduced by the Korean War. composer interest in contemporary music was growing .day by day. Korean composers may have lacked any direct experience with the total serialism. concrete music and electronic music then growing in popularity in Europe. but they immersed themselves in the study of 12-note tonal music using texts and theoretical studies from abroad. The resultant works may not be viewed as truly serial music; nevertheless. we do see the creation of many works utilizing serial technique in the latter part of the 1950s.

Composer La Un-yung founded the Korean Contemporary Music Society in 1952. and three years later the Korean Composers Club was established. In 1957 the Korean Music Association provided the first regular venue for the performance of contemporary music with establishment of an annual composition contest. Although neither of these groups was dedicated exclusively to the performance of contemporary music. they did provide a long awaited opportunity for the performance of works by La Un-yung. Lee Sang-keun. !sang Yun. Chong Yun-ju. Choe In-chan and other composers influenced by trends in contemporary music.

However. when one considers the level of interest in contemporary music during this period. one realizes the quality of the music actually composed left something to be desired.

This qualitative weakness is clearly revealed in the fact that despite three years of intense effort following Korea's admission to the !SCM in 1957. Korean composers failed to win a single prize at the !SCM-sponsored World Music Days and so were forced to withdraw from the organization in 1961.

COMPOSERS CLUB In 1958. a composers club centered around five major composers (including Yi Song-jae) from the SNU Composition Department was established in an attempt to promote the formulation of a theoretical basis for national music and create a place for Korea within the i!Jternational music scene.

For many years this composers club was split between conservative composers who pursued more traditional Western musical genres and a progressive group which sought to overturn these traditional standards.

The composers club began to lean toward the progressive view after 1970 and remains focused on contemporary music today. This group's contribution to the development of contemporary music in Korea in the form of recital and concert series through which new works and young composers are introduced to the local music scene cannot be overlooked.

One of the leading Korean composers studying in Europe during this same period was Paik Nam-june who later became known as a world-class intermedia artist. Although Paik first went to West Germany to study composition. he gained international fame as a performer during the 1960s.

Access to information on musical trends overseas improved somewhat in the early 1960s.

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but the contemporary musical works performed in concert during the 1960s were mostly by Korean composers. One or two performances of the works of foreign composers were held each year but they were limited to the compositions of Benjamin Britten. Ravel. Stravinsky, Bartok and other mainstream composers. At that time the composer was responsible for all concert expenses. and as a result it was difficult to stage a concert without outside financial support from a managerial firm or in the form of a commission .

At the same time. the Korean music community witnessed the emergence of a new generation of composers who had graduated from SNU's Composition Department. This younger generation gradually replaced the composers who had pioneered Western music in Korea.

Paik Byung-dong held the first recital of his compositions in 1959 when he was still a student and by 1969 had held three more recitals. ln 1966 Kang Sukhi staged Korea's first computer music performance. "The Feast of ld." These young composers played a leading role in the Korean music community's acceptance of contemporary music. Few people realized contemporary music was slowly becoming the ruling form in the music world. ln addition to their quest to import the most advanced musical trends from the Western world. composers during this period were most interested in discovering how to utilize Western techniques in the creation of distinctly Korean compositions.

These efforts began simply, first by affixing the three basic notes of functional harmonic technique to the pentatonic melodies of traditional Korean music. and by the end of the 1960s evolved with attempts at accommodating Bartok's additional tones and the rhythms of folk songs.

A fine example of this trend toward the blending of Western and Korean genres was Chung Hoe-gap's 1961 work "Theme and Variations for the Kayagum and Orchestra."

This work was significant both as an attempt to achieve a harmonization of Western and Korean musical instruments and musical genres and as an example of the modernization of uniquely Korean subject matter.

A determination to create distinctly Korean compositions and the thirst for a better understanding of international trends in advanced music have been the driving forces behind Korea's contemporary music movement. The quest for a uniquely Korean character within a Western cultural framework rewards us with a rich sense of originality and distinction while the search for worldliness imbues a work with a sense of universality. Both these elements. specificity and universality. are essential to the creation of music of true quality.

EAST BERLIN INCIDENT The East Berlin Incident of 1967 was a unique opportunity for Korean composers struggling to collect information on composition trends in Western Europe and to realize a new genre of Korea's contemporary music. At the center of the incident were lsang Yun and 33 professors. students. artists and other South Koreans living in Germany. lsang Yun was the first Korean composer to be chosen to participate in the !SCM's World Music Days. and he received an award for a string quartet composition at the World Music Days held in Cologne in I 960.

In I 967 the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency accused Yun and the others of spying for North Korea. Two of the defendants were sentenced to death and four. including Yun. to life imprisonment.

The incident shook South Korea and the world and served as a turning point in the development of contemporary music in Korea because it was accompanied by a flood of reports on

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Composer lsang Yun

musical trends in the European music world. Whenever one of Yun's new works. such as "Image" which he wrote wh ile in prison or his opera Tlie Dream of tlie Widow. was staged. they were given in-depth coverage in the Korean press and so served as an important stimulus for domestic composers of contemporary music.

The average citizen was exposed to European musical trends as a result of this incident and consequently there was a heightened interest in a broad range of musical genre from around the world.

Kang Sukhi was able, after numerous efforts. to visit !sang Yun when he was undergoing hospital treatment during his incarceration. The two composers' numerous rendezvous during the year of Yun's hospitalization provided Kang with many new ideas. In a certain sense it seemed like the lessons of Yun's 10-year search for his own distinct voice using a Korean vocabulary and Western techniques had been compressed into a single year of conversations with Kang. and the conversations clearly contributed to the advancement of Korea's musical community.

These conversations began with a discussion of how we are to interpret traditional Korean elements and moved on to cover issues such as the incorporation of these elements in compositions and !sang Yun's own personal experiences. Yun also made a significant contribution to the cultivation of a new generation of Korean composers. despite the fact he was primarily active overseas. by providing four young composers. Kang Sukhi. Paik Byung-dong, Kim Chunggil and Choe In-chan. with an opportunity to study in Hanover in 1970.

TRUE BIRTH The year 1969 in many ways marked the true birth of contemporary music in Korea as it witnessed the inauguration of two important musical events: the Pan Music Festival which over the last 20-plus years has provided the domestic music community with a crucial source of information on trends in the contemporary music world. and the Seoul Music Festival which has provided local composers with a much needed venue for the performance of new works.

The first Pan Music Festival (then known as the Seoul Contemporary Music Festival) was

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Composer Kang Sukhi

launched by Kang Sukhi on the advice of !sang Yun. Yun noted the Warsaw Autumn. an annual contemporary music festi val. was one of the main factors behind Poland's prolific production of talented composers and argued Korea needed a similar festival to cultivate musical excellence. Five months after Yun returned to Germany. the first Pan Music Festival was held. introducing new works by Stockhausen. Boulez. Haubenstock-Ramati. Bo Nilson. Earl Brown.

Paik Nam-june and John Cage.

Over the years the Pan Music Festival has pursued a number of goals: the introduction of the most up-to-date musical trends from the West. the creation of a universal music vocabulary. the exploration of the possibilities for a new musical form wh ich harmonizes elements of both traditional and contemporary music. and the reversal of the trend toward specialization and the separation of various art genres through the consolidation of art forms as a single experience.

The Pan Music Festival has grown to become one of Asia's most important music festivals. providing Koreans and their Asian neighbors with an opportunity to experience computer music and avant-garde works from around the world and exposing audiences to the potential of experimental and avant-garde music. .

While the Pan Music Festival has provided a much-needed forum for the performance of contempoary music. the Seoul Music Festival has dedicated itself to "the establishment of Korea's own unique national music. composed and performed by Korean performers." More than I .000 works have been presented at the Seoul Music Festival thus far.

Prior to 1969. Korean music was unknown in the West and even in nearby Japan. Just one example of this lack of international awareness was the Japanese reaction to recordings of three of Kang Sukhi's works at the Osaka Expo in 1970. In interviews on NHK television and in journals. the Japanese music critic Kuniharu Akiyama and the composer Joji Yuasa both exclaimed they didn't even know the concept of contemporary music existed in Korea.

In the 1970s. the state of Korea's contemporary music improved as the nation joined the ISCM in 1972 under Kang Sukhi's leadersh ip. In the first year. Bahk )un-sang's work was recognized. and in 1973. Kim Chung-gil received an award. The year 1976 saw a wave of recognition for Korean composers: Kang Sukhi won a prize at the Rostrum of Composers sponsored

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by UNESCO in Paris. and his orchestral work was awarded prizes at the Boston !SCM together with Choe In-chan's compositions and Donald Sur's chamber works. Kang also received a commission from the Berlin Meta Music Festival where his composition "Buru" made its international premiere. Pak Young-hee's composition was also awarded a prize at the Boswil Composition Competition .

The 1970s were not simply an important turning point because Korean compositions were gaining recognition overseas. The decade was also important because it marked the advent of domestic recognition of contemporary music as a distinct musical genre. not simply as a branch of imported Western music. The drive to create new works intensified and a new generation of composers. including the likes of Bahk )un-sang, Lee Sang-keun. Yi Young-ja. Kim Yongjin. Yi Yon-guk. Oh Suk-ja. Hwang Chol-ik. Han Song-sok, Sung Tu-young and Shin Tong-nim. made their debuts. These young composers were active in the composers club established in 1958 as well as in the many new clubs that sprang up in the 1970s.

The Perspective Composers' Group. the Korean branch of the Asian Composers¡ League. the Twentieth Century Music Study Group and the Korean Association of Women Composers are just a few of the many clubs established in the late 1970s. The Perspective Composers' Group established by Chung Hoe-gap staged the works of its members who included Kang Sukhi. Paik Byung-dong and Na In-yong and of guest composers on a rotating basis following its founding in 1976. The Korean branch of the Asian Composers' League. founded in 1975 with Yi Song-jae as its chairman. contributed to the contemporary music cause with its annual recitals and also sent a delegation to the Asian Composers' League Festival.

The Korean students who were returning from their studies in Hanover began to play an important role in the 1970s. bringing with them a new "rationalism" in the form of composition techniques and theory.

COSMOPOLITAN OUTLOOK If the 1970s. following the East Berlin Incident were characterized by a more cosmopolitan musical outlook and a greater understanding of the rationalist techniques gaining popularity in Western Europe, one could say the 1980s saw the rationalism introduced by the students returning from Hanover give birth, through a process of spontaneous generation. to a new generation of young composers.

During her third year at SNU where she studied the logical development of composition through the analysis of musical works under Kang Sukhi, Chin Unsuk won a composition award at the 1984 !SCM competition in Canada. The following year Chin went on to take the Grand Prize at the Gaudeamus Competition of Composers in the Netherlands. Chin's success provides ample evidence of the spontaneous generation of young Korean composers in the 1980s.

Hers was not simply the personal victory of a Korean student who had never studied overseas but also proved the new level of excellence being achieved by younger Korean composers.

This excellence is further substantiated by the fact that a number of other young composers including Yi Manbang, Yi Sok-han and Chong Nam-hee were recognized at the Gaudeamus and !SCM competitions and other international competitions.

The I 980s were marked by a changing attitude toward foreign compositions. Exchange programs in which Korean works were performed overseas and foreign works were introduced to Korean audiences revealed the local music community's growing confidence and its rejection of the passive acceptance of foreign trends which it had previously demonstrated. An

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exchange program with Hungary led to the staging of "A Night of Korean Compositions" in Budapest and "A Night of Hungarian Compositions" in Seoul. This exchange program has since expanded to Japan and the Soviet Union. reflecting the beginning of a new future-oriented movement to bring Korea out of its shell and out onto the world stage.

This future-oriented movement is all too evident in the 400-plus students who graduate from the nation's university composition departments each year. These young men and women will play an important role in the qualitative growth of Korea's composition community.

Contemporary music in Korea is also stimulated by the return of performers from overseas studies. These young performers have been exposed to a wide range of musical trends during their studies abroad and can be expected to take an active role in the promotion of modern music here in Korea. This is a most encouraging trend for local composers.

The number of musical events is expanding yearly. Private organizations sponsor music festivals featuring 20th century compositions and the like. and the Goethe In stitute in Seoul has provided a most useful forum for the performance of both German and Korean works together with discussions on recent changes in contemporary music.

On the other hand. the older generation's primary goal. the discovery of uniquely Korean musical elements. so evident in Chung Hoe-gap's 1961 "Theme and Variations for the Kayagum and Orchestra" and Kang Sukhi's "Yebul." seems to be disappearing. The National Classical Music Institute has stubbornly insisted on only providing composition commissions to composers of purely traditional works. thus remaining loyal to its focus on the restoration of traditional music rather than expanding its focus to include new experimental works which may incorporate elements of both traditional and modern music.

CREATIVE DIVERSITY With the exception of this one issue. the I 980s saw remarkable and positive growth in the Korean composition community marked by the new trend toward the spontaneous generation of young composers and the realization of a new creative diversity. Korean composers are actively exploring the field of experimental music such as serialism. and we expect continued development in the areas of electronic and computer music. In addition. composers interested in exploring new genres which express Korea's unique characteristics and reject the concept of universality are beginning to emerge.

This new diversity is most encouraging. While Koreans¡ understanding may have been restricted during the nation's many years of authoritarian rule. I believe our composers managed to maintain a free and open consciousness.

Korean composers have been increasingly active on the international stage during the 1980s and early 1990s. Kang Sukhi has served as vice president of the !SCM for the last six years and Yi Song-jae was elected to serve as the president of the Asian Composers¡ League in 1991. However. as we move further into the 1990s we expect to see greater domestic expansion away from the Seoul metropolitan area. Modern music festivals in local areas will help promote the cause of contemporary music throughout Korea during the 1990s. Korea's contemporary music community is on the threshold of a new era in which it will expand. both quantitatively and qualitatively. at home and abroad. @

(The original text of this article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREANA. This is a translation .)

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WESTERN MUSIC CAUSES ALL MANNER OF CHANGE Suh Woosuk

he 1880s were an important period in Korean history as the decade marked the beginning of Korean society's break with its Confucian traditions . The purpose of this article is to analyze the process by which Western music was introduced to Korea during the so-called Enlightenment Period in the 1880s and to look at the historical developments which occurred as the result of Korea's contact with Western civilization. In order to facilitate a clearer understanding of this historical process I will compare the Korean experience with that of Russia which underwent a similar period of accommodation. Through this comparison I hope to provide a fresh understanding of the development of Korean music since the 1880s as well as the present state of music in Korean society.

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WESTERN MUSIC Any discussion of the introduction of Western music to Korea must consider a variety of elements: I) the introduction of scholarly works on Western music theory; 2) hymns from the Catholic tradition; 3) the introduction of Protestant hymns by Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries from the United States as well as choral education in educational institutes established by these missionary groups; and 4) the introduction of instrumental performing groups following the establishment of military bands in the late 19th century.

The third and fourth elements mentioned above provided the Korean people with their first direct contact with Western music: the "square-cut" hymns of the Presbyterian and Methodist faiths and brass band music. Korea's first taste of Western instrumental music. Notably this contact was made not through professional musicians but rather through the common people who were beginning to embrace the Christian faith. They were simple middie and lower class Koreans with no special training or understanding of music.

The introduction of Western music brought about a number of changes: I) a transfor~ation in Korea's musical experience; 2) a change in the indigenous musical system; 3) changes in musical genres; and 4) changes in the pattern of music consumption.

During the Chason Kingdom ( 1392-191 0) there were two basic perceptions of music: music as a symbolic expression of man's spiritual nature and music as a form of entertainment or a complement to drinking. The introduction of Christian hymns provided Koreans with a whole-

Born in Taegu in 1940. Sun Woosuk graduated from the Composition Department of Seoul National '..!:~iversi­ ty's College of Music in 1964. He began his teaching career in 1966 after completing his graduate studies at Seoul National University. Professor Sun is presently a professor of composition and music theory at his alma mater and also serves as the chairman of the Korea Musical Society. He spent the I 97 5-7 6 academic year at the Harvard-Yenching Institute. His publications include Toward a Better Understanding of Modern Music. Music and Theory and The Introduction and Development of Western Music in Korea as well as a number of translations.

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some musical experience. wh ile brass band music broadened the Korean people's aesthetic experience beyond palace and secular music. the "listen ing music" of the Chason era. Brass band music differed from palace music in that palace music was symbolic. The rich musical variety of Western brass band music was what distinguished it from the secular music of the Chason era.

While radio and records were the prime means of transmission of new musical trends in later years. music education and musical performances provided the initial avenues for musical innovation in Korea. In 19 1 I the Chason Classical Musical Institute matriculated its inaugural class and staged Korea's first piano concert at the Christian Youth Center in Seoul.

The Westernization of musical genres during this period can be characterized by three major changes: I) the birth of the changguk. or Korean classical opera; 2) the development of children's songs and lyric songs; and 3) the emergence of popu lar songs in the Western tradition.

Changguk reflected an attempt to stage pansori stories narrated through song, in the tradition of a Western opera. Children's songs and lyric songs (kagok) were. on the other hand. the result of creative efforts to utilize Western composition techniques. Popular songs in the Western tradition owed their success to the introduction of new media which made music accessible to the masses for the first time.

It is important for us to note here that the difference between lyric songs or kagok and popular songs lay not only in the their mode of transmission but also in the social class of the singers who performed them. Lyric songs were sung by intellectual vocalists (songakka) schooled in Western music while popular songs were performed by kasu. simple singers. most often kisaeng. professional female entertainers. It is interesting to note that a composer of lyric songs would write under a different name when he was composing a popular song for a kasu. The renowned composer Hong Nanpa used the name Na So-un when he composed popu lar songs.

This strict differentiation must be seen as the infiltration of a structural element of Korean society into the new musical forms created under Western influence. For this reason. I believe musical genres such as the changguk. kagok and popular songs were not so much examples of the simple transplantation of Western music as a means of accommodating these influences within the context of Korean society.

Following the Enlightenment Period. two new types of music appreciation were introduced almost simultaneously: the concert and electronic media including short- and long-playing records and radio. Cassette recordings became common after the 1970s. Concerts provided an aura of immediacy and intimacy whi le recordings encouraged the commercialization of _ music.

RUSSIAN EXPERIENCES The process by which Western culture was introduced to the Chason Kingdom at the end of the 19th century bears comparison with the introduction of Western European culture to Russia during the reign of Peter the Great in the 1700s. The history of Korean music after the 1880s and that of Russia under Peter the Great differed in a number of ways: the two countries¡ political systems were quite dissimilar; the new musical genres were transmitted differently; the degree of deterioration anc:l/or preservation of indigenous musical genres were different as was the degree to which newly introduced compositional concepts were transmitted.

Let us first consider the differences in the political systems of Russia from the 18th through the early 20th centuries and Korea from the En lightenment Period through the 1960s. The imperial system was maintained intact in Russia through the early 20th century while in Korea

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a new political system was established following the collapse of the Choson Dynasty and 36 years of Japanese colonial rule. Thus Western music was introduced to Korea during a period when monarchical rule was already weakened.

Had the Choson court been able to maintain a stronger position following the Enlightenment Period. the pansori so loved by the last Choson kings Kojong and Sunjong may have been able to resist the onslaught of Western music.

In fact. there was no reaction to the introduction of Western music from the Choson court. either in defense of the sanctity of the court itself or in the defense of traditional culture. Indeed. a clear reaction to the onslaught of Western culture did not come until the 1980s. It is for this reason I believe Western musical tastes were able to penetrate the popular conHong Nanpa sciousness so easily. As a result Korea's traditional musical genre. pansori. became popular in its compromise form. that is the \\esternized changguk form. rather than in its original form.

In the Russian case. the music of Western Europe was introduced by and for the aristocratic class and so had a very c!ear focus. New musical forms. whether they be genres introduced completely from the West or genres which combined elements of Western music with those of indigenous music. had a clearly identified market in Russian society. Of course. after 1860 non-aristocratic classes began to attend concerts. but this was after new Westernized musical directions were established by Mikhail Glinka ( 1804-5 7) and other composers.

Korea's and Japan's responses to the introduction of Western music were quite different.

In Korea. traditional music completely disintegrated in the 1900s because of the lack of a strong response to Western music. The case of Japan was somewhat different. There. a concentrated reaction to the introduction of Western music was possible and traditional music found refuge in the imperial court. This strategy. albeit defensive. contributed to the preservation of Japan's traditional music.

The means by which Western music was introduced to Russia and Korea were quite different. Western music was introduced to Russia over a 200-year period in the form of concerts. most notably operas. and as such there was a certain stability in Russia's initial contact with music from the West. In the Korean case. on the other hand. Western music was introduced over a much shorter period. approximately 80 years up to the 1960s. through a variety of avenues: concerts. recordings. broadcasting, etc. These techn ical innovations had a monumental influence on Korea's response to Western music.

Ignoring for the moment the ideological question as to whether or not it is desirable for Korea to incorporate Western music into its own musical tradition. it is clear the variety of avenues through which Western music was introduced to Korea interfered with the formation of a stable musical consensus . That is to say, the difficulties we face in identifying the roots of the Korean people's musical tastes are a result of this musical diversity. The formation of distinct Korean musical tastes remains an important task today.

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Traditional musical forms were not effectively maintained in the Russian case. Following the introduction of Western European civilization. all traces of traditional folk music disappeared and Russia's musical inclinations were reborn through the use of Western European musical instruments. With the near annihilation of its native musical instruments. all that remained of Russia's musical traditions after 1860 was its musical spirit. This spiritual element manifested itself through a form of "brooding... or reflection. as opposed to the concept of "development" found in Western European music. "Development" here refers to the movement from one musical concept to another. a change in the principal theme. while "brooding" refers to the repetition of a single melody over and over against a changing background or tonal quality.

For example. in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. the theme changes in the course of development through the work while the theme in Borodin's Symphony in B Minor shifts in the "brooding" fashion.

Following the obliteration of all visible vestiges of Russia's musical tradition. the invisible elements of that tradition. that is Russia's musical spirit. were revived through the use of Western European musical instruments. Korea's traditional music. on the other hand. was handed down in its original form. This musical legacy refers to the inheritance and preservation of the fundamental structure of Korea's musical tradition. that is its scale which constituted the collection of melodic elements or basic fragments which could be called motifs and the traditional temperament system. The difference between the temperament system of Korea's traditional musical instruments and equal temperament of Western music is well recognized. In addition. we must realize that the musical scale of the Chason period shares the same melodic elements as the Greek ecoi. the maquam of the Middle East and the raga of Indian culture.

If we were to abandon the temperament system of traditional music. the preservation of traditional instruments would constitute little more than the preservation of a corpse long after the soul has passed away, because an instrument cannot exist independent of the temperament system for which it was created to interpret. Korea did not express its musical tradition through the musical instruments of the West as did the Russians because its traditional instruments lived on as the vessel in which Korea's musical soul was preserved. The dualistic nature of Korea's modern temperament system and conception of the musical scale is the fundamental cause of the weakness in Korea's concept of composition discussed below.

The difficulties Koreans have faced in the complete accommodation of Western concepts of composition are the result of the relatively short period of time over which Western music was introduced. It would be difficult to find a musical culture other than that of Western music in which music is composed and performed for an audience on the basis of a written IJlUSical record or score. There are a number of ways we can look at the term "musical record" or score: musical records committed to memory; musical records written on paper or scores; and electronically recorded records in the form of records. tapes and the like.

In the case of Russia. acceptance of the concept of a written score was made easier by frequent contact with Western European musicians. In Korea's case. however. memorization was the preferred form of recording for musical compositions. While there are written records of court music. these were made for use as historical documentation. not for performance.

Conflicts over musical notation were inevitable as Koreans. accustomed to the memorization of musical scores. came to adopt Western methods of scoring and composition. These conflicts remain a stumbling block in the process of socializing composition practices. This does not reflect a particular propensity for or dislike of recording their compositions on paper on the part of Korean composers . The neurophysical conception of the score assumes that the performer and the composer are one while the conception of a score recorded on paper

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requires the differentiation of the composer and the performer.

This contradiction is one reason why composition in the Western sense has not laid down firm roots in the Korean music community. Unlike composition on paper. the memorization of musical scores takes melodic elements as the basic unit of composition. Thus the most basic structural focus of the composition process is different from that of scores composed on paper. Scored compositions are based on the conception of music as a collection of individual notes while compositions committed to memory are based on a conception of music as the movement of aural forms.

ISSUES Let us turn now to discuss the influence of the introduction of Western music on Korea's musical development in a number of areas. such as artistic music. songs for the masses. commercially popular songs and traditional music. These four areas overlap and intersect in many cases. For example. there are some composers who call for the creation of Korean music using Western instruments and others who hope to create new works for traditional Korean instruments.

These proposals constitute an overlap of the fields of artistic music and traditional music.

Others are attempting to combine songs for the masses with traditional music while still others are working to create a cross between songs for the masses and commercially popular songs.

Groups involved in the promotion of the so-called "mass songs" (minjung norae) are themselves confronted with the question whether they should be composing for the simple purpose of educating the masses or they should commit themselves to the creation of artistic music for mass enlightenment.

In the past those involved in the creation of commercial pop songs for the most part took a somewhat defensive position in this regard but in recent years a new phenomenon has emerged because of the strong commercial distribution structure enjoyed by commercial music.

Some performing groups have realized that with the introduction of color television in 1980. they must challenge the stranglehold of pop song artists who perform on television and so these groups have branched out to produce a new genre of popular music through records and live concerts. This new phenomena is reflected in the fact that the rankings of pop songs on television are completely different from those based on record sales.

The debate over national music stands somewhere between artistic music and sqngs for the masses or minjung music. Promoters of uniquely Korean music argue modern Western music does not suit the Korean people but these same people do not criticize the borrowing of Western instruments or musical forms. That is to say. they do not question the dualism of the temperament system of Western music.

Rather. they are opposed to the poor quality and unartistic elements of commercial pop songs and so disregard this genre while at the same time pointing out that traditional Korean music with its archaic lyrics is also out of touch with modern Korean society. Proponents of a Korean song movement have in recent years begun to move away from their somewhat intolerant stance and are beginning to play an important role in the realistic evaluation of Korea's musical legacy by attempting to realize a compromise between elements of artistic music and traditional music.

Proponents of artistic music agree more creative composition activity is needed in Korea .

The problem is the local audience has not accepted their works. The Korean music communi-

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ty has made thunderous calls for new works but has then been strangely silent in the face of criticism. The fact that Italian born composer Menotti was entrusted with the composition of an opera based on a Korean theme to commemorate the 1988 Seoul Olympics reflects the Korean sponsors' lack of confidence in local composers.

Most composers active since the 1950s have followed in the tradition of Hong Nanpa's kagok composition. and the vast majority of the younger generation of composers are interested in music fitting in to the historical vein of Western music. That is to say, they have accepted the composition techniques of late 20th century Europe as their own . These younger composers can be divided into two basic groups: those who embrace the concept of 12-tone atonal music and those attempting to overcome that phenomena. While there are composers who emphasize simplicity and seek to free music from its intellectual dimension. the general tendency in recent times is toward a greater complexity in this area. This. tendency reflects these composers' attempt to establish themselves within the framework of contemporary Western music.

DILEMMA It is no easy task to escape. as the Russians did. the influence of Western music history in the area of artistic development. The advanced Western musical genres of the late 20th century may have little significance for us today but we can hardly turn back to past musical forms. such as baroque or classical music. which were reduced to ashes long ago. This is a difficult dilemma.

A rejection of contemporary European music does not mean we can simply restore outdated musical forms from the West nor can the blind imitation of contemporary European music be substituted for the creation of a uniquely Korean modern musical genre. If Korean composers are going to create artistic music using Western instruments. they must overcome this perplexing dilemma. This dilemma would not have presented itself had Korean composers not chosen Western instruments as their creative device. This is because Koreans have already embraced the system of temperament the most fundamental structure of music. by their choice of Western instruments.

Activists in the movement to promote songs for the masses argue their music has nothing to do with the historical development of Western music. They have already split from Western music traditions. However. they do not claim to have departed from the system of t~mpera­ ment. This group is divided over the pros and cons of accepting the sonata genre. This debate must be premised on the West's major-minor tonal system and the tonal structure based upon the harmonic structure of the West. From this point in time. that is the latter half of the 20th century, it is legitimate to assert music must embrace tonality, harmony and the major-minor tonal system. However. the problem of whether or not traditional music must absorb these elements of Western music remains.

This problem is not so much an issue of choosing between the musical principles of Korea's traditional music and those of the West as it is a question of how we are going to sustain the distinct character of Korea's musical tradition. I believe this unique character must be found in the special qualities of the ecoi elements mentioned above and in micro-tone shading. It seems proponents of music for the masses do not want to link ethnic music with traditional musical forms. The term ethnic music brings to mind sanjo, traditional instrumental solo music. minyo folk songs, the five-tone scale and the like. I believe these proponents of music for the

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masses are suggesting we must move away from a focus on the musical work itself and avoid the rigid constraints of structural perfectionism. These proponents have concluded "the Korean music movement still lacks the fundamental elements necessary to achieve 'bottom-up¡ creativity and so must vitalize a kind of spontaneous growth at the most basic level of the movement."

Put another way. the leaders of the movement have decided to forego a small-scale. and consequently ineffectual. movement in favor of further investigation. At the same time. these activists criticize anti-popular elements and demand their elimination: The difference between these proponents and those promoting artistic music is in their emphasis on the role of the consumer. that is the audience. People who seek a compromise between artistic music and traditional music naturally keep the consumer in mind but they never abandon their basic premise that a musical work is created by a composer. For this reason. in the eyes of the mass music proponents. this compromise group may appear narrowly focused on compositions.

However. if proponents of the mass music movement. on the other hand. emphasize the role of the masses and insist on the elimination of sem i-feudal elements who do not recognize the importance of the masses. whi le at the same time not identifying who these semi-feudal elements are. then they represent nothing more than another form of composition-oriented music. This also raises the debate whether the mass music proponents must act as the exterminator of the semi-feudal elements of which they speak. In other cases. this role has been played by capitalists. feudal princes or the state.

Pop songs are probably the most deeply rooted cu ltura l element introduced from the West si nce the early 20th century. One reason for this was the common people's acceptance of the genre. much as Korean intellectuals' embrace of the kagok genre guaranteed its ~uccess during the Japanese colonial period. Kagok inherited the place of the Christian missionaries¡ hymns which opened the way for public singing in the late 19th century.

The minor key used in popular songs contradicted the Chason court-approved musical scale for folk songs which was based on the major keys (C-D-E-G-A). This taboo was obliterated with the collapse of the Chason Kingdom and the minor keys (A-B-CD-F) found in these newly introduced pop songs became the norm.

Everyone recognizes. of course. the importance of the invention of records in the prosperous growth of the pop song genre. The most unique feature of the popular song industry is its distribution network. Pop song advocates are therefore economically armed rather than ideologically armed.

The problem of traditional music (more accurately the music of the Chason Kingdom) requires broader investigation. The music of the Chason Kingdom was alienated from society in the course of the historical upheaval caused by the infiltration of Western culture. This was

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an inevitable result of the transformation from traditional Confucian values to the rationalist values of Western culture. The renewal of interest in traditional music since 1960 has been possible because we have now placed some distance between ourselves and the value system of the Choson Kingdom.

Choson-era music in its original form must be recorded without a score. that is memorized. so that there is no distinction between the performer and the composer. The music varies slightly each time it is performed. The music of India is similar in this regard. Indian music was not threatened by Western music in terms of instrumentation or its temperament system but rather ran into ontological conflicts with Western music. However. Indian music will continue to exist as long as it maintains its unique ontological stance. I believe Indian music will be able to maintain its unique ontological stance even if the Indians abandon their native temperment system and accept that of the West.

Korea's traditional music also has its own unique ontological dimension . The Confucian concept of in. or perfect human virtue. formed the ethical foundation for the music of the Choson Kingdom. The most serious problem facing Korea's indigenous music today is the failure to preserve the ideology of the Choson period as the foundation for this genre. Performers of traditional Korean music must understand the Confucian roots of that music. Their failure to do so is evidence of our fai lure to protect the ideological foundations of Choson era music.

The conflicts which emerge between the four musical orientations mentioned above - artistic music. songs for the masses. commercially popular music and traditional music from the Choson Kingdom - can be reduced to the following terms. Acoustically the conflict can be framed in terms of a confrontation between the temperament of Western music and the tonality found in traditional music. Phenomenologically the conflict lies in the differences between the ontological perspectives of East and West. Analytically the conflict can be reduced to a confrontation between rationalism and Confucian symbolism.

CROSSROADS The Enlightenment Period at the end of the 19th century marked the beginning of the import of Western civilization to Korea. For the point of view of political structure this was hardly a voluntary process. However. when viewed as a whole. there were spontaneous or voluntary elements in the introduction of Western culture. This is particularly true among the lower classes who made an instinctual effort to transform Western culture to fit their own circumstances.

Children's songs and popular songs provide a fine example of this tendency in the area of music. The spontaneous introduction and transformation of music as an art form by the upper classes of Korean society is still underway. The music program at the 1988 Seoul Olympics can be seen as an attempt to showcase Korea's newfound musical confidence. but there is no denying the Olympics music program revealed both a true accommodation of new musical genres and a superficial accommodation of those forms.

Korea is now at the point where it must go beyond the superficial accommodation of musical forms and realize a deeper understanding of the nature of music itself. It is on ly with this understanding that traditional music can be revived. I believe such a revival is possible because we are now in the process of gaining a better perspective on the Confucian ideology which forms the basis of traditional music.

ÂŽ

(Tfiis article uus originally written in Korean and contributed for eXÂŁ/usive use by KOREAN A Tfiis is a translation.)

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BATILE WENT RIGHT ON UNDER COLONIAL RULE Noh Dong-un

orea's autOnomy as a nation-state was seriously undermined on two occasions in modem history: first during the period of Japanese imperialist aggression. and second, during the Cold War following World War II and the liberation of Korea from Japanese colonial rule. During the first period. the nation and Korean culture were the victims of historical dismemberment by the Japanese imperial machine while in the second period Korea's status as a national entity was undermined by the division of the peninsula according to the logic of the Cold War mentality.

Korean music today must be understood within the context of these experiences since Japanese imperialism and the Cold War mentality have caused many of the difficulties the Korean people have faced in the normal development of their traditional national music and have prompted Koreans' one-sided acceptance of Western music. Had Korea en joyed national autonomy, we certainly would have seen a more natural development of traditional music genres as well as a more selective accommodation of Western music.

The term "Japanese colonial period" is generally used in reference to the 36-year period between I 9 I 0 and 194 5 when Korea was under explicit Japanese colonial rule. However. when we consider the history of Korean music, the period of Japanese influence actually extended for more than 40 years, from I 906 when Japanese musical tastes were forced upon the Korean people. With the transformation of Korea into a Japanese colony it was only natural that Japanese music would also come to rule the Korean Peninsula. I use the verb "rule" here to describe the deliberate Japanese attempt to transform Korean musical sensibilities into Japanese musical sensibilities and achieve the forcible dissolution of the basis of the Korean people's national culture.

In addition. since the musical trends of Japan's enemies. the U.S .. Britain and their allies, were completely banned during this period. the Korean people's understanding and accommodation of Western music were severely handicapped. Japan formed an alliance with Germany and Italy before the outbreak of World War II. but it was Japanese music. rather than the musical trends of the Axis nations. which was forced upon the Korean people.

In the face of this Japanese oppression. however. Korean musicians continued to pursue their own independent national musical genres. thus ensuring the unique character of Korean

K

Noh Dong-un. associate professor at Mokwon University's College of Music. is a graduate in music theory of the Yonsei University Graduate School of Music. As a member of the South Korean delegation to the PanNational Unification Music Conference held in Pyongyang in 1990. Professor Noh was the first South Korean music scholar in 4 5 years to deliver a paper at an academic conference in North Korea. He has represented South Korea at a number of international conferences as well as served as an active member of the Korean Aesthetics Association. the Korean Musicology Association. the Korean History and Folk Studies Association and as the founding chairman of the Korean National Music Conference. Professor Noh is the author of a number of publications including: The Study of Korean Infancy Music (I 984), Korea's National Music at the Present Stage (1989). A Treatise on National Music (1991). and Kim Sun-nam ( 1992).

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music would be preserved and promoted after liberation. The promotion of autonomous national music was a natural outcome in the postwar period when Japan's militaristic music was swept away and the call for unification in the face of the division of the Korean Peninsula by the Cold War rang across Korea. As a result. Koreans have discovered their own "national music." The term "national music." (minjok umak in Korean). does not refer to "native music." "folk music." or "ethnic music." The term "native music" is used to refer to the music of an illiterate society while Korea has used its own native script for centuries . The term "folk music" is inappropriate because. although it may be highly advanced. it is handed down orally Korea's musical traditions. on the other hand. have been handed down both orally and through a unique musical notation system . The term "ethnic music" is a common expression in cultural anthropology. but it generally refers to the music of minority groups or culturally diverse groups. such as Jews and gentiles. and so is hardly applicable in a country like Korea inhabited by a homogeneous people with a long history. Indeed. all these terms are derived from a Eurocentric outlook and so have little to offer those of us studying Korean music. The term "national music" is used here to refer to the domestic development of traditional music and neotraditional music focused around a humanistic element. in a defensive response to external forces seeking to undermine Korea's national community. and to the .reintegration of foreign musical trends in the creation of neotraditional music.

Korea's national music serves as a means of confirming the Korean people's sense of spiritual identity and cultural synthesis as well as national va lues and pride.

What was the status of Korea's national music during the period of Japanese imperial domination? Let us first examine the nature of music under Japanese imperialism and the role of music during the period of Japanese colonial rule of Korea. Then we wi ll turn to an examination of the Korean musical community's response to Japanese aggression.

JAPANESE IMPERIALISM Japan occupied Korea as a result of the internal developments of a capitalist society -- of the Japanese ki nd. In order to construct a militaristic political system. Japan applied two basic policies to its domination of Korea : I) the mobilization of the Korean economy to serve the Japanese war machine. and 2) the cultural assimilation of the Korean people. The goal of the mobilization of the Korean economy was the stockpiling of all Korea's human and material resources to supply the Japanese war effort in China. The assimi lation policy was an attempt to convert the Korean people into Japanese through political and military domination and spiritual education.

The Japanese colonial regime employed a number of cu ltural policies to achieve these two goals. and music was actively employed as a tool of the colonial authorities throughout society. from the battlefield to the work place. in schools. social gatherings. concerts. newspapers. radio broadcasts. in tearooms. through the recording industry.

The colonial authorities began implementing Japanese-style song education in I906 at the Hansong Normal School and in public schools. Following the formal colonization of the Korean Peninsula in 191 0. and particularly between 1930 and 194 5 when Korea was on a wartime footing, the spiritual basis for all music was Japanese as were the means of musical expression. During the 15-year period of wartime mobilization. Korea's musical community was organized into a number of pro-Japanese organizations including the Choson Culture and Arts Association (established in 1937). the Choson League for the Total Mobilization of the Peo-

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pie's Spirit ( 1938). the Choson League for Total Mobilization ( 1940). the Choson Music Association ( 1941). the Kyongsong Welfare Chamber Orchestra ( 1942) and the Taehwa Band ( 1944).

The musicians involved in these organizations were forced to compose songs conforming to the Japanese militaristic model and to perform Japanese music at the many venues mentioned above. All these songs were composed and performed in Japanese.

At the same time, Japanese colonial rule forcibly dismembered Korea's national culture, the product of thousands of years of national consensus. The Korean people were required to take Japanese names and educate their children in the Japanese language. The staging of traditional performing arts was prohibited, and traditional culture was banned throughout Korean society. Korean musical instruments were seized and traditional religion outlawed. As a result the primary focus of Korea's national music became resistance to Japanese repression and the development and preservation of the national musical culture.

MUSICAL TRENDS There were three major musical trends during the Japanese colonial period: traditional national music. Japanese music or Japanese-style music. and Western music.

I use the term "traditional national music" here to refer to music incorporating the ideas of the Korean people using Korea's traditional acoustic elements. Traditional national music can be divided into five distinct categories according to social class and performance venue: I) music performed by professional musicians attached to the royal court or local government offices at state ceremonies, banquets and rites; 2) music and poetry performed by independent professional entertainers and poets at private entertainment spots or restaurants; 3) music performed by traveling minstrels and troubadours including ensemble, orchestral and percussion music accompanying circus performances; 4) folk songs and music incorporating samul or the "four things" (small gong, large gong, hourglass drum and round drum); and 5) religious music performed by Buddhist monks in temples or by shamans in shamanistic ceremonies. Shamans usually performed their prayers for familial harmony and vi llage prosperity together with professional musicians.

The five categories of traditional Korean music mentioned above found their basis in a comprehensive, totalistic. unorganized and intuitive aesthetic. unlike the analytic. scientific. conceptual and personalized world view governing Western music. Western music developed around harmonics, notation and modulation according to rational concepts of postulatiO!J while Korean music has developed around concepts of intuition, focusing on rh ythmic and melodic elements. This is not to say Korean music lacks harmony, notation or modulation, but rather it is based on a holistic world view that does not discriminate between the visible and invisible, the self and others, the spiritual and the physical. The driving force in Korean music is ki. the spiritu al energy behind the principle of the yin and the yang (um and yang in Korean). and therefore the music is almost always extemporaneous.

For this reason, when Korean society was confronted by Japanese imperialism, the preservation of Korea's traditional culture took on the dimensions of a national confrontation. Korea's national music definitely faced a serious threat under Japanese rule and yet it has made a momentous leap forward since Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. The second major musical trend during the Japanese colonial period was, of course, Japanese music and music inspired by Japanese music. The invasion of Japanese music began with educational songs following the Japanese annexation of the Korean Peninsula. Gradually, traditional

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Japanese music. such as shigin. kouta and nagauta accompanied by musical instruments. like shamisen. koto and sl1akul1achi. was performed regularly in schools. concerts and on the radio and recordings. and sheet music was published. The koto master. Miyagi Michio. also lived in Korea during this period. The Korean people's tastes in music were also affected by Japanese military music and japanese popular songs of a kind collectively called enka.

PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES The third major musical trend during the colonial period was Western music. It is generally believed that Koreans' association with Western music began with the arrival of Protestant missionaries from the U.S. in 1885 . but in fact Koreans' first experience with Western music was in the 17th century. albeit an example of stimulus diffusion rather than direct contact.

This early acceptance of Western music was limited to the accommodation of "overt culture" alone. rather than the "covert culture" embodied within that music. but Koreans' acceptance of Western music prior to modern times was unique for its autonomous nature.

Indeed. Western music was reintegrated into Korea's traditional culture. Koreans adopted notational systems developed during the period from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. the Western-style dulcimer. the organ and mechanical instruments. all in accordance with their own conception of the dual cosmic forces of yin and yang. This selective cultural diffusion was achieved by Sirhak (Practical Learning) scholars. such as Hong Tae-yong. Pak Chiwon. So Yu-gu, Chong Yag-yong. Yi Kyu-gyong and Choe Han-gi. who had contact with Catholic priests and Russian diplomats in China during the late Choson period.

During this early period. Koreans were able to achieve an autonomous assimilation of Western music and so prepare themselves for future contacts. From the latter half of the 19th century. however. this situation changed. With the rise of Western imperialism. Western music was more aggressively introduced to the Third World by missionaries. commerce and military forces by means of churches. hospitals. military bands. schools and through the import of musical instruments. radio. recordings and film.

This one-sided onslaught by Western music was possible because Korea had no experience with the pluralistic international environment and because the West as the conqueror. was able to reorganize the world order according to its own imperialistic logic. Traditional Korean music was suppressed following the Japanese takeover in the early 20th century, and Western music. together with Japanese music. rapidly expanded its domination. Western m.usic was naturally accepted as the vocabulary for modernization in Korea.

The spread of Western music in modern times was quite different from that during the Choson period. It began with military band music. then in Christian churches. later moved into the schools and finally throughout Korean society. The newly established military bands replaced traditional musical ensembles at all state ceremonies. and Christian churches served as outposts for Western culture. Schools symbolized the process of modernization and served to transform the traditional musical mentality to that of the West.

Songs. rather than artistic music. were the musical genre of choice during this period. These songs belonged to the strophic song genre. that is. two-part songs with repetitive lyrics based on the diatonic scale. The Westem style songs of the Korean Enlightenment Period ( 187 6-191 0). a period in which Korea was threatened by the Great Powers. generally expressed the Korean people's feelings about their nation's precarious position. Patriotic songs calling for independence. songs encouraging study and exercise songs played an educational role during this

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period. This tradition of practical songs continued unchanged during the Japanese colonial period. Patriotic and revolutionary songs aimed at the overthrow of Japanese rule soon emerged. and since 1945 we have seen the emergence of songs calling for unification and democracy.

In the 20th century, patriotic educational programs and bands in the churches and schools produced a large number of musicians. Immediately after the first decade of the 20th century. many civilian bands were established. and musicians who had studied in Japan or the United States returned to Korea.

STRATIFICATION There was a growing stratification of the Korean music community beginning in the 1920s with the establishment of specialized music schools and music departments at local universities. Many famous Western violinists including F. Kreisler. Jascha Heifetz. Jacques Thibaud. Efrem Zimbalist and Micha Elman performed in Korea. and recordings of welf-known singers and instrumental performers were widely available. A music department was establ ished at Ehwa Womans University. and music clubs were founded at Sungshil College in Pyongyang and Seoul's Yonhui College (Yonsei University today). The graduates of these programs later became the leaders of Korea's music community.路 During the 1930s. the Choson Musicians路 Association was established around a core of musician-composers including Hyon Je-myong. Hong Nanpa. Kim Yong-hwan. Chae Tong-son.

Ahn Ki-yong and Kim ln-shik. In addition. musicians returning from studies in Japan. the U.S ..

Germany and other locations increased rapidly. Music magazines. orchestras. choirs and school bands also increased and the Kyongsong College of Music was established. These activities were limited until I 94 5. however. by the Japanese war mobilization program.

At this point. we must take note of the role of Hong Nanpa (I 898- I 941) in the history of Western music in Korea. Hong's contributions as a violinist. a teacher of music. a conductor. the editor of musical journals and as a novelist and music critic were monumental not only in his own time but also as a historical influence on the future development of music in Korea.

Hong was born in Hwasong County in Kyonggi Province and spent his early childhood studying the Chinese classics prior to moving to Seoul in I 905. He graduated from the middle school affiliated with the Seoul Y.M.C.A. and then entered the Western Music Department at the Choson Classical Music Academy where he studied the violin and music theory from Kim In-shik. Korea's first private music school. the Choson Classical Music Academy provided Korean stude~ts with an opportun ity to study both traditional and Western-style music simultaneously so as to keep pace with the rapidly changing world environment.

Hong entered the Ueno Music Academy (now known as the Music Department of the Tokyo University of Arts) following his graduation but withdrew during the March I Independence Movement in I 919 to return to Korea to participate in the local music movement there. In 1920. 路Hong composed the much-beloved song "Pongsonhwa" which expressed the Korean people's tragic longing for independence. In I 922. Hong founded the Yonakhoe. a specialized music research institute. and dedicated himself to the dissemination of Western music. He returned to Japan in I 926 to study the violin at the Tokyo Advanced Music Institute (predecessor of today路s Kunitachi Music University).

After graduating in 1929. Hong returned to Korea as a professor of music at the Chungang Instructional School. In 193 I he formed the Choson Musicians' Association but departed for the Sherwood Conservatory in the U.S. that summer. After returning to Korea two years later.

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Hong spent the next several years teaching at Ehwa Womans University and working as the founder and conductor of the Seoul Radio Orchestra (1936). the organizer of the Songso Trio ( 193 7). and a professor at the Seoul Music School ( 1938). He was active as a conductor. composer. educator. music critic. analyst and novelist during this period and. in 1937. spent four months in Taegu Prison for participating in patriotic activities.

To a certain extent. Hong's work was limited in terms of its nationalist content because he lived during a period of colonial subordination and oppression. Nevertheless. he will always be remembered for his forward-looking spirit and immense contribution to all genres of Western music.

During the Japanese colonial period. Korean Western music scholars and musicians were faced with three major tasks: 1) how to interpret Western music as it was interpreted in the West 2) how to achieve the indigenization of Western music. that is the rooting of Western music in Korean culture; and 3) how to perform the above tasks within the context of the Japanese oppression of the Korean people.

NATIONAL MUSIC The term "national music" refers here to music created in an attempt to reflect the national realities of the Korean people through music. Two basic elements are expressed through the content and acoustic ingredients of this music. (The term "acoustic ingredients" refers to nationalist acoustic elements that combined traditional elements with those introduced from the West.) 1nternally the focus is placed on man's actions within a social and cultural environment rather than on the music itself. Externally the focus is on the materialization of national realities. For example. content focuses on the internal questions: What is music? Why do we make music? Who are we making music for? How do we define the role of music in our society?

The external focus of Korean music has always been on the preservation of the nation within the context of our relations with neighboring countries. During much of Korea's early history. Korea interacted with the outside world through China. Later. during the colonial period. international relations were conducted through the Japanese. and since liberation in 1945. the U.S. and the Soviet Union were Korea's link to the outside. As a result. the assertion of Korea's national identity was always a matter of tension between Korea and the powers that dominated the peninsula.

The following historical trends become clear when we look back over the development of national music throughout the 1910-194 5 period with a focus on Western music.

1) The Enlightenment Period: The influence of Oing Dynasty China. Japan and the then Western powers grew during this period. and Koreans worked actively toward an autonomous accommodation of Western culture through the creation of Western-style songs based on educational and patriotic themes. Yi Un-do! was one of the main figures in this movement.

2) 1910-1919: Although Korea had fallen under Japanese colonial rule. this period was a watershed in the nationalist movement sweeping Asia. A nationwide anti-Japanese movement was launched on March 1. 1919. Anti-Japanese songs were composed to support this movement and the anti-Japanese guerrilla movement that accompanied it. Kim 1n-shik. Yi Sang-jun.

Kim Hyong-jun and Hong Nanpa were major musical figures during this period.

3) 1920-1930: The March 1st Movement spurred the development of two related movements: the nationalist movement and the socialist movement. A labor movement. women's movement. farmers¡ movement. student movements. art movements and other programs were off-

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shoots of these two movements. Anti-Japanese and revolutionary groups also expanded overseas. in Manchuria (northeastern China).

4) 1931-194 5: This tragic period beginning with the Manchuria Incident in 193 I marked the mobilization of the Korean economy to serve the Japanese war machine. Some 25.000 Korean independence activists were arrested between 193 I and the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Domestic resistance to Japanese rule included Christian groups¡ refusal to worship at Shinto shrines and labor movement activity Outside Korea. armed movements against the Japanese were mounted throughout China and anti-Japanese activities were promoted in the U.S. Prominent Korean music leaders during this period included Ahn Ki-yong. Chae Dongson. Kim Sun-nam. Yi Kon-u. !sang Yun and others in Korea. Choe Um-pa and Chong Ryulsong in China. and Ahn Eak-tay in Europe.

5) 194 5-1950: Korea was beset by another national tragedy. the Cold War. following liberation from Japan in 194 5. The focus of national music during this period was the recovery of national autonomy through unification and the construction of a democratic society. Kim Sunnam and Yi Kon-u were the major musical figures during this period.

LEADERS Let us turn now to a brief introduction of the leading figures in Korea's musical community during the Japanese colonial period.

I) Yi Un-dol The exact dates of Yi Un-dol's birth and death are not known. Yi was active in the Liberal Party established by Kim Ok-kyun in the 1880s and was the bandmaster of Korea's first Westernstyle military band. In 1881. Yi finished his musical studies under the French musician Gustave Charles Dagron in Japan. After his return to Korea in 1883. Yi served in a number of military units. establishing Western-style military bands. He also played a leading role together with Kim Ok-kyun. Pak Yong-hyo and So Chae-pil in the Kapshin Coup of 1884.

2) Ahn Ki-yong ( 1900-1980) Ahn Ki-yong actively promoted the "nationalist opera" movement from 1930 and went on to lead the national music movement as the vice president of the Choson Musicians¡ League beginning in 1945. Following the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. Ahn moved t9 North Korea where he worked as a professor of vocal music at the Pyongyang College of Music and Dance until his death in 1980.

Ahn was born in Chongyang. South Chungchong Province on January 9. 1900. He began studying the cornet and reed organ from 0 Rye-taek in Kongju in 1907 and entered the Paejae School in Seoul in 1914. It was at the Paejae School that Ahn met Kim ln-shik. the leading musician during this period. as well as many of Kim's contemporaries including Kim Hyongjun. Yi Sang-jun. etc. In 1917. Ahn entered Yonhui College. Korea's foremost private institution at the time. where he met Professor Kim Yong-hwan. a piano professor and concert pianist who had studied at Japan's Ueno Music Academy. Ahn studied vocal music at Yonhu i College but was forced to leave school in 191 9 after he was arrested for involvement in an anti-Japanese demonstration. He spent the next few years wandering throughout China.

Upon his return to Korea in 192 3. Ahn had an opportunity to hear Korean soprano Yun Shim-dok and decided to go to the U.S. to study vocal music. He finished his studies at the

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Ellison White Conservatory in Portland. Oregon. in 1928 and returned to Korea where he taught voice. the history of Western music and theory for six years in the Music Department at Ehwa Womans University. Ahn's first exposure to national music was in 1930 when he led a nationwide concert tour by the Ehwa Womans University Chorus and sensed the love for the nation embodied in traditional Korean folk songs.

As a result. Ahn took on an active role in the nationalist opera movement. composing a number of works including "Kongchui Patchui." "Kyonu Chingnyo" and "The Emilie Bell" all based on legends beloved by all Koreans and composed using elements of traditional folk songs. With liberation in 1945. Ahn became the leader of the national music movement Ahn's "My Beloved Kangnam" is popular in both North and South Korea today. Ahn composed a total of three volumes of kagok. or lyrical songs. He was also the author of a number of important works including "Korean Folk Songs and Their Scoring" (1931) and "Modern Korean Music and Trends in Western Music" ( 1946) as well as several publications after his relocation to the North .

3) Kim Sun-nam (1917-1983) Kim Sun-nam was the foremost national musician in Korea's modern history and a tragic figure symbolizing the division of the Korean Peninsula as a result of the Cold War. Korea's most beloved and influential musician. both in the North and South. Kim overcame the domination of world music by Western musical trends and achieved a historical and aesthetic fusion of national tradition and modernity.

Kim was active as a composer. pianist and music critic. He was born in Seoul and graduated from the Kyongsong Nonmal School for exceptional students in 1937. He studied composition and piano under Hara Taro ( 1904-1988) at the Tokyo Advanced Music Institute beginning in 193 7 and the Tokyo Imperial Advanced Music Institute. He also studied composition under A.!. Khachaturian at the Tchaikovsky Music Institute in Moscow. He began his study of the piano with his mother and later under Kim Yong-hwan.

Upon his return to Korea in 1942 . Kim Sun-nam was active in two areas: musical activities such as composition and his work as conductor of the Kyongsong Choir. and his work organizing the Seoul Musicians' Association centered around the Songyonhoe. an underground music club aimed at national liberation. Kim produced his most important works in 1946. Revolutionary in nature and representative of national music during this period. these works included several patriotic songs. the lyrical kagok ¡¡sanyuhwa." as well as a number of piano concertos and a symphony. A unique feature of all these works was Kim's use of tone complex combining the rhythms of traditional Korean songs with chords. acoustics and beat The basic idiom of these works derived from the national vitality of traditional Korean songs. the harmony from the component sounds found in traditional music and the rhythms. of course. from traditional songs.

In 1947. the American military government banned the South Korean Workers' Party and Kim spent the next year in hiding. It was during this period that Kim composed "Sanyuhwa" and "Lullaby." The quality of Kim's compositions was recognized by Ely Haimowitz. a )ui lliard graduate in piano and musical advisor to the U.S. Command. Haimowitz sent the compositions to the American composer Aaron Copeland who agreed with Haimowitz's evaluation and sent them on to Sergey Koussevitzky ( 187 4-1951 ). conductor of the Boston Symphony.

As a result. Kim was invited to study in the U.S. But he relinquished the chance and. in August 1948. moved to North Korea where he served as a member of the Supreme Peoples¡ Assem-

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bly and the Constitutional Assembly as well as chairman of the Composition Department at Pyongyang Music College and vice chairman of the Choson Musicians¡ League. In 195 2. Kim went to the Soviet Union to study under AI. Khachaturian who. together with Prokofiev and Shostakovitch. was one of the Soviet Union's three top musicians. Khachaturian respected Kim's work so much that he included an arrangement of one of Kim's compositions in his own collection.

Kim was forced to give up his studies in 1953 when the North Korean government ordered him home at the end of the Korean War. All that awaited him was criticism from the Korean Workers' Party. Former members of the South Korean Workers¡ Party. such as Pak Hon-yong and lm Hwa. were purged. and Kim was sent to Shinpo in South Hamgyong Province. He was forbidden to compose unKim Sun-nam (left) til 1965 when he was able to take up his study of traditional music and composition once more. but at the beginning of 1970 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He died in 1983 after years of constant suffering.

Kim Sun-nam dedicated himself to the creation of a democratic society and unification despite the many hardships he faced living under Japanese colonial rule and the division of his homeland.

Although he is not as well-known overseas as !sang Yun. Kim is a legend among his own people and in some parts of the Japanese and Russian music communities.

Kim's most important pre-1948 works are: "Sanyuhwa." "Azalea ... "Lu llaby," and "Ballads for Orchestra and Vocalist." Piano Sonata No. I . Piano Sonata No.2. Piano Trio. and Piano Concerto No. I . His post- 1948 works include: the oratorio Victory. the opera The People's Guerrilla Unit. the prelude "Advance." and the violin solo piece "Early Spring." Many of Kim's other post-1948 compositions are yet to be uncovered.

4) 1sangYun( l 9 17-) Korea's most well-known composer overseas. !sang Yun has been a devoted patriot throughout his life and together with Kim Sun-nam represents one of the two great figures in the history of Korea's national music. Yun organized the Pan-National Unification Music Conference in Pyongyang in 1990. bringing together Korean musicians from both North and South Korea and around the world for the first time in 4 5 years. The conference was a historical event promoting harmony and a spirit of national unity. !sang Yun was born in 191 7 in the town of Tongyong in South Kyongsang Province. His experiences as a child in Tongyong had two important influences on his life. First. Tongyong was famous for its rich folk song tradition. Yun was in contact with Korea's national culture from an early age. Second. Yun came from a deeply Confucian household and studied the

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works of Confucius and Chuangtzu from childhood. In addition. his family was staunchly antiJapanese.

Like so many Korean musicians. Yun went to Japan to continue his studies after graduating from school in Korea. He studied contemporary music and music theory at the Osaka College of Art and then went to Tokyo where he studied under the composer Ikenouchi Tomojiro ( 1906- ). a professor at Nih on University and the first Japanese to study at the Paris Conservatory.

In early 1940, Yun founded an underground anti-Japanese movement composed of Korean students studying in Japan. He returned to his hometown to continue his anti-Japanese activities and was arrested and tortured for composing anti-Japanese songs. Yun fled to Seoul after his release in early 194 5 because he was being pursued by the Japanese again for other underground activities.

After liberation in August 194 5. Yun returned to Tongyong to found the Tongyong Art Association and work actively as a composer and educator in Tongyong. Pusan and Seoul. His fame grew in 195 5 when he received the Seoul Culture Award for his String Quartet No. I and Piano Trio. He entered the Paris Conservatory in 1956 where he studied music theory with Pierre Revel and composition from Tony Aubin. Yun then went on to the Berlin National College of Music to study theory with Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling in 1957. He also studied twelve-tone music with Josef Rufer and composition with Boris Blacher.

Yun pursued a broad and passionate career for several years until his indictment for involvement in the so-called East Berlin Spy Incident of 1967. He composed "The Butterfly's Widow" during his two-year prison sentence. The work premiered in Nuerenberg in February 1969.

Following Yun's release from prison. he returned to Germany where he served as an instructor at the Hanover National Music College. professor emeritus at the Berlin National College of Music and a full professor at Berlin College of Arts.

Yun has been active throughout the German music community. joining the Hamburg Free Academy of Arts in 1968 and the Berlin Art Congress in 1974, composing the opera Shim Chonq for the 1972 Munich Olympics. Symphony No. 1 for the 1OOth anniversary of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphony No. 5 for the 750th anniversary of the city of Berlin in 1987. and receiving an honorary degree from University of Tuebingen in 1985 and an Order of National Merit from the German government in 1985. The October 1990 Pan-National Unification Music Conference was the product of Yun·s July 1988 national music festival proposal to the governments of South and North Korea.

According to Peter Revers. Yun·s compositions are unique for their application of th~ principles of Taoist philosophy. particularly the concept of the dual cosmic forces of the yin and the yang, together with the principle of tone complex. His repertoire is so broad and embraces so many different genres. I will simply refer my readers to Harald Kunz and WalterWolfgang Sparrer's chronological records of Yun·s works. Hanns-Werner Heister and WalterWolfgang Sparrer have also cataloged Yun's works in The Componer 1sanq Yun (Munich. 1987). and Hartmut Luck has prepared a collection of recordings to accompany this reference work.

5) Ahn Eak-tay ( 1906-1 96 5) Ahn Eak-tay was a cellist. conductor and composer best known as the composer of the Korean National Anthem Aequkka and Korean Fantasy.

Born in Pyongyang in 1906. the year after Korea was annexed by the Japanese. Ahn entered Sungshil Middle School in 1918 but was expelled the following year for his active participation in the March 1st Independence Movement. He began his musical studies in Japan at Seisoku

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Ahn Eak-tay

Middle School in 1921 and entered the Tokyo Imperial Advanced Music Institute in 1926. studying under the German cellist Bergmeister. He continued his cel lo studies at the Cincinnati College of Music in 1930 and performed as first cellist in the Cincinnati City Orchestra from 1932.

He went on to study at the Philadelphia College of Music and later to study conducting and composition with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis School of Music in 1935.

Ahn completed the Korean National Anthem and his Korean Fantasy in April 1936 while studying in Berlin. From 1936 to 1937. Ahn studied the conducting of Beethoven with Felix Weingartner. composition with Zoltan Kodaly (1 882- 1967). and traditional conducting with Erno Dohnanyi ( 1877-1 960) .

The premiere of Korean Fantasy was staged by the Irish National Orchestra in Dublin in March 1938. Following this premiere. Ahn went to Vienna to study with Richard Strauss ( 1864-1949).

From this period on. Ahn was known more for his conducting than composing. Over the years. he conducted a number of famous orchestras including: the Budapest National Symphony Orchestra ( 1939). the Berlin Philharmon ic ( 1940). the 'Santa Cecilia' Symphony Orchestra of Italy ( 1941). the Barcelona Symphony ( 1944) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain ( 194 7). Following his marriage to Lolita Talavera in Barcelona in November 1946. Ahn made his home in Majorca where he was the permanent conductor of the 80-member Majorca Symphony Orchestra.

Korean Fantasy was first heard in Korea when Voice of America carried a broadcast of a San Francisco performance in 1949. The Korean government invited Ahn to Korea to receive the Republic's first cultural award in 1955. a quarter of a century after he left his homeland. In 1962 the annual International Arts Festival was inaugurated in Seoul at Ahn's suggestion. and in the same year Ahn composed the symphonic poem Nongae and Chinhon-gok. a requiem for Korean patriots. In 1964. Ahn published a biography of Richard Strauss and a collection of Strauss' letters. He died the following year in Barcelona. Perhaps this year's Olympic Games in Barcelona will serve to remind us all of the great musician who contributed so much to a better international understanding of the Korean people. @

(The original text of th is article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREANA. This is a translation.)

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SOME CALL SIBLINGS THE CHUNG DYNASTY Kim Won-koo

ozart is usually called the greatest genius in the history of music. There is no reason why another genius like him should not appear in Europe or Asia. And I ask: why not in Korea? Korean youngsters have consistently scored high in international intelligence tests. By the same token. the world has come to know that many Koreans are gifted and are particularly so in music. And Korea indeed has produced many brilliant musicians.

Among the best known of the Korean musicians are the three Chung family siblings: internationally known concert violinist Chung Kyung-hwa. cellist Chung Myung-hwa who is about as well known around the world and Chung Myung-whun. apianist who now serves Paris' Bastille Opera as its music director and conductor. They have been attracting keen attention from music lovers. the world over because of their astonishing talent and style.

The family as a matter of fact consistsof seven siblings. The eldest daughter Chung Myungso is a flutist and all the rest have likewise distinguished themselves in music. But because violinist Chung Kyung-hwa. cellist Chung Myung-hwa and pianist-cum-conductor Chung Myungwhun are widely noted for their outstanding performances around the world, the term "Chung family" is used here to refer to the particular trio in the family.

The trio perform individually and sometimes together. It is said that in many countries of Europe and in the U.S.. concertgoers look forward to the trio's exquisite play in ensemble more than to individual solo performances. There are many renowned piano trios in the world.

But many people long to listen to the Chung ensemble on account of what one critic has called "the spiritual experiences made possible by their consanguineous interaction. " Some years ago when Chung Myung-whun was conducting and playing piano with his two elder sisters. Kyung-hwa and Myung-hwa. in Denmark. the audience is said to have brought the house down with applause reaching an unprecedented decibel level. If the Danish writer Andersen. the philosopher Kierkegaard and the composer Carl Nielsen had heard the presentation. they, particularly Kierkegaard with his deep understanding of music. would have given even more fervent applause.

Nietzsche coined that philosophical term "value transfer." The three Chungs do something of that "value transfer" in music. touring around the world and helping to make their small country better known overseas. Now. let us look at the life of the three performers.

M

YOUNGER SISTER Chung Kyung-hwa was born in 1948 in Seoul and went to the U.S. in 1961 at age 12. In New York. she studied under the renowned professor of violin of the time. Ivan Galamian.

Born in 1923. Kim Won-koo graduated from Chua University. Iapan. He is one of the most well-known music critics in Korea and is also a prolific essayist. He authored more than I 0 books. including Collected Writings of Kim Won-koo on Music and A Trio of Pens. Poetry and Aphorism .

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putting in what must be called an endeavor in blood and tears. To the extent of being called a "class of hell. " Galamian¡s instruction mixed Athenian and Spartan modes.

In 1965. four years later. Chung Kyung-hwa placed second in the Merry Widow Post Concours . In 1967 at age 19. she tookfirst place in the Leventritt International Music Competition in New York. At the time. Pinchas Zuckerman shared first place. It was said. though. that Chung Kyung-hwa was primary and Zuckerman secondary at the time.

Following her graduation from the Juilliard School of Music. Chung played with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1970 and also Violinist Chung Kyung-hwa performed several times with the Berlin and New York Philharmonics. She was featured more than I 00 times in the span of a year. She played with Previn. Solti. Maazel. Stokowsky and the like. In I990 she was chosen as the "instrumental player who has put up the most remarkable activity for the past 20 years" by a Sunday magazine in Great Britain.

She has long been a pro. Consider a sudden airline strike that grounded her in Milan where she had attended an opera at La Scala. That was I 0 years ago. The next day she was to keep her performing date with the touring Pittsburgh Symphony in Switzerland. But so extensive was the scope of the strike that both the orchestra and the Swiss audience were convinced that it would be impossible to see her perform.

And what did she do? Charter a plane. of course. And she did that and made it to the concert hall just in time for her to play in a scheduled concerto. Such a practice is not exactly something unheard of in Europe or the U.S. But the fact remains that her modus operandi gave tons of food for thought to her fellow musicians back home.

One poetic orchestra member then is known to have said: "Chung Kyung-hwa was like a musical angel descending from heaven." Someone in the audience. who came to know the background. said: "This is the first time that I have sat through such a thrilling concert." It is not at all uncommon for the audience to jeer at a poor musical performance. That.night in Switzerland. the audience was all attention.

To me. she is one of the greatest musicians I have come to know. I make no bones about saying that her brain might be like those of Cleopatra and Minerva. I unabashedly admire her' passion for music and her strong sense of obligation to her audience.

ELDER SISTER Chung Myung-hwa was born in 1944 in Seoul. At first. she studied violin along with her younger sister. Kyung-hwa. Finding that she was lagging behind her younger sister. her mother (see Page 39) bought her a cello and let her switch to it. Chung Kyung-hwa first learned piano but showed rapid progress when she changed to the violin. Likewise. Chung Myung-hwa was captivated by the cello from the moment she first saw it. At age I 3 when she was in the second year of middle school. she took first place at a national music contest.

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Cellist Chung Myung-wha

She went to the U.S. and graduated from the Juilliard School of Music. Having won first place in cello at the Geneva International Music Competition in I 971. she played in turn with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. Swiss Romance Orchestra. BBC Symphony Orchestra. Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Symphony Orchestra.

She played with Zubin Mehta. Rudolf Kempe, Antal Dorati and Carlo Giulini. drawing praise from the New York Times which called her "a performer of taste. talent and technique."

While in the U.S., she became the head student of one of the greatest cellists of the time.

Gregor Pyatigorski. Both Chung Kyung-hwa

and Chung Myung-whun made their debut at the age of around 20 by winning awards at international concours. However. Chung Myung-hwa lost many good opportunities on account of the short-sightedness of some members of officialdom back home. Even though Pyatigorski assured them that she. being among the best cellists in the world. would certainly win first place if she applied to enter the Tschaikovsky Competition. she was barred from participating because of political reasons. (Seoul then had no diplomatic relations with Moscow.)

Then, some years later. she won an award in cello at the Geneva International Competition. finally starting her advance to world stardom. She could have advanced to the world stage earlier if she had won at the Tschaikovsky Competition. Despite her late start. she has since been exceedingly active. Being a humanist always willing to give performances for the sake of charity, she has a tonal color of music that one critic has categorized as "compassionate."

BROTHER Chung Myung-whun was born in 1953 in Seoul. He started playing piano at the age of five and in 1961 went to the U.S. in the company of his two elder sisters. While at a high school in Seattle. he played rugby, building up his physical stamina. In the entrance examination for the Mannes School of Music in New York. his ability in music was superb and he won a full scholarship through a unanimous decision. Graduating from the school in 1968. he managed to participate in the Tschaikovsky Competition in 1974 and placed second. He was then 21 .

The next year he entered the )uilliard School of Music to study conducting. In I 978 he was appointed vice conductor of the Los Angeles

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Pianist-conductor Chung Myung-hwun

Philharmonic. In I 983 he moved to Europe and won acclaim conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. London Philharmonic. London Symphony Orchestra and Paris Orchestra. In I 986 he became standing conductor of the Saarbruecken Radio Symphony Orchestra then in West Germany. the first guest conductor for Florence Opera House of Italy and finally music directorcum-standing conductor for France's Bastille Opera in May I 989.

In that year he received the Toscanini Award for conducting. In 1990 he gave an outstanding performance in conducting Berlioz's opera Trojans on the opening day of the Bastille Opera House. Recently. he conducted Tourangalila Symphony by the French composer Messiaen for recording and received warm words of praise from Olivier Messiaen himself.

As an Oriental. Chung Myung-whun¡s height is in the median but his facial complexion is whitish . His face. larger than the average among his compatriots. makes him look virtuous.

He is reticent and carries indeed the air of a man of virtue. People say that his physical features and personality stand him in good stead. Once on a podium. he looks like a giant and wields his arms like a wrestler. And yes. to me he seems to do that like Jesus as depicted in Michelangelo's "Last judgment" in the Sistine Chapel.

His capability as a conductor has been well manifested by many rave reviews written about his style of conducting a number of world-class orchestras. In addition to the two attributes of pathos (emotion) and logos (reason) as common as among other conductors. he also exhibits his ethos (bearing) to our surprise. There are some people who say that this ethos will be what will eventually make Chung Myung-whun one of the world's top conductors.

An episode about Chung says that when he got married at Glass Church in California. the wedding march was performed by a real orchestra. While he was vice conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. he was also the main conductor of the Young Symphony Orchestra.

The vice conductor of the Young Symphony Orchestra then was a Japanese. For the wedding of their main conductor. the members agreed to present him with a live performance and they showed up at the wedding each carrying their instruments in their cars .

It is rare for an orchestra to play a wedding march for any of its members. However. the wedding march in the Glass Church. which has a breathtaking view of the sky. reminded some of the people present of the wedding scene in Wagner's opera Loflengrin between the cavalier Lohengrin and the immaculate virgin Elsa.

MOTHER KNOWS BEST Chung Kyung-hwa captivates audiences with herDic.... ;sian rendering that wrings the.hearts of people while Chung Myung-hwa seeps into the hearts of an audience with her deep. persuasive playing that comes out of the depths of her soul. Chung Myung-whun brings ecstasy to audiences with performances full of vitality. The Chung family members vary from one another even though the same mother gave birth to them all.

The mother. Lee Won-suk. might have played a role even greater than that of Leopold who helped to develop the talent of his son Mozart. She is so particular about sounds in the concert hall where any of her children plays that she herself sometimes is known to have oiled the hinges of its doors to prevent them from producing any unhappy noise.

When one of her children held a concert at Seoul's Ewha Womans University. the mother. people say. took some very special measures to have the engineer of a train passing in the neighborhood reduce the sound of its whistle. Though some people complain about the excessive nagging of the mother. this may attest to her devotion to music and her children .

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Wagner advocated the supremacy of music to the point of making music a religion and the theater a church . Likewise. the maternal love of Lee Won-suk has made her see to it that music is presented in the air and atmosphere of a theater as pious and dedicated as that of a church. This is a firm manifestation of her Christian upbringing at home. And she has put the education and performance of her children above everything else.

In the history of music. this in-the-family trio might well be unique. The world-famous cellist Tortelier played with his violinist son and his pianist daughter. But they did not quite achieve world renown. Again in the 20th century, France's fine violinist Ginette Neveu performed many times with her pianist elder brother. But Neveu died early in a plane accident.

In recent times. there have been a number of brother-and-sister pianist duos. The Kontarsky brothers. who visited Korea some years ago. also are well known as a pianist duo. Since they are a pair of brothers. their ensemble is not like others with players from different families.

Also. the Hagen String Quartet which visited Korea in 1990. had started as a group of brothers and sisters. But at present one of its members has been replaced by a player from outside the family. A general pattern seems to be plain. A chamber music group composed of brothers and sisters does not last long.

In contrast the Chung trio has been steadfastly performing for more than 20 years ever since it first attracted international attention. At that time, Chung Myung-whun was I 0 years old.

Indeed the Chung trio must be the oldest of its kind in the world today

EAST PLAYS WEST The history of music is full of famous trios. The Casals trio was formed in 1905 with Pablo Casals on the cello at age 29. Alfred Cortot on the piano at 28 and Jacques Thibaud on the violin at 2 5. It lasted 23 years . It won kudos for outstanding technique and vitality particularly in France. But each of the three was a very strong personality. They often clashed with each other over the question of musical interpretation. And the trio died.

Among the other well known trios are the Oistrakh trio and the Million Dollar Trio. As outstanding as the Casals trio in technique and ensemble. the Million Dollar was formed with violinist )ascha Heifetz. pianist Artur Rubinstein and cellist Gregor Pyatigorski. and had its first presentation in 1949 and drew greater acclaim than the Casals trio did for its recording performances for RCA Victor.

The Chung trio may well attain such a level of fame someday. M_ore than a decade ago. the Chung trio was introduced to the world by the BBC on TV in a program titled East P.lays West.

In Korea. the video. showing the three playing on the world stage. was broadcast on TV and had a tremendous impact on the general population, let alone the Korean musical community.

The three siblings. who developed their talents against all odds, display musicality different from that of the Casals trio. Oistrakh or Million Dollar Trio because their breathing is in harmony. Listening to the Chung trio. the rhythm is not mechanical like that of a metronome but like the common heartbeat of the three performers.

The Chung siblings are full of affection and love for each other and offer one of the best and rarest stories we know of music in Korea in this century. @

(The original text of this article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREANA. This is a translation.)

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EXPANDING GALAXY OF TOP LUMINARIES Kim Hyung-ju

estern music in Korea has a short history spanning only a little over a century since American missionary Henry G. Appenzeller brought Christian hymns to these shores in 1885. Korea soon found itself tumed into a victim of Japanese imperialism ( 191 0-1945). Then a severe ideological confrontation between the East and the West led to a devastating armed conflict - the Korean War ( 1950-195 3).

The nation could not afford to make serious efforts for the development of culture and the arts in general during these tumultuous years. Only in the 1960s was an endeavor initiated in earnest for the advancement of all manner of musical activities.

Through these short three decades since then. Korean musicians have worked hard to study the history and traditions of Western music. its style and functions. They have battled too to create new kinds of music of their own. As a result. over 2.000 concerts are given a year in Korea today. The nation now has 26 symphony orchestras and an even larger number of chamber groups. Indeed 1.000 young musicians annually graduate from 76 advanced institutions for musical education across the country.

Sure enough. it's not easy to go through this sea of musical talent and come up with a listing of prominent Korean musicians. But herewith at any rate is the result of my attempt.

W

LIM WON-SIK Lim Won-sik is a senior conductor who has led the symphony movement in Korea. He majored in piano at the Harbin Music School in northern China and the Tokyo Music School. and then studied conducting at the Juilliard School of Music. At age 2 5. he became the first permanent conductor of the Korea Symphony Orchestra. the first orchestra for Wester'l music in Korea. which was founded in 1945 or shortly after Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

Lim organized the KBS Symphony Orchestra in 1956 and worked as its permanent conductor and music director for I 5 years. He played a pivotal role in the development of korea's symphonic music during this period.

In 1948. Lim conducted Verdi's La Traviata. the first Western opera staged in Korea. In 1958. he led the KBS Symphony Orchestra on its first overseas tour. and performed in Vietnam.

Hong Kong. Singapore and Thailand. In 1990. he took the Inchon Municipal Symphony Orchest(a to Italy and Eastern European countries.

Lim has also conducted various foreign orchestras. earning a notable reputation for his well-

Kim Hyung-ju. born in 192 5. is a composer and music critic. who is currently the president of the National Music Association of Korea and the Music Critics Association. and vice president of the Korea Music Copyright Association. A graduate of Seoul National University's College of Music. he composed "Four Pieces for Flute and Piano" and many other works. and authored Traditional Harmonics. How to Appreciate Music.

A Collection of Korean Lyric Songs and A History of Korean Lyric Songs.

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balanced brand of direction. He has conducted. among other noted foreign orchestras. the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Japan and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra of Germany.

He recently conducted the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. and the Alma-Ata Symphony Orchestra of Kazakhstan Republic.

Lim made a significant contribution to music education as well. He founded the Seoul Arts High School in 1953 and served as its headmaster for many years. He also served as the dean of Music College. Kyung Hee University. At present he is an honorary conductor of the Inchon Municipal Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Korean Academy of Arts.

HONG YUN-TAIK Hong Yun-taik is another leading conductor who has played an important role in the development of symphonic music in Korea.

A graduate of Seoul National University's College of Music. Hong went to Austria in 1963 to study conducting at the Vienna Music College. He became the director and permanent conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra after his homecoming. and led the orchestra for numerous concerts as well as opera and ballet performances. Since 1973 . he has also conducted various foreign orchestras. like the New World Symphony Orchestra in New York and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1985. Hong founded the Korean Symphony Orchestra. the first professional orchestra ever organized on a private basis in Korea. setting a new milestone in the development of Korea's symphonic music. He has since been working with the orchestra as its music director and permanent conductor.

Hong is noted as a composer and music professor as well. He composed two operas. Nongae and The Wedding Day. and two cantatas. Glory to the Farther/and and Give Me Your Hands. Brother.

His opera. The Wedding Day. won the Korean National Music Award. He served as dean of the Music College. Hanyang University for six years from 1980.

At present Hong is a professor at Hanyang University and music director of the Korean Symphony Orchestra.

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_

Conductor Hong Yun-taik rehearsing with the Korean Symphony __:¡~-&:::¡::t Orchestra

CHUNG CHAI-DONG Chung Chai-dong, still another prominent conductor, studied piano and composition at Seoul National University and then undertook a graduate course in conducting under Prof.

Leon Barzin at the New England Music Conservatory in Boston, Mass .. U.S.A. Since he made his debut by conducting Verdi's opera Aida at age 24. he has conducted La Boiieme.

Tasca. Carmen, Faust and numerous other operas staged by various companies.

In 1971, Chung became the permanent conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. which is Korea's oldest orchestra, to help Conductor Chung Chai-dong remarkably improve the level of its performance. He has led the orchestra on its performing tours of Japan, Southeast Asia, and various European countries like Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg.

Chung has also performed with various world-renowned musicians including ltzhak Perlman, Ruggiero Ricci, Pierre Fournier, Aaron Rosand and Alfons Kontarsky. He conducted many foreign orchestras including the Auckland Symphony Orchestra of New Zealand, the Manila Symphony Orchestra of the Philippines, the Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and the New York Queen's Symphony Orchestra. Recently, he conducted leading orchestras of Eastern European cou ntries like Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria.

Chung formerly served as the dean of Music College, Chung-ang University, and vice president of the National Music Association of Korea. He is currently a professor at Chung-ang University's College of Music.

LEE KYONG-SUK Lee Kyong-suk is a leading concert pianist. She is acclaimed for her logical and analytical performance that is marked by a solid and stylistic beauty.

While she was a student at Seoul Arts High SchooL Lee went to New York to enroll at the )uilliard School of Music on a scholarship. She continued to study under Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Lee was accepted into the Geneva International Music Competition in 1967 and soon won first prize in the Central City Audition held by the U.S. Metropolitan Opera Company. Then she won an artist's diploma in the Texas International Piano Record Festival.

Since the late 1960s, Lee has performed with world-renowned orchestras such as the Swiss Romande Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has performed in many countries in North America. Europe and Asia, frequently with world-famous musicians. She also taught at the Philadelphia Music Academy and Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA. Back in Korea, she has been among the most popu lar soloists for visiting foreign orchestras.

She has performed with, among other celebrated orchestras from abroad, the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Czechoslovakia's Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Moscow Phil-

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harmonic Orchestra.

Lee performed all of Beethoven's piano sonatas in 1988. and then all of his piano concertos. She recently performed all of Mozart's piano sonatas in commemoration of the bicentenary of his death. She is presently a professor at Yonsei University's College of Music.

KIM HYUNG-KYU

Pianist Kim Hyung-kyu

Kim Hyung-kyu is another active pianist whose pure tonal quality and subtle sensitivity attract many music lovers.

Kim. who was born in Seoul. began to learn piano at five. She won prestigious competitions while in her teens. After graduating from Seoul National University's College of Music.

she continued her studies under Prof. Helmut Roloff at the Berlin National College of Music.

She also attended a master class of Alfred Brendel. which helped broaden her scope of musical interpretation.

Then she went to England to study under Margaret Kitchen. While residing in London. she performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She also gave concerts in various cities in France. Switzerland. Spain. Germany and Japan in the following years.

Kim returned home in 1981 to start her concert appearances. In 1983. she revisited London to give a recital at the Purcell Room in celebration of the I OOth anniversary of Korea-British relations. Her performance drew critical acclaim. She was the first Korean musician who ever performed at the Purcell Room. The Music Critics Association of Korea presented her with its first Musician of the Year Award in 1984.

The following years found Kim engaged in even more active performances in many cities around the world. In 1987 she performed with the Belgrade Radio Symphony Orchestra. Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. and. in recent years. with leading orchestras of Eastern European nations. such as the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and Yugoslavia's Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kim is currently a professor at Hanyang University's College of Music.

PAIK KON-WOO Paik Kon-woo. a Paris-based pianist. displayed outstanding talent in his early years. He performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at I 0. marveling his audience. He was accepted into an international music competition in New York at I5.

Paik entered the )uilliard School of Music in 1961. In 1965. his debut performance of Rakhmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 at the Carnegie Hall drew compliments from critics. In 1971. he won first prize in the Walter Naumberg International Music Competition and the Leventritt International Music Competition.

The greatest charm of Paik's keyboard operation rests in his presentation of Ravel. He is

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noted for precise interpretation and highly contained expression. He played the French composer's piano pieces at the Salzburg Festival in 1973. earning recognition from the international music community. The next year he played all of Ravel's piano works in a series of three concerts in London. He also performed at Italy's Spoleto Festival.

Among other internationally acclaimed orchestras. Paik has performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. the Swiss Romande Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Germany's ACM Company issued his records of all of the piano pieces by Ravel and Mussorgsky.

Pianist Paik Kon-woo Schubert's Piano Sonata Bb Major. and some works of Scriavin and G. Faure. Seon. another German music company based in Hamburg. also produced Paik's records of Ravel.

Paik performed with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in I 989. He was also invited to perform in other Eastern European countries like Hungary and the Soviet Union in recent years.

KIM YOUNG-UCK Kim Young-uck. who is recognized as one of the world's top-notch violinists. enchants his audience with clear and elegant tones produced with prominent technique .

Kim. at eight. won the first prize in a nationwide music competition for elementary school students. and performed with the National Symphony Orchestra soon thereafter. In I 96 I. he enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music. where he studied under Prof. Ivan Galamian. He won first prize in a music competition for youths sponsored by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1963 and the Merriweather Post International Music Competition in 1965.

Kim had a performing tour of major cities across the U.S. in 1966. He performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall in I 968. He also appeared as a featured soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Herbert von Karajan. the Philadelphia Orchestra. the Cleveland Orchestra. the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. the London Symphony Orchestra and a number of other internationally acclaimed orchestras.

Kim has been invited to perform at prestigious music festivals like the Salzburg Festival in Austria. the Lucerne Music Festival in Switzerland and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.

He has performed with world-renowned conductors including Eugene Ormandy. Leonard Bernstein and Leopold Stokowsky.

KANG DONG-SUK Kang Dong-suk. another top-class violinist who is active on the international stage. enthralls his audience with sweet and colorful melodies played with deep emotion.

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Kang was born in Seoul in 1954. He went to New York in 1967 to study at the Juilliard School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music. He won first prize in the 1971 music competition sponsored by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and then the Merriweather Post International Music Competition. drawing keen interest from the American music community. Then he won awards in prestigious music competitions abroad. including the Montreal M usic Competition in Canada. the Carl Flesch Music Competition in England and the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in Belgium.

Whi le residing in Paris. Kang has given conViolinist Kang Dong-suk certs in many cities in Europe. America. Africa and Asia. He performed with a number of world-famous orchestras like the Philadelphia Orchestra. the Boston Symphony Orchestra. the Cleveland Orchestra. the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra. the Washington National Symphony Orchestra. the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. the London Philharmonic Orchestra. the BBC Symphony Orchestra. the French National Orchestra. the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

He recently toured France. Spain. Germany. Switzerland. Belgium and Luxembourg with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He also toured the U.S .. and recei ved compliments as "an arti st creating the most beautiful. soul-stirring music on the violin. "

KIM NAM-YUN Kim Nam-yun is a leading female violinist whose dynamic style is widely favored by music lovers. She is also playing a prominent role in music education as a professor at Seoul NaViolinist Kim Nam-yun tional University's College of Music.

A child prodigy, Kim won a special award in a nationwide music competition for primary school students while she was in the fifth grade. She won first prize in the ann ual music competition sponsored by a leading Seoul daily, Dong-A llbo. in 1964. Upon graduating from Seoul Arts High School. she enro lled at the Juilliard School of Music where she studied under Prof. Ivan Galamian. While at Juilliard. she won first prize in the on-campus Tschaikovsky Competition and worked as music director of the campus orchestra.

Kim won awards in prestigious music competitions in the following years. including the

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1969 Merriweather Post International Music Competition. the 1971 competition sponsored by the Los Angeles Young Musicians Foundation and the 1974 Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Switzerland. At the same time. her concerts in the U.S. and Europe drew remarkable interest from the international music community.

In 1975. the Korean government invited Kim to perform in a music festival in Seoul commemorating the 30th anniversary of national liberation. The festival worked as a momentum for her to return home. She has since been active both as a concert violinist and a music educator.

Kim gave many concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra. which is now the KBS Symphony Orchestra. and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. She also gave recitals and performed frequently as a member of the Seoul Musica Piano Trio. She founded a summer music camp, the first of its kind in Korea. and was invited to teach at music colleges in the Philippines.

Singapore and Japan. The Australian government invited her to conduct a summer music camp in 1981.

Kim has been frequently invited to perform in the U.S. since her recital at the Lincoln Center in New York in 1980 drew a favorable review from the New York Times. She has performed with. among other orchestras of notable repute. the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and the New Jersey Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. as well as the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

CHO YOUNG..CHANG Cho Young-chang. who is now residing in Germany, is a young and ambitious cellist. He is credited for an eloquent style in rich tones. accentuated with dynamic contrasts.

Born in Seoul. Cho went to the U.S. at an early age to be trained at prestigious institutions such as Peabody Music College and the Curtis Institute of Music. He received an artist's diploma from the New England Music Conservatory.

Cho bui lt his career by winning awards in the Rostropovich Cello Competition in Paris. the Walter Naumberg Competition in New York. the Munich Competition in Germany and the Casals Cello Competition in Budapest Hungary. He has performed with various orchestras including the Korean National Symphony Orchestra. which is now the KBS Symphony Orchestra. the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. the Washington National Symphony Orchestra and the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra. He is also active as a member of the Cho Trio which is organized with his sisters. pianist Young-bang and violinist Young-mi. Cho is currently a professor at the Essen National Music College in Germany.

NA TOK-SONG Na Tok-Song is a well-known cellist who is actively engaged in both concert performance and education. He draws admiration for his mature technique and expressive style.

Na attended the Cologne Music Conservatory on a German government scholarship after graduating from Music College. Kyung Hee University in Seoul. He has given many concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra as well as various other orchestras based in cities across Korea. He gave a recital at the Colloquium Concert Hall in Cologne in 197 4, and then in various Asian countries including the Philippines. Singapore.

Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia after 1977.

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Since 1977. Na has also conducted music camps at home and abroad. He founded the Seoul Musica Piano Trio in 1978 to provide a remarkable impetus to chamber music activities among his fellow Korean musicians. He performed at music festivals celebrating the dedication of the Sejong Cultural Center and the Seoul Arts Center. He has also been active in CD recording in recent years.

Na is currently a professor at the College of Music. Chung-ang University.

SONG YEO-)IN Song Yeo-jin is a prominent young flutist.

Jean-Pierre Rampal praised her "marvelous musicality that touches the heartstrings of the audience." Another famous flutist. Alain Marion. called her "a magician of sound."

Song's performance at the 1986 Salzburg Festival. marked by brilliant musicality and resplendent tones. created a pleasant shock wave among European flute music circles. Earlier in 1982 . she had won first prize in a music competition sponsored by the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1985. she won the top prize in an international flute competition held in Tokyo .

Song went to the US. in 1981 while a student at Seoul Arts High School. She entered the Manhattan School of Music in New York in 1983. and then moved to the Vienna Music College in 1985 to graduate from it two years later. She made an early debut as a flutist: her first recital was given in 1981 in Chicago. She gave another major recital at the Lincoln Center in New York in 1983.

Song appeared as a soloist for the Munich Chamber Orchestra led by Hans Stadlmair in March 1987. She gave a successful recital at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland in the summer of the same year. Later that year. she received cellist Na Tok-song

favorable reviews for her performances with the Bern Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Peter Maag and the Czech Chamber Ensemble.

She performed in various Eastern European nations in recent years. where her pure tones and prominent technique for expressing the indigenous beauty of the sound of the flute was warmly received.

KIM HYUN-GON Kim Hyun-gon. who is currently the chief clarinetist of the KBS Symphony Orchestra. is a leading woodwind instrumentalist commanding prominent artistry. He is admired for

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Flutist song Yeo-jin

lyrical tones and rich expressions.

Kim graduated from Seoul National University's College of Music in 1978. Then he went to Germany to contin ue his studies at the University of Munich until 1982. While in Germany. he gave recitals in Munich and Frankfurt and performed on radio. After returning home. he joined the KBS Symphony Orchestra and at the same time began his activity with various chamber groups.

Kim organized the Seoul Woodwind Quintet in 1984. the Clarinet Ensemble in 1986. the Seoul Woodwind Ensemble and the KBS Ensemble in 1991 . and is now working as the leader of all these groups. In 199 1. he performed in New York. Washington. D.C. and San Francisco as a member of the Korea Festival Ensemble. and received warm audience responses.

In 1987 . he revisited Munich to give a recital. He also performed with the Bayern Radio Symphony Orchestra at the time.

OH HYUN-MYUNG Oh Hyun-myung is a senior vocalist who has led Korea's vocal music circles and opera movement. A deep. resonant bass covering a broad range of notes. Oh is adm ired for his precise musical interpretation. mature technique and delicate expression .

Oh graduated from Seoul National University's College of Music in 1948. He gave his first recital in 1953 with a program consisting of German songs and Ital ian opera arias by Schumann and Verdi. among other composers. He performed works by Mozart. Beethoven and Schubert in many concerts given in the following years. He also gave about 20 recitals of Korean lyric songs. An unrivaled authority in the interpretation of Korean art songs. he wrote a book entitled Interpretation and Performance of Korean Art Songs.

In the meantime. Oh had a performing tour of Vietnam. Tha iland. Hong Kong and the Philippines in 1958 . He gave recitals in Japan. Canada and the U.S. in 1975. Then he again visited Japan and the U.S. to give concerts in 1981.

Throughout his career spanning four decades. Oh has performed more frequently than any other Korean singer such popular works as Haydn's oratorio Tfle Creation. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Handel's Messiah. He has also appeared in more than 50 operas since he made Te nor Park ln-su his debut in Verdi's La Traviata. which was the first Western opera staged by Koreans.

Oh formerly served as dean of the College of Music. Hanyang University. From 1964 to 1982. he was director of the National Opera Company, of which he is a lifetime member.

PARK IN-SU Park ln-su is a popular tenor who has fans beyond the conventional musical genres. He is particularly favored for his clear voice and lyrical expression.

After graduating from Seoul National University's College of Music. Park went to

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New York to continue his studies at the Juilliard School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. He made his debut in Seattle in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. He took leading roles in scores of operas staged by the New Haven Opera Company in the following years. He appeared as a featured soloist in the Newport Festival for four consecutive years.

Park gave concerts in various cities across the U.S .. such as New York. Washington. D.C..

Chicago and Detroit. He appeared in an opera produced by the Columbian Nationa l Opera Company and performed with well-known Canadian orche~tras.

Back home. Park joined the National Opera Company and played leading roles in a number of its productions Currently. he is a professor at his alma mater. Seoul National University's College of Music.

CHUNG UN-SUK Chung Un-suk is a leading soprano. She has a rich voice and commands fine technique. which combine beautifully to yield highly dramatic expression.

After finishing Sejong University's College of Music and its graduate school. Chung took training courses with the British Royal Opera Company and Germany's Munich National Opera Company. She has so far played leading roles in more than 30 operas including Aida.

Tasca. La Boerne and Rigoletto. staged by the National Opera Company. the Kim Cha Kyung Opera Company and the Seoul Opera Company.

At the same time. Chung also gave recitals Soprano Chung Un-suk and performed solo in cantatas. oratorios and art songs with leading orchestras at home and abroad. She is currently a member of the National Opera Company and a professor at Sejong University.

Teno r Park Se-won

PARK SE-WON Park Se-won is an active tenor with a pure voice and fluent style. He is applauded for an outstanding ability for subtle emotional expression.

Park studied at Seoul National University's College of Music and then the 'Santa Ceci lia' Music Conservatory in Italy. He made his debut in Rome in 1982 and was named by Vatican City as the "musician of the year" for 1984. In subsequent years. he took leading roles in a number of operas including Tasca.

La Traviata. Carmen. Rigoletto. Salome and Thran-

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dot. in various countries like Italy. Germany. the Netherlands. Switzerland. Norway. Denmark and Japan. He also performed solo in Verdi's Requiem. Mozart's Requiem and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with leading orchestras of Yugoslavia. Poland and the Soviet Union.

After returning home. Park appeared in the Korean National Music Festival and concerts with visiting foreign orchestras including the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bastille Orchestra. He is presently a professor at Seoul National University.

KIM SOUNG-TAI Kim Sung-tai. a leading composer and music educator. has made a monumental contribution to the development of Western music in Korea through his long career spanning six decades. He greatly contributed to developing techniques to harmonize the Western musical idioms and Korean language and culture.

Since his first collection of songs. Bird. Bird.

Blue Bird. was published in 1934. Kim has composed numerous works including String Quartet in D Minor. "Symphonic Capriccio." "Suite for String Ensemble," popular art songs such as "Sanyuhwa" (Flower in the Mountain).

"Tongshimcho" (Grass of Single Heart). "A Composer Kim Soung-tai White Lily" and "A Farewell Song." as well as a cantata. Be Glorious. My Fatherland.

Kim was the first composer to write music for movies in Korea. Beginning in 1950. he wrote numerous pieces of screen music. He received the best music award in the Asian Film Festival in 1960 for Earth.

Kim attended Kunitachi Music School in Japan after graduating from Yonsei University in Seoul. He joined the faculty of a Seoul institution for teachers upon graduation from Kun itachi in 1939. He later served as a professor and then the dean of the College of Music. Seoul National University for some 30 years until his retirement in 1976. Currently. he is a professor emeritus at Seoul National University. a member of the Korean Academy of Arts. and the chairman of Ye-Eum Co .. a business entity for cultural and arts projects.

KANG SUKHI Kang Sukhi. a leading composer. played a pioneering role in the introduction of avant-garde and electronic music into Korea.

Kang majored in composition at Seoul National University's College of Music and the Hanover National Music College. Germany. Then from 197 1 to 1975. he continued his studies in composition at the Berlin National College of Music. and experimental and electronic music at the Berlin University of Technology.

He has energetically explored various aspects of contemporary music. His creative range has come to cover electronic music. soloist and ensemble works. compositions for string and wind instruments. cantatas and even music dramas.

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Early in 1966. Kang left Korean music circles deeply impressed with his "The Feast of Id. " the first electronic music work in South Korea. Another electronic piece. "Metamorphosis for Flute and String Quartet." was selected for the International Rostrum of Composers held in Paris under the aegis of UNESCO. His symphonic work. "Catena For Large Orchestra." was commissioned by the Solingen City Orchestra. In 1979. his "Da/Fia for Large Orchestra." won the Grand Prix of the Korean National Composers' Prize competition Among other works produced by Kang are: "Mosaico" (electron ic music). "Man-pa for Solo Flute and Flute Orchestra." "Mutatio Perpetua for 24 Players and Electronic Sound" (commissioned by !SCM Music Days in Graz and Vienna in 1982) and "Successions for Orchestra"(commissioned by Horizonte Festival in Berlin in 1985) During his sojourn in Berlin in 1980 under the DAAD Art Program. Kang was an artistic member of the Electronic Music Studio at the Berlin University of Technology. and was at the same time co-organizer of the Berlin Experimental Music Festival "Inventionen." He has received a long list of kudos at home and overseas. and now serves as professor at the College of Music. Seoul National University .Since 197 1. he has served as a president of the Korean chapter of the !SCM. wh ich holds the annual Pan Music Festival.

KIM CHUNG-GIL Kim Chung-gil is another prominent composer endowed with sharp wit and aesthetic sensitivity. He is mainly concerned with seeking themes of music for universal appreciation from Korean traditional motifs.

Kim studied composition at Seoul National University's College of Music and the Hanover National Music College. Germany. He wrote a number of contemporary music pieces for symphony. chamber ensemble and solo presentation. Among his notable works are "Rhythm-83 for Clarinet and Stri n~ Ensemble" and "A Suite for Symphony." He also composed many pieces for dance. drama an\::1 movies.

Currently a professor at Seoul National University' s College of Music. Kim worked as music director for the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

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Composer Kim Chung-gil

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National Choir Ensemble and Conductor Nah Young-su

NAH YOUNG-SU Nah Young-su. director and permanent conductor of the National Choir. has played an indispensable role in the development of choral music in Korea over the last couple of decades.

A graduate of Seoul National University's College of Music. Nah has greatly contributed to the functional progress of choral music and broadening of its repertoire since he became the permanent conductor of the National Choir in 1973 . Under his direction. the National Choir performed. among other notable works. Bach's two church cantatas. St. Jolin Passions and St. Mattliew Passions. for the first time in Korea.

Nah remarkably invigorated the nation's choral music community whi le serving as president of the Korean Association of Music College Choirs and the Korean Choir Association.

At present. he is a professor at Hanyang University's College of Music and concurrently works for the National Choir. @

(Tiie original text of tliis article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOR EANA. Tliis

is a translation .)

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KOREAN SENSIBILITIES FORTIFY MUSICALITY Hahn Myung-hee

o many people say that Koreans are musically gifted. Foreign professors who have taught Korea n music students abroad often say so. Ancient Chinese chroniclers who extensively traveled through Korea left records of their observation that say so. And sure

S

enough. we Koreans have long made it a rule to say so. But is it true? Let us examine this view that seems to be shared by so many.

There are a number of documents and records showing the love of our people for singing and dancing since way back in history. Consider the ancient kingdom of Shilla (668-91 8 AD) The dynasty trained its elitist youths in what was called the Hwarang Corps. The members of the group were trained to be future leaders in the kingdom . They traveled extensively in the country. They studied etiquette. They inculcated in themselves the manners and spirit needed to lead a group life. They are also said to have developed qualities befitting respectable persons through studies of singing and dancing.

Elsewhere in our history. music appears to have played just as vital a role. For Palkwanhoe. a ceremonial gathering to honor a folk deity, and Yondunghoe. a Buddhist ceremony of the Koryo period (918-1392). music and dance on a massive scale were indispensable. In the Chason period ( 1392-1 910). up to 800 musicians belonged to the Changak-won. an official organ ization charged with providing the royal court and state occasions with music.

And today? Let us turn our attention to our National Classical Music Institute . This is a hall of advanced studies on Korea's musical tradition that is placed directly under government supervision and run of course on the strength of tax money. Its membership now is on ly about 200. This is a pitiable figure when you consider yesterday's musical glories in Korea's officialdom.

Back again in the Choson period. Confucianism was among the most important state institutions . In it. just as Confucius said thousands of years earlier. music was regarded as a good means of developing a good persona l character. Not surprisingly. the portraits of many scholars depict each of the subjects with his komungo. a Korean string instrument. in addition to four other items of scholarly regalia: writing brushes. paper. Chinese ink stick and ink stone.

This amply illustrates the position held by music in the life of many an important personage in Korea long ago.

Music naturally has to be linked with poetry. And that too is time and again marked in the annals of our intellectuals. artists and political leaders. Take for instance Yi Kyu-bo. a scholar of the Koryo period. He is said to have kept a komungo without a string at his side. When a poetic urge gripped him on a moonlit night. he would "strum" on it and be enthralled by its "music:¡

Born in 1939. Hahn Myung-hee studied at the College of Music. Seoul National University. and its Graduate School and completed his doctoral course majoring in Korean musical theory at Sung Kyuri Kwan University.

He worked as a producer at MBC (radio and television network) and lectured on the subject of Korean music at a number of major universities in Seoul. He is currently a professor of music at Seoul City University. He authored Voice of Heaven. Voice of the Masses. a collection of critical essays.

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.,

Prof. Hwang Byung-ki playing Ka!Jagum

One Korean proverb in this respect is telling: one begins to dance at the sight of a paulownia seed. What is the meaning of this? Komungo and kayagum. another Korean string instrument are made of paulownia. The seed of it reminds many Koreans of the tree. From then on you can easily trace the course taken by our mental chain reaction. Thought of the tree leads to that of the instrument and then to dance to the accompaniment of music coming forth from that instrument.

Hung is an untranslatable Korean term for our sensibilities. In fact it evokes uniquely Korean emotional and cultural overtones. It loosely points to mirth. merriment or excitement. Hung, I believe. might well hold the key to the problem of understanding Korean people's musicality and artistic characteristics. To me. it always makes itself felt behind Korea's tradition in arts and music.

I am not saying that hung. which is an emotional state. is synonymous with musicality. Far from it. Musicality may be present without hung. This point is elaborated on by E. H.anslick and others who believe in autonomous art and who say that "music is form in tonal motion. " Although they have completely negated the doctrine of affection. it was possible for them to use the term musicality in expressing their view on music.

Although musicality is hardly an equivalent of emotion. in meaning the two terms clearly are close to each other. It is self-evident that the two are closely related. Generally speaking. you could safely say that people endowed with a large dose of musicality are highly emotional Obviously, emotion contributes to musicality.

If the Korean people are relatively more musical than many other peoples. hung might seem to explain it. Then again emotional characteristics similar to hung are unique to Korea . In a sense that too is something universal in that all people have both intellectual and emotional aspects. Classicism and romanticism of the West may be viewed to represent the two basic sides of human nature. Classicism originating in the Greek Apollonian cult was the culmination of an intellectual hereditary character. emphasizing balance. grace and form. On the other hand.

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Farmer's Music representing Korean flung

romanticism flowing from the Dionysian cult was a crystallization of human capacities for passion and among other faculties. ecstasy.

Since all human beings are endowed with intellect and sensibilities. it may not be reasonable to attempt to explain the musicality of the Korean people solely in the light of sensibilities.

However. if one looks closely at the psychology and culture of the Korean people. one can readily appreciate the existence of close relations between Korean arts and culture on the one hand and the sensibilities of the Korean people on the other. One could also see that the Korean people have inherently retained pronounced emotional traits.

In Korea women. when grieving. beat their chest vehemently. The sight offers a study in contrast with Rodin's Thinker. a product of the West's cool. intellectual culture. Korean drivers often argue loudly with each other or even fight each other over a minor accident. This is another indication that among Koreans. emotional reactions often come before cool reasoning.

A few years ago many Koreans watched a national television program that went on and on through a few days and nights without interruption. Through this marathon program. those family members separated in the confusion of the Korean War ( 1950-195 3) were reunited.

Fathers and sons. mothers and daughters. brothers and sisters and uncles and nephe~s were brought together after decades of separation from one another on television. When reunited. they cried over the joy of reunion. rather than over the years of sorrowful separation. Korean beauty contest winners often weep for joy. The Koreans have a broad emotional spectrum which enables them to cry even for joy.

A similar phenomenon is observed in the religious life of the Korean people. It is truly remarkable that the Catholic church in Korea has no fewer than I 03 canonized saints. The figure becomes even more remarkable when you realize that Catholicism was introduced to Korea only a little over 200 years ago. Why are there so many martyred Catholic saints in a relatively small Asian country whose church has only a two-century history? The answer clearly is that there is something inherent in the people that drives them to die for what they believe in. something in their sensibilities that often enables them to act disregarding rational aspects.

The extraordinarily great number of Catholic saints in Korea may be proof that with the Korean people. sensibilities and emotional qualities outweigh intellectual control.

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It is well known that there are many mudang in Korea . Although mudang is commonly translated as shaman for lack of a better word. the Korean mudang is much more comprehensive.

The shaman subculture is an important part of Korean culture.

There are two types of shamans in Korea: Hereditary shamans and shamans possessed by a spirit. An ordinary person is suddenly possessed by a spirit and becomes a shaman literally overnight. Spirit-possessed shamans can perform superhuman acts which defy human understanding. Hereditary shamans are mostly in the regions south of the Han River. while most of the spirit-possessed shamans are found north of the river. Studies on spirit-possessed shamans show that an ordinary person can become a shaman after he or she has experienced sudden misfortune. sorrow. or an accident hard to bear. That person then is possessed by a spirit and begins to perform miraculous acts.

One thing that interests us in the general process of becoming a spirit-possessed shaman is that Koreans are easily "possessed by a spirit" given the right momentum. "To be possessed by a spirit" may be understood to mean to be hypnotized or fall into a trance. As illustrated by spirit-possessed shamans. the Koreans have inherited a character which makes them prone to rapture. It is not going too far to say that the Koreans are one of the peoples with the greatest possibility of becoming spirit-possessed shamans. It is. therefore. small wonder that while the Chinese and the people of the West are known to reason thoroughly to understand the nature of things. Koreans are seen to drum and dance endlessly and finally be possessed by a spirit or god.

SAM/AE Samjae thought is one of the pillars of the spiritual culture of the Korean people. The Korean people have always believed that samjae, or heaven. man and earth. are interdependent and co-existent with one another. whereas in the West they regard nature as something to be analyzed and conquered. The traditional Korean view holds that man should harmonize with the laws of heaven and earth and should become one with them. The tenet of the Korean indigenous religion. Chondoism. is that man also is heaven. The traditional belief of the Korean people that the universe and man are one and that man is an organic existence in the universe. offers a clue to the Korean view of the universe and the objective of ideal life. The Korean culture. therefore. fundamentally conforms to nature. The Chinese character "~" or shaman is one of the characters already in use even before the Chinese people had develop~d their national consciousness and it represents the Korean people's samjae thought.

The upper bar of "~" stands for heaven and the lower bar for earth. The vertical pole represents man who connects heaven and the earth. The two "A." between the horizontal bars symbolize the two arms raised in dancing. This character. therefore. shows that through singing, dancing and obeying the laws of nature. man brings heaven. earth and himself together.

It also shows that music and dance are media for the process of bringing the three elements (heaven. earth and man) together. This reflects the emotional characteristics of the Korean people which enable them to fall into a trance and the secrets of the universe.

We have so far discussed the sensibilities found in the hereditary nature and culture of the Korean people. The Korean people have inherent sensibilities described in the expression that they drum and dance endlessly and that finally they become possessed by a spirit. This quality is expressed by two Korean words hung and sninparam (getting into high spirits). And in this quality lies the secret to the unusual musicality of the Korean people.

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Pansori duet from Chunhyangga

This quality is bound to influence the Korean culture and art forms. The unique form of Korea's traditional music is no exception. If I am allowed to exaggerate a little. I may even say that there is no fixed form for our traditional music and that there is no end to a piece of music.

For example. Korean folk songs have no set length of performance. A singer may take a longer or shorter time to sing a folk song and may even change verses. Sanjo. which is a solo instrument performance. usually consists of slow-tempo chinyangjo. chungmori of normal tempo and quick-tempo chajunmori. However. a player may shorten or lengthen sanjo as he sees fit or the circumstances require. as long as the basic structure is preserved. This shows that hung and shinparam of the moment. or emotional factors. are the basic motive for Korean music. A singer may. if he feels like doing so. prolong a three-minute folk song by adding impromptu verses.

Pansori. an operatic rendition. is perhaps the most Korean and beloved form of vocal music.

A pansori singer gives a narrative performance about a popular tale. He must follow the gist of the tale. but may alter the details as he sees fit. depending on his personality and sensibilities. and he may shorten or lengthen the performance This applies equally to instrumental performances of ~ Yongsanhaesang" and "Santaryong." a kind of male chorus.

If Korean musicians are possessed of hung and fall into a trance and a musical sympathy ¡exists between the musicians and the audience. the musicians may add new verses ~d lib to lengthen the performance. When there is little sympathy between the two sides and little hung is aroused on the part of the performers. the music will be devoid of life and fossilized. so to speak. In short. with the performance of Korea's traditional music. such phenomena in the area of sensibilities as hung or shinparam play a more important role than rational or logical factors or rigid forms.

As has been discussed so far. the Korean people have unusually rich sensibilities. which enable them to fall into a trance easily. Once in a trance. a musician often demonstrates an exquisite talent far beyond his usual performance. This is viewed as further evidence of the high level of Korean musicality. In conclusion we may say that an abundance of sensibilities is directly related to the high level of musicality of the Korean people. @

(The original text of this article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use 8y KOREAN A. This is a translation.)

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MARVELOUS VENUES FOR MUSIGMAKING Lee Jang-jik

L

et us begin discussing Korea's contemporary music scene by briefly studying the history of our symphony orchestras.

KBS Symphony Orchestra: Through its more than 90 concerts a year. the KBS Symphony Orchestra (KSO). founded in 1956. presents the nation's music lovers with premier renderings of outstanding musical works. Currently under the leadership of Kim Dong-sung. third director-general and a former diplomat and poetry professor. it is fast moving towards its goal of joining the highest ranks of the world's orchestras. Gum Nanse is conductor of the 110-member KSO. while Moshe Atzmon from Switzerland and Vakhtang Jordania from the Soviet Union serve as principal guest conductors. From this year. the orchestra wi ll be under the baton of Othmar Maga from Germany, who will assume the post of chief conductor.

The KBS Symphony Orchestra received highly favorable reviews during its performance tours of major cities in the U.S. ( 1979). Southeast Asia ( 1984) and Japan ( 1985 and 1991 ).

Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra: This orchestra was originally established in 1945 under the name of the Korea Symphony Orchestra. 1n 1950 it was renamed the Navy Symphony Orchestra and finally in 1957 became the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO). 1t is the oldest orchestra in Korea. From 1957 through December 1991 the SPO gave 4 56 subscription concerts and 3.000 special project concerts.

The first concert was conducted in 1948 by maestro Kim Saeng-ryo. Maestro Kim Man-bok took over in 1961 and in August of 1970, maestro Chung Chai-dong was chosen to become the new music director and conductor and held that position until 1990. Under maestro Chung's expert baton the SPO's excellence has been acclaimed both at home and overseas. Currently maestro Park Eun-sung holds the baton while Aido Ceccato from 1taly and Miklos Erdelyi from Hungary also take the baton as principal guest conductors .

Their repertoire is extensive. ranging from classics to contemporary. Through special programming such as pops. Christmas. chamber music and screen music concerts. the orchestra continues to reach out to an audience whose scope has been steadily expanding. This has contributed to its unique reputation .

Born in 1962. Lee lang-jik graduated from the Department of Musical Composition and received his M.A. degree in musicology from Seoul National University (SNU) . He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in musicology and teaches the sociology of music and social history of music at SNU. As an active music critic, he has received several awards for his critical writings on the subject of "Education in Popular Music" and the "Social History of Modern Korean Music." He is the author of the Social History of Music. Music and Society and Music in Mass Society (1990).

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Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of a visiting conductor

In March I 965. the SPO traveled to Japan. This was its first overseas concert tour. The challenge of this tour provided the orchestra with incentive to improve. Through dedication and hard work. the orchestra developed into a highly professional ensemble. In I 975, it was expanded to a full-scale body. It now has l I 0 members. In I 977. this orchesta made its second overseas tour. This time it visited Hong Kong. Thailand. Malaysia. Singapore and Taiwan.

The tour at once made the orchestra internationally known. In I 982 . it performed in cities on the U.S. west coast. including Los Angeles. Santa Barbara. and San Francisco as well as Honolulu.

Then. in I 986 another U.S. tour took it to New York. Washington. D.C.. Chicago. San Francisco and Los Angeles. Through these tours the SPO continued to gain worldwide recognition.

In May 1988 it was sent on a publicity tour for the XXIVth Olympics in Seoul. Then it performed in Spain. France. Switzerland. Germany. Belgium and Luxembourg. On this tour. the members proved that the SPO is one of the best orchestras in Asia by receiving enthusiastic praise throughout Europe. the birthplace of orchestral music.

Korean Symphony Orchestra: The Korean Symphony Orchestra was founded in I 985 as a privately run organization. Within three years of its founding, the orchestra was providing an average of over 80 ¡concerts per year. The orchestra has conceived and produced an interesting variety of performances including the Young People's Concerts. music for ballet and opera. and "Kum-a" (Friday morning) performances for housewives and students. In I 989. the orchestra was incorporated and has received financial support of approximately 300 million ~ron (approx. US$ 400.000) yearly from the Ssangyong Group. one of Korea's largest conglomerates. The orchestra is headquartered at the Seoul Arts Center (see Page 66).

In December I 989. the orchestra successfully held what turned out to be the largest performance ever in Korea. At Seoul's Kookmin University Solidarity Rally, the orchestra performed with a 5.000-member choral ensemble. At present. one-third of KSO's budget is covered by financial help from corporate sponsors and the rest by commissions received from the National Opera Company. the National Ballet Company and income generated by concerts.

In addition to the Korean Symphony Orchestra. Korea also supports the following private

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orchestras: Seoul Wind Ensemble, Hankuk Symphony Orchestra, World Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Academy Orchestra, Seoul Pops Orchestra as well as municipal orchestras in cities like Puchon, Inchon, Suwon, Taejon, Pusan, Masan, Kwangju, Cheju, Chongju, and Chunchon. Among the best known chamber ensembles are Korea Festival Ensemble, Seoul Baroque Ensemble, Seoul Musica, Korea Sinfonietta, Ye-Eum Club and the Seoul Chamber Ensemble.

The Ye-Eum Club is a chamber music ensemble which debuted simultaneously with the opening of the Ye-Eum Hall in SeouL an establishment dedicated exclusively to chamber music performance, in February 1986. The club has since given monthly concerts as well as special performances, and has performed on overseas tours. The club serves as host for the Ye-Eum Sorak FestivaL which since 1986 has been held annually at Sorak National Park mountain resort.

In the 1988-1989 season, the club played the complete cycle of Beethoven's string quartets for the first time in Korea. It has the versatility to perform in duo, quartet sextet and octet form. The Ye-Eum Club currently has 14 members.

FACTS AND FIGURES According to figures gleaned from the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation's yearbook for musical events (excluding traditional Korean music). in 1983 there were 672 performances; in 1986,818 performances; in 1987, 1.618 performances; in 1988,2.160 performances; and in 1989, 2,151 performances. The jump in the 1988 figure was due in part to visits by many foreign musicians in celebration of the Seoul Summer Olympics.

One breakdown of the figures gives a telling picture. There were 466 presentations of instrumental music in 1986, 796 in 1987, I .337 in 1988 and I ,097 in 1989. The vocal music figures also kept climbing: in 1986, with 205 presentations, in 1987 with 427, in 1988 with 543 and in 1989 with 635. Excluding opera and composition. for the rest of the performances (i.e. those that fell into the "omnibus" category) the figures shaped up as follows: in 1986, 81 performances; in 1987, 267 performances; in 1988, 185 performances; and in 1989, 289 performances.

If we analyze the 1989 figures further. we find that instrumental music accounted for over half the performances with 51%. If we examine figures on a region-by-region basis, they reveal that 52.9% or I , I 38 performances were held in SeouL I I .I % or 238 performances in the city of Pusan, 6.9% or 148 performances in the city of Taegu, 7. 5% or 161 performances in the city of Kwangju and 3. 7% or 80 performances in the city of Taejon.

Looking at these figures it is obvious that for all intents and purposes the majority of artistic activity is centered in Seoul. In addition, Korea's five special cities (Pusan, Inchon, Taegu, Kwangju and Taejon) along with Seoul held a whopping 83.7% or I .800 performances in 1989 alone.

Now let us look at a month-by-month set of figures for 1989. November was musically the busiest month, with 14.3% or 307 events. Then came June with 13.6% or 292, followed by October with 12%, December with 11.7% or 2 53, May and September each with 2.5% or 239 performances, July with 137, August with 2.5% or 54, February with 2.4% or 52 and January with 1.6% or 2 5. Interestingly enough, in the category of instrumental music there is a rather even distribution of performances, not related to seasonal factors. Realistically, however. a large portion of these performances took the form of individual recitals. And these recitals keep concert halls busy throughout the year. Some 64.5% of these individual recitals are held in Seoul and of these 50.7% or 207 performances were piano recitals.

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RECORDING INDUSTRY

Record shop in Seoul with a flood of compact discs

According to figures from the Korean recording industry for 1991 (up until October).

15 % of the records on sale in Korea were popular Korean music. the remaining 85% were either imported records or those manufactured by Korean companies under licensing agreements. In addition. among the Korean ballads. 17% (approximately 8.55 million records) were LP records. 71 % (34 million) were cassettes and 12% (5.56 million) were CDs. If we include pirated editions. which are not covered in these statistics. the size of the Korean market must be even larger still. Of these figures. classical Western music accounts for just about I 0% of the total.

Classical albums. sold under domestic labels. are financed by the profits from the sales of ballad or popular music. There are

many instances where foreign albums. bypassing the licensing process. the sold directly in the Korean market. In particular. with the liberalization of the market and the proliferation of CD players. the direct importation and sale of CDs has increased tremendously. In general domestic firms have had license agreements with world-class multinational record labels. But again with the liberalization of the market and the establishment of retail outlets by foreign companies in Korea engaged in direct sales. the Korean recording industry has suffered a great below One interesting recent development concerns drastic changes taking place in Eastern Europe. Indications are plain that the market in Korea is expanding for records and performances by orchestras and artists in this region. Besides. in comparison to major labels from the United Kingdom. the U. S. and Germany, interest in minor labels is also escalating.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS If we glance at the types of Western music personalities and groups who have visited Korea since Western music was first introduced to the country. we will find that it is outstanding individual artists such as Zimbalist. Rubinstein. Kreisler. Thibaut and Mauricio Kagel who form the bulk of visitors. After this. gradually the number of chamber ensembles and orchestras rises.

Important groups which have visited Korea include: the NHK Symphony Orchestra ( 1969.

1991). Swiss Romande Orchestra ( 1976).Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra.! Musici ( 1977).

Philadelphia Orchestra. Cleveland Orchestra ( 1978). Lyon Orchestra. New Philadelphia ( 1979).

BBC Symphony Orchestra ( 1980). Washington National Philharmonic Orchestra ( 1982). Paris Orchestra. New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1985). and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (1986).

However. in the aftermath of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. the relations with Eastern Europe and especially the Soviet Union developed rapidly and created an almost overheated phase in the importation of music from that area. In June 1988. the Ministry of Culture officially opened

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up Korea for performances by musicians from countries (with the exception of North Korea) that South Korea had no diplomatic relations with.

In 1988 alone. imports of music reached the 4.5 billion won (US$6 million) mark. Figures continued to soar in 1990 and 1991 and imports of music from Eastern Europe have been twice as high as before. But in contrast to the activity of a few years ago. Eastern Europe is no longer exporting its music at rock-bottom prices. According to the formal statistics released by the Ministry of Culture. in 1990 five Soviet artistic troupes performed in Korea. while only two Korean groups performed in the USSR. The reason for the imbalance is said to have been due to the Soviet Union's difficult economic and political situation. Indeed it is virtually impossible to be adequately paid or housed during a performance tour there. The Soviet Union for its part has exercised "self-restraint" in inviting foreign artists. while in the wake of perestroika the fees that its groups receive have been adjusted upward to the approximate levels of Western capitalistic societies.

In the case of famous Soviet orchestras. performance fees stand at approximately the US$200.000 level. It would be difficult to give all the figures. but the following are a few examples of how the market stands: in April 1989 the Bolshoi Opera Company gave three performances in this country and received approximately US$2.2 million. in May 1989 the Soviet Moscow Soloists Ensemble gave one performance and received US$890.000. in February 1990 the Hungary National Symphony Orchestra gave three concerts and received US$1 03.000. in April 1990 the Leningrad Philharmonic gave four concerts and received US$392.000 and in December 1990 the Sophia Philharmonic Orchestra gave four concerts and received US$95.000. In comparison to chamber music ensembles from Eastern Europe that usually receive guarantees ranging from US$1 0.000-US$40.000 the fees that the orchestras have received are indeed much larger.

As is true in all kinds of trade. imports and exports must be balanced so that friction does not arise. Thus the "musical trade deficits" that exist in Korea represent an undesirable situation. At the beginning. cultural exchanges with Eastern Europe were encouraged by the breakdown of barriers between East and West. Now the feeling among the music community here is that the situation must be viewed with somewhat more deliberate consideration.

An even more serious matter for reflection is something else. While some newspaper companies. TV networks and business firms have gone all out competing with each other in inviting these expensive groups to Korea. their snobbishness and those extra-generous guarantees have caused a great deal of hardship for our concertgoing populace. We know there a~e limits on importable American or West European groups. The same has not been true with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

For one thing. in Korea like in Japan. newspapers have often carried out the business of sponsoring tours by these groups from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Then the same newspapers have provided reviews of their performances. By necessity. such reviews at times have failed to be objective.

Exchanges on a wide basis with Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union are cef!:ainly not to be discouraged. But what's needed here too is fair play. There has not been any kind of reciprocity. No invitations have been extended from them to our musicians. orchestras and other performing troupes. Of course. behind this one-way traffic is. as I have noted earlier. an exceedingly shaky state of political and economic affairs in that large portion of the world. Still and all. the picture of this kind of exchange makes many Koreans ponder.

Compounding the sorry situation has been two well-known factors. On the one hand. poli-

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tics has taken precedence over artistic merit in our musical exchange with that portion of the world. For another. in Korea we have no professional management firms worthy of the name that could provide us with enough information and the right kind of service in organizing tours in Korea. Time and again. sections of our government or members of our mass media have gone ahead and extended the invitations. One result is telling. Some of the musicians invited to Korea have been far less proficient than our own artists.

All too often the general idea in Korea is that presenting an artist (any artist) from Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union spells good business. This impression needs to be corrected. To begin with. we should pay invited artists the right kind of fees. The excessive competition to get them to Korea gave these artists the wrong idea that they should rate more and more.

Now many of them demand - and sometimes get - above what Western confreres receive.

In the following list of orchestras that have come to Korea since 1988. the dramatic increase in groups from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union can be noted: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. Leningrad Symphony Orchestra. Moscow Soloists Ensemble. Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. Hungary's Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Poland Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra. Czech Prague Symphony Orchestra (1989). Hungary National Symphony Orchestra. Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Leningrad Philharmonic. Hungary Virtuoso Chamber Orchestra. Soviet National Symphony Orchestra. Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sophia Philharmonic Orchestra ( 1990). Northern Ireland All-Star Symphony Orchestra. Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. Moscow National Chorus. Moscow Soviet National Symphony Orchestra. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Prague Philharmonic Chorus. and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra (1991 ).

MAJOR VENUES Korea has come to open a remarkable succession of halls for musical performances. Among the best of them are:

The National Theater The National Theater of Korea opened in April 1950 for the purpose of developing an indigenous culture and advancing the performing arts. The present building which houses the National Theater opened October 17. 1973. Located in Changchung-dong. Seoul. th~ site is 57.041 square meters with a Main Hall with I. 518 seats. a Small Hall with 4 50 seats and an Administration Building of 4.406 square meters. The total floor space is 32.410 square meters.

In the Main Hall the stage area is 1.389 square meters. The revolving stage. which is 20 meters in diameter and I 0 meters deep. a large stage (41.4 square meters). and a medium (4.1 square meters) elevator stage. which is located inside the revolving stage. make possible simultaneous movement up to seven meters. The revolving stage rotates smoothly in a 180 degree arc for 60 to 200 seconds at high and low speeds. The sliding stages. each 40 meters square on both sides. can move to the center of the stage either simultaneously or separately with the stage lift.

In front of the stage. an orchestra pit capable of seating 80 makes it possible to place musicians on different levels. The stage floor facility and upper 21 types of batten are equipped with a remote control memory system to raise and lower them for artistic effect. There are 47 stage set battens and among them. 30 are automatic and 17 manual. From 1973 to Novem-

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ber 1988. the resident companies of the National Theater presented 1. 713 performances of 425 works.

The National Theater is fully equipped with a total of some 1.600 lights. When all power is engaged. the illumination level of the 1.5-meter-high stage floor can be normally maintained at 800 to 1.200 luces and on special occasions this can be raised to 2.000 to 3.000 luces.

1n the lighting control room behind the first floor auditorium. a computerized remote control memory system is set up enabling the memorization and control of 375 scenes. There is an automatic color exchanger which can automatically choose three colors and transform them.

The acoustics of the Main Hall are designed to meet the multiple needs of concert. drama. and dance performances. For concerts. an acoustic shell is utilized to produce optimum reverberation. 1.8 seconds. Other major facilities include a mixing console (32 channels). recorder. wireless microphone. delay time system. and simultaneous interpretation equipment for five languages. lTV color system in the sound control room. broadcasting equipment. and sound power room are in the Main Hall and Small Hall.

Affiliated with the National Theater are the National Chorus Company and the National Opera Company.

The National Chorus Company was the first group to seek professional .artistry in choral music in Korea. Under the direction of Professor Nah Young-su of Hanyang University. the 55-member company holds regular concerts. and also performs with the National Opera Company. To promote choral music. the chorus chooses noted Korean and Western music for its repertoire. and by performing both classical and modern music. as well as Western and Korean traditional music. it endeavors to introduce a broad range of significant music to the public. Also by holding the University Students Choral Music Presentation. the company makes clear its determination to discover new choral music.

Created in 1962 . the National Opera Company claims the longest history of all opera troupes in Korea. It includes 20 prominent singers with Professor Park Sung-won as its head. The company has performed approximately 50 operas. The major works are as follows: Don Giovanni ( 1962). Tasca (1964). Lucia (1964). La Boheme (1965). The Fl!Jing Dutchman (1974). High Priest Wonh!Jo ( 1984). Pagoda on Fire (1988). The Marriage of Figaro (1990) and Il Trovatore (1991 ).

If we look at the performances planned by the National Theater itself. in 1987 the National Chorus Company gave five different performances for a total of I 0 concerts for an audience of 8.214 people. the National Opera Company gave three different performances a total of 18 times for an audience of 14.986. In 1991. the National Chorus Company gave thre~ different presentations a total of six times for an audience of 6.32 5 (including 2.910 invited guests) while the National Opera Company gave six performances a total of 2 1 times for an audience of 24.17 4 (including 13.779 invited guests) .

Sejong Cultural Center The Sejong Cultural Center. which opened in the spring of 1978. has a total floor space of 50.727 square meters. The complex has a total of nine stories. with three underground and six above.

In the Main Hall. 3.895 spectators can enjoy either opera. a symphony orchestra. chamber music. dance or a musical. The stage can accommodate 500 persons at one time and is equipped with a revolving stage, horizontal moving stage. a stage which can be lowered and raised. sound mixing facilities and orchestra box . Additional facilities include 18 dressing rooms. six

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rehearsal rooms. a green room for performers and to the right of the stage the largest pipe organ in Korea.

In the Small Hall an audience of up to 522 can enjoy chamber music and recitals. while approximately I 00 performers can be accommodated comfortably on stage. Both the Main and Small Halls are equipped to handle simultaneous interpretation in six languages. Other facilities include an exhibition hall. large and small meeting rooms and a I. 300 seat banquet hall.

Affiliated with the Sejong Cultural Center. which is under the jurisdiction of Seoul's Cultural Tourism Bureau. are the Seoul Philhamonic Orchestra. Korean Traditional Orchestra. the Children's Choir. Youth Orchestra and Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company.

In the I 0 years after the Sejong Cultural Center was opened. 7.8 50 days have been utilized by either invited or Cultural Center-planned events. There have been 13.217 concerts and over I 0.670.000 people have visited the center. Important artists and groups from outside of Korea that have performed here include Britain's Royal Ballet. Italy's La Scala Opera. the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. the Bolshoi Opera. the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

From 1978 until 1987. outside of opera and Korean music the center has compiled a record of 2.616 performance days. 2.845 performances. and a total attendance of 3.012.824. Among these. foreign artists and groups accounted for 276 performance days. 277 performances and an audience of 55 5.168 people.

Seoul Arts Center The Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center was built to present a wide variety of music including world-class symphony orchestras. choral concerts. chamber music and recitals. as well as leading musicians from the field of light entertainment.

Since its opening on February 15 . 1988. the hall has established a reputation for superb acoustics. Because the acoustics of any concert hall are its most important feature. a number of objective tests have been undertaken which have proved that the hall has the right sound pressure and reverberation among other things .

The Main Auditorium of the Concert Hall consists of a stalls level and two tiers of balconies accommodating 2.608 seats in total. The side walls are designed so that they increase the early reflection and diffusion of sound. thus creating a sound unique to the hall. The "judicious mixture" of end-stage and arena-stage cultivates close contact between the performer? on the stage and the audience. The stage in the Concert Hall is 890 square meters while the sound room features a 28-channel input and 26-channel output mixing desk. It is possible to record live music for album production. There are three Steinway & Sons pianos. one Bosendorfer. one harpsichord. five concert grand pianos and four upright pianos for practice use.

A sufficient number of dressing rooms. instrument stores. and rehearsal rooms are provided to accommodate two full-size orchestras at the same time. Extensive facilities for the artists are provided in the backstage area which has an air of spaciousness and light.

The Recital Hall. which seats about 400 people. is a smaller scale venue for music which can also be used as a chorus rehearsal room. While the Concert Hall is specifically designed for larger music performances. the Recital Hall is adaptable to a variety of purposes. Its very form and shape are more akin to that of a small theater which enables the hall to present a diversified repertoire. including small-scale chamber music concerts. avant-garde and experimental music.

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Artist's shetch of the proposed Seoul Arts Center complex

The Recital Hall also has its own lighting and sound control room . and a Steinway piano store which enables the hall to be independent without disrupting or impinging on other activities in the Concert Hall.

Since its opening more than 1.000 performances have been held in the Concert Hall. Numerous world famous musicians have since come to perform in the hall and approximately 1.000.000 people have visited the hall. The Concert Hall has become a source of pride for Korean music lovers everywhere.

At the Seoul Arts Center there are symphony music and chamber music festivals every year aimed at presenting an opportunity to see the present level of music in Korea. In addition. to support the efforts of creative musicians in Korea the Seoul Arts Center provides a "Program to Stimulate the Creative."

Major foreign performances held here include M.L. Rostropovich cello recital. the World Choir Festival. the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. as well as the solo recitals of Nellie .Lee and Ludmilla Nam. who are famous Korean-Soviet vocalists.

In 1993 with the planned opening of the Festival Hall (the largest building in the entire complex) two major divisions. between the public zone and the performance zone. will be made.

The performance zone will be a 2.500-seat Opera House. the 800- seat Play House. and the 300-seat Studio Theater. In the Festival Hall. opera. ballet and many other combinations of performing arts will be presented. The public zone will include a restaurant. exhibition hall and a performance art studio.

In the Opera House. opera. musicals. ballet. modern dance. Korean music and traditional dance can be presented. The Play House will lend its stages to foreign and domestic theater companies. The Studio will be suited to experimental theater. dance and music.

In 1990. 303.780 guests visited the Seoul Arts Center. while from 1998 to December 1990 a total of 776.178 guests had enjoyed programs there. As of September 1991. visitors to the Seoul Arts Center had exceeded the I million mark.

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KBS Hall

KBS Hall Located in front of the Korean Broadcasting System's main building on Yoido in Seoul. the KBS Hall is designed to host concerts. opera. ballet and other performing arts genres. Seating 1.9 16 people (including the orchestra pit). the hall is equipped with ultra-modem recording. audio. lighting and stage movement systems allowing audiences to enjoy performances to the maximum. The hall is four stories above ground. with two stories below. lt encompasses some 10.000 square meters of space. In addition to this. there is a lobby. waiting room for performers. rehearsal rooms. dressing rooms as well as equipment storage rooms. Third in size after the Seoul Arts Center and the Sejong Cultural Center. the KBS Hall has an extremely versatile stage. For example. this stage can within 10 or so seconds be programmed to make a tiered stage for the use of choruses. The stage itself is also the widest at 1.950 square meters in Korea. So far the KBS Hall has attracted performances of Tasca by a Korean opera company, regular concerts by the KBS Symphony Orchestra and the Festival Choir of Krakow.

Hoam Art Hall The Hoam Art Hall is located within the main building of the Samsung Group's affiliated newspaper The Joong-ang Daily News. The hall is extremely versatile. hosting drama. dance. music and Korean music. Opened in May 198 5. the hall has filled a serious gap between large concert halls and small theaters. One of the most outstanding features of the hall is that every seat allows its occupant to enjoy the same sound quality. volume of sound and timbre. The sound system is one of the finest in the country.

This "cluster system" rneans that while visitors will of course experience a different view of the stage. what they hear will be of the exact same quality. Following the performer's preference or the particular kind of performance. the mixing table and sound curtain can be adjusted to change the reverberation. The sound system has 24 channels. the same as the system used in the Seoul Arts Center. Finally. the hall has a wireless mike set up and offers facilities for simultaneous translation into six languages. making it an excellent meeting hall as well .

The 61 3-square meter stage can accommodate 200 persons making opera or theater performances a possibility. The stage has three stage lifts 2.7m wide x 16m long as well as a 3.2m wide x 16m long stage capable of forward and backward movement and a 2.6m wide x 8m long horizontal stage for a total of seven movable stages. With remote control the stage can move forward and backward. right and left and up and down for three dimensional movec

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Little Angels Performing Arts Center

ment. In addition, there is a 3.2m x 16m orchestra box which can seat 50 persons which can be raised or lowered.

The hall has two Steinway & Sons grand pianos, one Yamaha grand piano and two Steinways for practice use. In addition there is a 66-square meter dance rehearsal room, a 165-square meter choir rehearsal room and seven individual and group dressing rooms. Important concerts held here include an Isaac Stern violin recital. Budapest Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra performance and Yoyo Ma's cello recital.

Little Angels The Little Angels Performing Arts Center which opened in November 1981 is a 1,218 seat theater built in the style of an opera house. The exterior is plastered in white which gives it its distinctive appearance. The center has a theater. one large and one medium meeting room, and two small meeting rooms. Above the 660-square meter stage are 2 5 battens and seven stage curtains. Important recent concerts include those given by the Kohl Stri~g Quartet Pinchas Zukerman and the German Karlsruhe National Ballet Company.

Education and Culture Center The Seoul Education and Culture Center has a I ,085 seat auditorium, a 449-square meter stage which can accommodate I 50 persons as well as a spacious parking lot accommodations and a restaurant. The center also has one Steinway piano and one Young Chang piano making recitals on two pianos possible. Since it opened in 1991, the center has attracted performances by the Korean Symphony Orchestra, the guitarist David Russel. the Seoul Married Couples Chorus and Jean-Pierre Rampal.

ÂŽ

(The original text of this article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREANA. This is a translation.)

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EDUCATION REQUIRES WHOLESOME BALANCE Cho Sang-hyun ince education progresses in stages through a definite set of processes. allowing no overstepping, it should be possible to describe the whole process of development.

In this article. I attempt to focus on music education through the time span of just about half a century from 1945, the year of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

S

COLONIAL RULE Education during the 36 years of Japanese colonial rule was provided basically in the same fashion as for Japanese imperial subjects. It was conducted entirely in the Japanese language.

In addition. Japanese imperial ideology and historical views permeated through virtually every subject and course taught at Korean schools. Likewise. in elementary music education. though some teaching materials were of foreign strains. 90 percent of teaching was done with Japanese songs for children. And those Japanese songs. needless to say. were sung only in Japanese in Korea.

Small wonder that even today many Koreans in their 50s or 60s. who underwent schooling back then. know more about Japanese folk songs and children's songs than about those of Korea. However, one significant fact that I must emphatically mention here concerns the important role played and the impact caused by the singing of songs in Japanese.

What I mean is not complicated. You speak with your mouth. But you sing from your heart.

Singing is accompanied by ups and downs in emotion. Even where you may feel repulsed by the song being forced upon you. you are. more often than not. inclined to follow the flow of music and are in the end captivated by the words accompanying the music.

For instance. those who have ever sung Japan's popular songs like Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) or Kojo no Tsuki (Moon Over the Ruins) may attest to the appeal of the music.

Even in music education of such an orientation. there can be no bypassing the very nature of music. In providing basic training in music. there has to be the job of cultivating an ability to read the notes and a capacity to appreciate outstanding works of music.

Up until the nation's liberation from colonial rule. you could pick up music textbooks in Japanese everywhere in Korea. It was an altogether different story with books of songs or

Born in 1924. Cho Sang-hyun majored in vocal music at Hamhung (Teachers) School. College of Music. Seoul National University (SNU). and the Vienna National College of Music. He was a professor at SNU, Hanyang University and Dongguk University. as well as an exchange professor at the Berlin National College of Music.

He served as president of the Korea Music Association and vice president of the Korea General Federation of Artistic Associations. He gave I 7 solo recitals and performed in a number of opera productions. His major publications include: Music and Thoughts in five volumes and Hills Where Music Flows. a collection of essays.

Currently. he is president of the Korean Society for Music Education and chairman of the Steering Committee.

KBS Symphony Orchestra.

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Aspiring pianist gets lesson from mother

those of children's songs published in the Korean language. Except for Seoul. none was found in our country.

LIBERATION All this changed after World War II. The demise of the Japanese Empire touched off a cataclysmic transformation in practically every field of education. And music was no exception.

Two remarkable things emerged. On a sweeping scale. Japanese and American music textbooks were translated. with little revision. into Korean. On the other hand. advanced schools of music all at once began climbing fast in number.

Sure enough. old Japanese martial songs now were all but gone. In their place came a flood of Korean songs praising the joy of liberation. patriotism and reunification of Korea.

In addition to the existing department of music at Ewha Womans University and the Kyongsong (Seoul) Music School. Kyongsong Special School of Music (the predecessor of the College of Music. Seoul National University) opened in October. 1945. Finally the art of teaching classical Western music had taken root in this country.

There followed the opening of the Department of Religious Music at Yonsei University and departments of music at Sookmyung Women's University. Hanyang University. Kyung Hee University and Chung-ang University.

Similar departments were elevated in scale and quality at other universities in Seoul. like Dongguk. Sungshin. Kon Kuk. Sang Myong. Sungshim (Sacred Heart). Christian Seminary of General Denominations. and among others. the Presbyterian Seminary.

Elsewhere in the country the tempo was just as heady. Music departments were set up at Keimyung University and Hyosong Women's University in the city of Taegu; Pusan National University, Dong-A University and Pusan Women's University in the city of Pusan. Some of them were later elevated to the status of colleges.

Chosun University. Chonnam National University in the city of Kwangju. Chonju University and Chonbuk National University in the city of Chonju also saw the birth of music departments while departments. either of music education or of music. were inaugurated in provin-

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cia! cities like Mokpo. Chinju. Masan. Kunsan. Iri. Andong. Kangnung. Chunchon. Chonan. Taejon (Chungnam National University, Mokwon University) and Chongju (Chongju University and Chungbuk National University).

The outcome is telling. Few Korean universities today are without a music department of their own.

One thing is plain. Speaking in terms of number. today¡s Korea is by no means a backward country when it comes to the question of teaching classical Western music. Behind the numerically astounding state of affairs of course is the notable fervor for music education on the part of the populace.

EVOLUTION I have earlier said that the contents of music textbooks were taken right out of those in use in Japan and the U.S. in the decade that followed the end of World War II. In that endeavor. the most demanding chore obviously was the translation of words in foreign songs into our language.

Music textbooks for middle schools (equivalent to junior high schools in some countries) and high schools (likewise. senior high schools) were first published by Kukmin Music Publishing Co. Subsequently a government rule came into force whereby it became mandatory for publishing houses to obtain a seal of approval from the Ministry of Education for all school textbooks they put out. At our primary schools. those officially sanctioned music textbooks are still in use.

In the early stage. compositions by Koreans were hard to come by. You had to hunt for Korean songs acceptable for school education. The hunt was short-lived. To begin with. some pieces by pioneering Korean composers like Hong Nanpa and Hyon Je-myong made their way into teaching materials. Soon an inundation of songs by Korean composers with a high musical standard made the selection process hard work indeed for textbook editors and publishers.

Another issue is worth particular mention. I talk of Korea's traditional music, a highly sensitive part of the culture in our country. Our Education Ministry made the right decision by introducing it to our middle and high school students through their music textbooks. This remarkable development took place while departments of Korean traditional music were opened at a number of universities and colleges. Experts in Korea's traditional music have now begun to play a memorable role in the nation's music education. .

Then there was the matter of giving special training to talented youngsters in their teens.

It called for the establishment of special music schools at the level of middle and high schools.

Thus the funding foundation of prestigious Ewha Girls' Middle and High Schools, the Ewha Foundation. opened Seoul Arts High School to offer courses in music (as well as art. dance and the like) to aspiring musicians. This was followed by the birth of a middle school of the same kind.

This was an epoch-making was made possible by the director of the foundation. Shin Bongjo. who was a great pioneer in the development of Korean music.

Subsequently. Sonhwa High and Middle Arts Schools came into being. So well equipped are these schools that their founders are justifiably proud of them. The recent opening of Kyewon High and Middle Arts Schools has been another event worth mentioning. Art high schools have also been founded in the cities of Pusan and Taegu. All these special schools have been contributing considerably to the development of music education in Korea.

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One thing to be recorded here is the fact that although arts high schools are designed to prepare students for advanced courses at colleges of music. two-thirds of their graduates find it hard to enter such colleges . Only one-third of them succeed.

Why? Clearly because the fiercely competitive entrance tests cover. in addition to music. customary academic subjects. like foreign languages. and those that might have nothing to do with music.

Many of those students who have failed in the entrance examination but who nevertheless excel in their chosen fields of music continue their studies abroad. But this rule would apply only to girls from wealthy families. Most of the unsuccessful boys would then have no choice but to submit themselves to the obligatory military service. In Korea. it still is the conscription system.

This might not be the right kind of educational climate for developing youths with a rich endowment in music. To cope with this reality. the government is preparing to open a conservatory.

My view is that even at arts schools the basic emphasis should be placed on preparing the student for good citizenship first and most of all.

What then to do? Once again my .view is to bridge the academic gap that exists between arts schools and ordinary middle or high schools by means of correct curriculum selection .

But the problem is complex. What I propose may well put an additional burden on teachers and students alike at arts schools.

This issue still remains unsolved.

MUSIC COLLEGES ¡ Many unanswered questions also exist with today¡s university departments of music or music colleges.

Topping the list of these questions is a familiar one - about money. You have to have mountains of money to run these schools. just consider the cost of building concert halls. practice rooms and faculty halls. let alone the purchase of pianos and other instruments. How to raise enough funds? I must say that nothing has been basically solved about this question.

Another nagging question is structural in nature: which of the colleges should play the leading role in conducting music education? If the goal is to produce music teachers. then the leadership should be shouldered by teachers¡ colleges. If. on the other hand. the purpose is to turn out musicians. then the leadership should belong to colleges of liberal arts and sciences.

So endlessly goes the argument. The fact is. realities in our country at present make it impossible to draw a sharp line of demarcation in the problem.

Most departments of music have grown into colleges of music. Annually they enroll 300 to 600 students each and assign groups of up to 60 of them to each of the specific fields.

Seldom are opera and conducting included among these fields. I therefore say that there should be more specialization to make our music education both efficient and practical.

Undeniably music education is costly. This gives legitimacy to the argument that only those schools funded by the government should give advanced courses in music. But then the existing situation makes it hard to advance such arguments. Consider the fact that some of our private universities have opened their music colleges as something of a status symbol.

In music education. it is imperative to have a clear-cut idea of what role should be played by music in the development of the national spirit.

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If indeed we Koreans are musically gifted. as many foreign experts say, then we must concentrate on improving the quality of our music education. This point I believe, is made clear by the activities of those talent scouts sent to Korea to hunt for talented youths for training at the finest of music schools in the U.S. or Britain. They are sent here for one reason: the level of teaching at our music colleges is not highly regarded overseas.

ISSUES Music education in Korea often reminds me of a dense forest. There are talented people or trees big enough to rate attention from outside. By that I mean the expanding parade of internationally recognized Korean musicians.

But where the sun is. there have to be shadows. I talk of those denied the benefit of the sunshine in what looks like a luxuriant forest. They have no choice but to struggle to survive or disappear.

Many say that the fervor for education among Koreans is quite extraordinary. But the fever for music education makes itself felt even more strongly.

True. this national obsession for music education has contributed to the growth of music in our culture; but even so. it has given rise to a number of absurdities at the same time.

What's needed is the laying of a progressive and academic foundation for our music education. Instead. our music world seems hell-bent on copying what externally attracts the eye about music in the West.

Virtuosity is often regarded as the ultimate purpose of advanced music education. Not surprisingly, many of our musicians are obsessed with the desire to win some kind of international recognition.

What differentiates Korea from many other countries is the fact that just about 80 percent of regular concertgoers are young people. This phenomenon promises a bright future for music in Korea. At the same time it might herald a decline in traditional Korean music.

Genuine advances in music are only possible where creativity is encouraged. The growth of such creativity in Korea. in my view. is often hindered by a lack of popular and official support. Lacking too is a stimulus, guidance or encouragement expectable only where constructive criticism exists.

Though music education needs a definite direction in light of national interests. the policy set forth by the Ministry of Education is yet to play its due role.

There are problems too about teaching methods at many of our colleges of music. This point is time and again marked by a great jump seen in the number of our music students opting to be enrolled at foreign schools.

There is no shortcut in education. I sound a warning against any attempt at making a big leap in a short span of time without drawing up any definite course of development for the future.

ON THE AIR Some 70 percent of radio and TV programs involve music. Thus there is no need to remind people of the importance of music in TV and radio programs. Then too it should be effective to use music in assessing the quality of broadcasting in general.

Koreans are well known as aficionados of music. The main relevant question here lies in

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the choice of the kind or kinds of music for broadcasting: between so-called pop and classical.

In my opinion. 70 percent of Western music on the air should be classical and the rest (30 percent) pop. But what's happening on the air is the other way around. There is far more pop on the air than classical. I dwell on this fact because the influence of broadcast music is bound to be a social issue.

If pop music is wholesome. nobody would complain. However. when the coarse variety of music. or the kind often used in commercials. or of the vulgar category heard only at night spots. freely creeps into the living rooms of our youths. the consequences could not be wholesome.

The impact of such programming could easily do away, in a matter of only a week or two. with all the benefits of music education given on the elementary school level. This would make school music education hardly viable. This kind of dangerous situation exists not only in Korea but also in many other parts of the world today.

There is no denying the importance of broadcasting. However. I hold the view that the scope of mental damage inflicted upon youths by unwholesome TV and radio programs is alarming.

Recently there was a plan afoot in Korea for reducing the amount of music education in the school system. I am against such a plan. My opinion indeed is that youths in our country should be exposed to classical Western music as much as possible. Our youths should be exposed to it even at bedtime in the interest of elevating the quality of their sentimental education.

ORIENTATION We simply have to review time and again the fundamental purpose of music education . I do not deny the value of bringing up infant prodigies. Still and all. this is all but outweighed by the need for improving sentimental education for the Korean people as a whole.

In the eyes of so many in our country. the individual performing excellence outweighs everything else in music education . They even place top priority on developing the knack of copping first place in international concours.

This is not the fault of music students or their parents. Just think of the fact that even military service is exempted or deferred in case a young wizard wins top honors at well-known international contests. In sum. all norms in our society are oriented in that direction . Then it should be apparent that there has been much deviation from the truly fundamental purpose of music education.

In recent years. a parade of Korean students has been winning international contests. I applaud this. Even so. I say that this kind of achievement should represent but one aspect of our music education and that the big job of it is to inculcate in the nation the ability to be moved by beautiful music. And in that endeavor we still have a long way to go.

TEACHERS What is the stance held by our music teachers or music professors? By and large. they always insist on constant practice by students.

In the first place I must say that there have been no proper programs for leadership training.

In the second. I have to observe that there have been no serious efforts taken to identify new trends in music in many parts of the world. That kind of effort is vital in constantly coming

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up with an updated methodology for proper music education. Outdated methods and a sense of complacency seem to have benumbed our ability to take up new theories for innovative teaching programs.

There are some professors of piano or vocal music at our music colleges who seem to classify themselves as pianists or vocalists first and as teachers second.

Contrary to what they profess to be. not even once a year would they hold a recital. Instead. they seem dedicated to burying themselves all day long in the professor's room to give lessons. There are many professors who take on a workload of instruction far beyond what they can handle. I continue to be mystified by this because such professors could hardly contribute to the progress of music education in our country.

ISME (International Society for Music Education) The 20th ISME meeting takes place in Seoul from july 26 through August I. 1992 . This means that the biennial meeting will open for the second time in Asia . The first one took place in Tokyo in 1963 . Many difficulties have been overcome before Seoul came to be picked as a host for the occasion. But there are still many more difficulties awaiting solution before the opening in Seoul.

The meeting should be historically meaningful for the sake of music education. It is expected to become a moment of great importance in stimulating our sluggish world of music education.

The occasion will be a festival highlighting a number of outstanding performing groups from around the world. These groups will represent a wide range of music education. including educational theories for ~tudents in primary, middle and high schools as well as colleges - and society in general.

The meeting will promote practical exchanges of music culture. It should prove enlightening to those who call themselves leaders in Korea's music education. To our delight. active participation is expected to come from music teachers from all over our country.

Our long-standing contacts will be updated with music education in Germany, the U.S. and Japan. just as important. we expect to be enlightened in what has been happening in the Middle East. Africa and around Asia.

In an age when countries in the the world are becoming closer and closer together. accordingly intensified exchanges must take place in music education. For this reason. I. as a music educator. must urge as widespread a participation as possible in the meeting by fellow¡ educators in Korea.

Music does not exist for entertainment alone. Likewise music education is not only for teaching people how to sing. Music is a profoundly significant tool for the improvement of the human mind.

Outstanding foreign theories and techniques have enabled many of our young and brilliant performers to gain international recognition. Now the duty is upon us to solidify the foundation for the development of wholesome music education for tomorrow.

Then. and then alone can we feel certain that the music of gifted Koreans will cast its brilliant beams throughout the world.

ÂŽ

(The original text of this article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREANA. This is a translation.)

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TONS OF WON NEEDED FOR MUSIC INDUSTRY Tak Gye-seok

ecause of the inherent cultural background and social structure of each country. arts themselves have developed in manners that are obviously different from one country to another.

B

Sure enough. in introducing and adapting Western music to the milieu of Asiatic culture you inevitably run into a variety of problems. First you witness a clash and then a process of reconciliation and finally a fusion for progress. Not always has it followed this pattern. Misunderstanding and rejection instead have from time to time marred the same process.

The history of Western music is short in Korea. It reached these shores only a little over I 00 years ago. Two major obstacles hindered its initial development. To begin with. there prevailed the oppressive Japanese colonial rule for 36 years until liberation in I 945. Then came the Korean War that lasted three devastating years until I 953.

Eventually Korea's economy began to take off. Together with the soaring economy. the acceptance of Western classical music by the populace also started rising fast. Indeed our country has since undergone a sweeping social. political and cultural transformation. There has even been the emergence of a new class of people - the nouveau riche.

Accelerating the change have been many social improvement crusades. like the Saemaul (New Community) Movement. Similarly the rapid rise in the quality of school education has contributed significantly to the change.

Has the world of classical Western music in Korea kept abreast of this drastic reformation?

You can say safely that the world is still in a transitional phase. Thus the answer to that question can only be yes and no. On the surface the change here can be described even as revolutionary. But deep down. especially in those aspects where money counts. the mot juste for the prevailing situation today could well be tortuous. In this article I attempt to explain the reason why.

SYMBOL OF POVERTY Even as recently as the I 960s. many artists in our country found themselves being collectively regarded as a symbol of poverty. Youngsters attached to the image a touch of envy and romanticism.

Tak Gye-seok. born in I 953. majored in vocal music at Kyung Hee University and received his master's degree from his alma mater. Formerly in charge of classical music at Seung Eum Record Co .. he is currently editor of The Monthly Journal of Audio and The Monthly Journal of Music. He is also a member of the Korean Music Critics Association.

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Then. too. some violinists and pianists were already appearing in the focal point of the limelight. Among them were violin ists like Chung Kyung-wha. Kim Young-uck and Kang Dongsuk. There also was pianist Han Dong-il. Suddenly, they were famous. honored and. even more stunning, rich. It was like a dream come true for themselves and many of their fellow musicians.

This group of musicians for once helped make their art rate the right kind of recognition.

They helped too to enlarge the scope of audiences capable of appreciating their type of artistry.

Through the I 970s. studying music abroad was beyond the reach of most aspiring musicians for reasons that often were at once economic and social (for instance the mandatory military service). Not surprisingly. graduates of music schools overseas were warmly welcomed on return home and frequently given the position of professor. then among the most respected of metiers possible.

Soon thereafter came a turning point in education in various fields of artistic endeavor. Now many parents who themselves had been unable to study at advanced halls of learning began to fulfill their youthful aspirations by providing tons of money, effort and time in order to make it possible for their offspring to undergo the best kind of education.

This transitional phase played a significant role between Korea's music movement and music industry. The wealthy parents' investment in education inescapably ended up offering a tremendous contribution towards upgrading and expanding Korea's manpower in artistic fields.

Yet a strict succession of controls and regulations enforced in Korea restricted rather than encouraged the surge of creativity among music students.

But then restrictive officials in charge were gradually replaced by a new generation of administrators who knew better what to do and how to do it.

Finally in 1988. a new government policy opened the door for all students wishing to study music overseas. An army of them took advantage of the new rule. Two years later the first contingent of them returned home and showed what they had learned outside Korea by performing at almost innumerable recitals in Seoul.

All at once there was a brave new change in Korea's musical atmosphere. A drive was kicked off among these returned artists to form new performing groups. This has Jed to a qualitative improvement of performances and in turn to the building of a foundation for a music industry.

TOP ORCHESTRAS Consider KBS Symphony Orchestra (KSO). now one of the top organizations of its. kind in our country. Inaugurated in 1956 and known originally as the National Symphony Orchestra. this is one of the finest symphony orchestras in Korea. In I 969 it was given the right to manage the National Theater and in 1981 became the KBS Symphony Orchestra after having been taken over by the KBS radio and television networks.

This orchestra now gives more than 90 concerts a year. Among them are 16 subscription concerts. performances in the countryside and those for broadcasting.

The budget for the orchestra: approximately 2 billion won (roughly equivalent to $US2.6 million). The annual salary stands at 18 million won ($US23.600) for leading members. at 12 million won ($US15.700) for "core" members and at 7.2 million won ($US9.470) for newly appointed members. And conductors? The amounts vary depending of course on the number of concerts they handle.

Almost all members of the orchestra are university graduates or graduates of arts high schools.

Many earn a side income from lecturing and/or teaching at various institutions. Some of them

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KBS Symphony Orchestra

also perform in chamber music ensembles. Others give private lessons. Not surprisingly. these members register a sense of satisfaction with their mode of life.

There is. however. one difference between the KSO and top world-class orchestras. While those leading orchestras make a great deal of money recording. the KSO has not been asked to follow suit.

Once again. why? Clearly the answer concerns the KBS's artistic standard and the fact that none of the Korean composers has attained an international level of recognition. Besides. the recording techniques in Korea still have a long way to go before becoming acceptable to experts around the world.

The KSO will launch its 1992 season by performing once again at the Seoul Arts Center. the KBS Hall and elsewhere. At these concerts. subscription members are entitled to discount tickets. These subscribers account for about 30 percent of the orchestra's audience. The budget for running the orchestra comes from public broadcasting funds. Predictably the income from the sale of tickets has been far from enough to sustain the orchestra's existence. .

Up till now the orchestra has given more than 400 regular concerts. Officials say that the orchestra will continue to place special emphasis on featuring Korean musicians and composers in many of its future concerts.

Originally a naval band. the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) is just as well-known in Korea as the KSO. To date it has chalked up the largest number of concerts - more than 460.

Like their KSO confreres. the SPO members often take time off to serve as teachers at universities. perform in chamber music ensembles and give private lessons. Chung Chai-dong. its permanent conductor for 20 years. retired in 1990. Both the KSO and SPO share the same old problem. Due in part to poor management and public relations work. sales of tickets for its concerts are invariably slow.

Nevertheless. the SPO and its members bravely continue their uphill financial battle. People would ask what makes this kind of battle possible. The answer is obvious: the members¡ love for music.

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PRIVATE ORCHESTRAS Essentially it is the same financial story all over again with practically all private or nonprofessional symphony orchestras around the country. So too is it with municipal orchestras that number more than I 0 in Korea. For lack of funds. they perform only several times a year.

Work. though. is under way to make them self-supporting.

Among the private outfits. the Korean Symphony Orchestra. launched in 1985. is best known .

It consists of 70 members and the conductor-cum-music director works basically without pay.

Its lot improved since 1989 when the Ssangyong business group began providing it with an annual grant of 300 million won (roughly $US400.000). Now the orchestra gives nine regular concerts a year. in addition to six concerts for teenagers. It performs also in the countryside. with chorus groups and for even ballet or opera companies.

For a private orchestra. the budget is large: I billion won ($USI.3 million) a year. By the same token. the income for its members is high by the Korean standard: 6 million won ($US7 1890) a year for new members and 15 million won ($USI9.700) for core members. Sales of tickets: only 25 million won ($US38.200) per year.

To try to cover deficits. the orchestra went ahead and produced recordings of the hymns by the National Choir Ensemble. Plans are afoot to produce recordings on a long-term basis.

The hard-working orchestra on the other hand made a great success in performing with a 5.000-member choral ensemble and annually holds music camps to give musically gifted children some special training during their school vacations . All this has been attracting keen attention on the part of many music enthusiasts.

And then there is still another private orchestra that needs to be mentioned. It is the Seoul Symphony Orchestra. founded in 1987. Lee )in-kwon serves it as music director and permanent conductor. The orchestra has made itself famous for featuring a different guest conductor for each of its concerts. It receives a yearly grant to the tune of 600 million won ( $US789.000) from Ssangbangul Corporation.

This orchestra is highly energetic. It gives 55 concerts a year. Twenty of them are specially designed to serve and enlighten youthful concertgoers . Here guest conductors are paid I million won (SUS I. 300) per concert.

CHAMBER MUSIC Let me now explore the economic aspects of some of the chamber music ensembles in the country today. Here too the picture is only too familiar. There exists tons of love and indeed passion for music. But money. or the glaring shortage of it speaks.

Consisting of 60 members and founded in 1974. the Seoul Wind Ensemble runs on a shoestring annual budget of 180 million won ($US2 36.800). For the members there are no such luxuries as fixed salaries. Instead. each of them gets a "remuneration fee" to the tune of 50.000 won ($US75) for the service of taking part in a performance. The ensemble annually gives about 30 concerts. including regularly scheduled performances and appearances at university festivals.

Earnings from these activities amount to 120 million won ($US I 57 .800) a year. Help in the form of 20 million won ($US26.300) is extended annually by the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation. The ensemble battles on under the baton of Suh Hyun-suk. the founding conductor.

The remuneration for 25 members of the Korean Festival Ensemble is better: 200.000 won ($US263) each per concert. Sure enough. most of the members are pros from major orchestras such as the KSO or SPO.

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Park Eun-hee, a concert pianist serves as its conductor as well as music director. The outfit owns its own concert hall with around 200 seats. In addition to its regular concerts, it hosts a week-long chamber music festival twice a year.

This highly motivated and professional ensemble continues to strive to present the best of chamber music in Korea. Its annual budget 200 million won ($US263, I 00). Twenty percent of it represents ticket sales and hall rentals. another 20 percent the income from the subscription fee and 50 percent the revenues from corporate angels and advertisements.

Better still is the performance fee for the 15 select members of the Seoul Sinfonietta. The rate: I million won ($US I. 300) per concert. In 1991 the ensemble gave 12 scheduled concerts.

8 invitational concerts and one performance for adolescents. The size of its budget 2 50 million won ($US328.900) . The group is headed by Kim Young-jun. conductor and violinist for the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ever since the mid-1980s the number of chamber music groups has been steeply climbing.

About I 0 of them are born each year. Rising too has been the scope of attendance at chamber music concerts. The attendance can still rise. And the future of chamber music in Korea is bright indeed.

OPERA Verdi's La Traviata was the first opera presented in Korea . That memorable performance took place in 1948- well over 40 long years ago. Still and all. opera. of all the genres of Western classical music. has been suffering most from the shortage of financial help.

This fact will take nobody by surprise. Even so, I have to pay homage to a long parade of dedicated Korean vocalists with their burning sense of mission. Above anybody else, they have carried the crushing burden for the development of opera in our country.

Their passionate. and at times even desperate, crusade still continues to break through the financial brick wall. Thanks to their single-minded campaign. the operatic movement in Korea will be promoted in the years to come. in particular. when an opera house is opened in the Seoul Arts Center complex next year. Founded in I 962. the National Opera Company this year celebrates its 30th anniversary. In the span of three decades. the company presented a total of 70 performances which included I 3 Korean opera presentations.

For the onset the troupe performed twice a year. Now. up to five performances a year are produced. among them at least one created in Korea is required to be performed. Th~ repertoire in 1991 included Donizetti's L'Eiisir. Mozart's Don Giovanni and Verdi's ll Trovatore together with a Korean opera.

There are 30 regular members in the company. They receive no fixed salaries but are paid in a singular manner. Lead singers are paid 2.5 million won ($3.200) each and vocalists shouldering minor roles 1.5 million won ($US! .900) each. But the pay covers the recipient's appearance in several performances of a given opera.

This is a government-run company. But the tendency is all too apparent the more it produces. the more it loses money. There has been a perennial slump in ticket sales. And production costs keep rising. Many of the tickets "sold" are complimentary ones issued to woo concertgoers.

Established in 1983 and affiliated with the Sejong Cultural Center, the Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company will give its I Oth performance in the course of 1992. The format of this company is in many ways similar to that of the National Opera. So too is the story of its finances.

There are. besides the National Opera and Seoul Metropolitan. some private companies.

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Scene from Korean opera Cflunfiyangion performed

by Kim Cha Kyung Opera Company

The best known among them is the Kim Cha Kyung Opera Company. The company is named after its founder. once a renowned soprano. Founded in 1968. this company has done a great deal in popularizing opera in Korea. It has to date performed 45 works. The troupe now is headed by Kang Hwa-ja. a mezzo-soprano.

The Seoul Opera Company is another private organization - and something of an anomaly.

It has successfully chalked up profits from the sale of tickets for its performances. The leader of this troupe is Kim Bong-im. dean of the College of Music at Kyung Hee University. Launched in 1975. the hard-working company has so far produced 27 works. Its financial success has much depended on the wide range of supporters including some wealthy businessmen.

There are still other companies. like the Kukje Opera Company and Opera Company ¡sangsol Mudae.¡ Both are doing their best to bring in a breath of fresh air into the field . I must also take my hat off to Kim 11-kyu. He has done much to promote Italian operas in Korea.

Covering symphonic and chamber music as well as opera. the foregoing survey should make one thing evident enough: classical Western music is a tough business in Korea.

Even so. future prospects are not so pessimistic. Consider those sellout concerts by foreign orchestras and musicians. The public loves good music in our country. There is no reason to doubt that there will be long queues of concertgoers to attend performances by Korean artists in the future.

Korea. as I have said. is in a transitional phase when it comes to Western classical music.

Nobody can say that there is no bright tomorrow for the music business in our country.

@ (The original text of this article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREANA. This

is a translation.)

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UPHILL BAITLE GOES ON FOR CELEBRATING OPERA Han Sang-woo

or the fundamental transfer of music from the West to the East. an operatic movement.

I believe. has to get going. An opera production is not like a singer's recital. It has to mobilize and synthesize a mountain of talent from a long parade of artists and specialists in diverse fields. And yes. it has to transcend the lines of demarcation between dance. drama and even art - all Western style. Sure enough. the result of all this. at its best. achieves tremendous appeal to people from all walks of life.

In the musical history of the West. Dafne. composed by Italian composers Caccini and Peri in I 597. is regarded as the beginning of opera. However. the oldest opera with its notes extant to date is Euridice written in I 600. and it was in Venice that opera's first theater was built in 1637.

The fact that the first theater for opera was built Jess than 50 years after the birth of the first opera must mean but one thing. Not until or unless it is performed at a theater specially designed and built for its type of renderings could an opera generate its naturally broad appeal. Take for instance the post-Romantic master of opera in Germany. Richard Wagner. He designed and built the Wagner Festival Theater in Bayreuth to make his operas look and sound far better than elsewhere.

Indeed the mecca of opera is Italy. Most of the popular operas have been composed by Italians. But opera is something that always produces a universal identity. In most countries where opera is performed today. the consensus is that it's a form of musical art that can and must accomplish fusion with their own traditional culture. In fact. the general public in these countries invariably consider opera an integral part of their own¡ artistLc heritage. Not surprisingly. when we think of opera we find ourselves thinking of the need of coming out with an original opera of our own. ¡ "The Western version of music" was first introduced to Korea in I 885 when American missionaries brought over church hymns. These missionaries for once made many other types of Western music audible in Korea. Not until after the turn of the century were any earnest kind of musical activities in Korea noticeable. In fact. the first song composed in terms of Western music in Korea dates back to the 1920s. That song was titled "Pongsonhwa" (Balsam Flower) and composed by Hong Nanpa. The span of our history in Western music covers on ly a little over 60 years.

F

Born in 1938. Han Sang-woo studied at the College of Music. Seoul National University. From 1969 to I 984. he taught at Kyonggi Middle School and served as a member of the Broadcasting Commission at Munhwa Broadcasting Co. He currently serves as director of music at Seoul Arts High School. and director of the Korean Music Association. He is a member of the Korea Public Performance Ethics Committee.

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FIRST OPERA As a matter of fact. Korea first saw an operatic performance in October 1940. a full five years before the liberation of our country from Japanese colonial rule. That month. Tokyo 's Fujiwara Opera Company presented Carmen at Seoul's Municipal Hall (Puminkwan). But we had to wait until the close of World War II for the kickoff of Korea's Opera Year One. Fortunately, some Korean vocalists had until then done studies not only in Japan but in the Western world.

Among them was a remarkable fellow named Yi In-son. He was a doctor. But he had too good a voice to practice medicine for long. He journeyed to Italy in 193 I and formally studied the bel canto style of singing. This is the man who would found. after Korea regained sovereignty, the nation's first opera company - Kukje Opera Sa (International Opera Company). And thanks to Yi and his company, Korea finally staged a full-scale opera. La Traviata by Verdi. on January I 6. I 948 at Citizens¡ Hall (Shikongkwan) in Myong-dong. Seoul.

The outcome would leave few opera experts stunned today. It was both a triumph and a disaster. A triumph because the performance marked a brave new chapter in the musical annals of Korea. a disaster because the distance was awesome between the box office receipts and the production cost. But Yi was no ordinary man. Through gargantuan endeavors. he raised funds enough to cover the losses. That was not all. In but four months. in response to overwhelming popular demand he staged again La Traviata in Seoul.

Indeed his was the first opera company in Korea. Yi's choice of the term sa. literally meaning company, for the name of his outfit was right. Practically every light music band in Korea then labeled themselves with the term dan meaning troupe. Yi had made sure that his heavyweight organization was not for light music but nothing less than a sa in fact and name.

Another opera performance followed in the same year: Gounod's Faust was staged under the sponsorship of the Korean-French Cultural Association. In I 950. Yi's Kukje was at it again with another production of Carmen. Then Yi In-son went to the U.S. to do some more studies.

But there he died soon afterwards.

Now the war broke out in June 1950 - the Korean War. But a month before the war's outbreak. it must be noted. Korea's first original opera was put on stage. This was Cftunftyangjon (based on the popular story about a chaste girl whose name means spring fragrance). composed by Hyon Je-myong. Hyon. originally a vocalist. has written many songs and built his opera around one of Korea's best known folk stories. For the production of it he not only served as conductor but also designed the mise en scene too. The resu It was a resounding success. It was such a hit with the public that in the midst of the war subsequently it was staged again in the city of Taegu. then a center for wartime refugees. His opera did great work comforting the weary souls of civilians fleeing from the advancing North Korean troops. \

NATIONAL COMPANY Up until the National Opera Company was inaugurated with government help in I 962. the struggling opera movement in Korea saw productions of. all told. I 2 Western operas. in addition to three created in Korea . They were presented by companies like Yi In-son's Kukje, Seoul Opera. Prima Opera and Koryo Opera. One after another. though. these companies were disbanded for a variety of reasons including one of money, after having produced two or three operas each.

The National Opera Company made its debut in 1962 with the premiere performance of Chang Il-nam's original opera. Wangja Hodong (Prince Hodong). And that marked the opening

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of a new age in Korea's opera movement. With government help. the National Opera Company found it relatively easy to expand the scope of its repertoire. a fact that should go into the annals of music in Korea as the starting point of a second era in its opera movement.

The company's headquarters later was moved from Myong-dong in the teeming heart of Seoul to the more elegant neighborhood of Changchung-dong. The company has since been producing an opera twice or thrice a year. having recorded to date about 60 of its regular performances.

Of the private groups. on the other side. the Kim Cha Kyung Opera Company has been particularly active. It has presented about 40 performances since its inauguration in 1968. Then there is another private outfit the Seoul Opera Company. founded in 1975. So far it has produced 30 full-scale operas. Currently, the Consultative Council for Directors of Private Opera Companies is working hard. seeking ways and means of making these companies stronger.

Active companies in Korea today include the National Opera and the Seoul Metropolitan Opera. Both are run on the strength of government funds. On the private side are Kukje Opera.

Hyundai Opera. Asian Opera. Opera Company 'Maru.' Opera Company ¡sangsol Mudae¡ in Seoul. Taegu Opera. Yongnam Opera. Kyemyong Opera. and Chungnam Opera and some others in provincial regions - all private bodies.

In most of the foreign countries. established opera companies own an orchestra of their own and sometimes even a theater of their own. Besides. they would have a more or less permanent conductor. music director. chorus members and technical staff.

On the other hand. those main singers. called the flowers of opera. do not necessarily have exclusive contracts but will be free to pick what roles they would want to shoulder in each of the new productions.

But as the world of music knows well enough. opera doesn't make money. To make it alive and thriving. there simply have to be some subsidies either from government big firms or devoted individual angels.

Now let us take a good look at the state of affairs in our country. That state of affairs is. to say the least far from a happy state of affairs.

NO SCALA To begin with. there are no regularly paid members with any of our outfits. And that includes the National Opera. The outcome is no La Scala. Each time a production is mounted everything must be done from scratch. And that includes the booking of a theater for the proposed performance. the enlisting of those flowers of opera. the hiring of an orchestra. the selecting of a conductor and yes. the rounding up of chorus members. And more often than not the understanding among them is shallow. if it exists at all. about such basic questions like what opera is. Besides. the use of a multi-purpose theater. though inevitable. spells a sea of technical difficulties.

In the end the passion of opera enthusiasts among our midst triumphs. and an opera gets staged. Their noble passion. we are sure. will lead to the laying of a foundation for the future.

But the situation in the meantime is full of discouraging facts.

Among them is our concern about money, for even in art money speaks. What I mean is that for all their passion. some of the movers of opera in our country do not seem to be serious enough about the basic matter of money. In staging an opera. you have to go all out selling tickets. But some of our opera folks seem more concerned about saving face than bowing to sell tickets - and cover the production cost.

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Marriage of Figaro performed by Kukje Opera Company

And then there is the question of collaboration among specialists from diverse fields. like designers and choreographers. They have to work hard. and do so in as great a harmony as possible with each other. And that seems to be too tough a proposition to be swallowed by these specialists.

Then as I have said earlier. opera can only grow on the strength of support from the general public. That means. there is no other way to go but to try to do our best to elevate the number of opera lovers. And once again. in order to elevate that basic number. we have to be far more money-conscious than now. By the same token. these specialists must also be artisanlike. in the finest sense of the word. in collaborating with one another while preparing and mounting a production.

And then there are a few other basic things we also have to do. First and most of all. we have to hunt for operatic singers. They of course have to be excellent singers. to begin with.

But they too must carry a sense of presence and dramatic capabilities.

What I mean is common sense. A good singer is not necessarily a good operatic singer.

Instead. we have in Korea experienced a number of cases where after hard soliciting a star vocalist performed in an opera only to face a disastrous consequence. Every member of a cast must be selected with this kind of consequence in mind.

Similarly we have to have a conductor well versed in the intricacies of opera. And precisely the same applies to the choice of an orchestra. These might amount to problems that would become only academic once we have a special opera house. with its own permanent conductor and orchestra. But we don't.

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of a conductor in opera. One good example is the case of Paris' Bastille Opera House.

When Korean conductor Chung Myung-whun was appointed music director-cum-conductor. a howling controversy was kicked off. and this attests to the important role of a conductor in opera.

Third is the need to form an organization of specialists. In other words. there should be a team composed of a director. stage artist. costume specialist. lighting technician and so on to harmonize the endeavors of their respective staff.

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Fourth is the need to mobilize operatic audiences. In music. creation. performing and appreciation each have equal weight forming sort of a triumvirate. However. appreciation belongs to the audience. Thus. audiences formed through forcible mobilization or complimentary tickets can never promise success for an opera.

RAISON D'ETRE Apart from the foregoing list of problems. the fact also is that there are many people who question the raison d'etre of opera Western style in Korea and demand to know if it is cu lturally compatible with us Koreans.

As a matter of fact some experts put forward a strong argument that our traditional pansori. a sort of one-man opera. could be modernized to form an operatic art. To do so. they also insist in it our time-honored chang singing technique might be incorporated. Though the argument in some ways is valid enough. it is by no means a panacea for our many problems.

Opera is a complicated business. And I have to point also to the matter of language barriers. A Russian drama is best appreciated when performed in Russian. It of course is precisely the same story with Italian operas. They sound the best when performed in Italian. So our singers are told to sing them in the original language Then again it is tough for our singers to come forth with the more or less correct Italian pronunciation of Italian words in any Italian opera. Similar difficulties are encountered in German operas. Quite often. the words are mispronounced. This by no means is a faux pas confined to our singers. Instead. in the process of dubbing foreign movies and TV programs, similar mistakes are often made in Korea.

But consider the plight of our audience. When sung in foreign tongues. these foreign operas turn into nothing but mumbo jumbo. to even those members of the audience who speak those foreign tongues. Inescapably. the singers on stage will begin spotting shockingly big yawns among their audience.

What to do? One way out is to create an original opera in Korean for Korean audiences.

Here's what obviously could be done and indeed has been done in creating an original Korean opera.

First there has to be a text. This. of course. is not a script for a movie. Instead, practically

Scene from Korean opera Cfwyong

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every word in it must be chosen for singing. The text then is turned over to a composer. The outcome? Once presented on stage, the result often dies a very prompt death.

Why? The reasons are many. One irony is that many of our singers. trained in either the Italian (bel canto) or German style of singing. frequently find it difficult to sing in Korean and to pronounce Korean words properly in the process.

On the other hand. the composers. when commissioned to do an original. frequently find themselves in the horns of a dilemma. They are not at all sure whether they should go classical or avant-garde - or even Korean - in composing the music. And these are but some of the barriers that have to be penetrated by our artists in coming out with a good original opera.

ORIGINAL OPERA As I have pointed out earlier. we have by now about 20 original operas created and staged in Korea. The first one is Chungh~angjon by Hyon Je-myong.

Worthy of particular mention among them is Nongae (the title comes from the name of a Korean kisaeng (professional female entertainer) who in the process of killing a hated Japanese samurai killed herself). composed by Hong Yun-taik. Taking the form of Western opera. it succeeds in harmonizing a high music standard and popular appeal.

And then there is Shimchongjon (based on a popular Korean folk tale on the theme of filial devotion whose heroine is Shimchong). composed by Kim Dong-jin. This is a piece in which the composer successfully took advantage of our traditional chang singing technique in an opera form. Then too is Cho~ong, composed by Lee Yong-jo. The piece. commissioned by the National Theater of Korea. has an idiosyncratic. modern air reflecting the Korean contents in a fantastic overtone.

The Korean composer who has so far produced the greatest number of Korean original operas is Chang II-nam. High Priest Wonh~o (on the theme of great Buddhist Wonhyo) and Chunh~angjon are among his works that are often put on stage.

In recent years. interest in Korean operas has been heightened. and the National Opera Company puts on stage one one-act opera at the National Theater's Small Hall a year. This seems to draw a favorable response from the general public.

Most popular foreign operas in Korea are (I) La Traviata. (2) Carmen. (3) Tasca. (4) Madame Butterfi~. (5) La Boheme. (6) The Barber of Seville. (7) Aida and. (8) The Marriage of Figaro. in that order.

We have come a long way from the first performance of La Traviata in Korea a little more than 40 years ago. And a third era in our tortuous operatic movement might be opened with the completion of an opera house now under construction in one corner of Seoul Arts Center.

Our economy is improving. Our political stability is gaining ground. Our artistic community is steadily elevating its level of quality. And the public is becoming more and more interested in arts. including of course classical Western music and opera.

And in spite of all the difficulties. we still have an adequate number of passionate operatic workers. The future of opera in Korea is far from gloomy. But for the full flowering of it we need the expression of more generosity on the part of our business community for opera not as an object of commercial investment but as a mark of their contribution to the general well-being of our nation. @

(The original text of this article was written in Korean and wntributed for exclusive use is a translation.)

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PAN MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS NEW HORIZONS Kim Choon-mee

he Pan Music Festival has long been a brave new autumn institution for all with a keen interest in contemporary music around the world. It has indeed grown into something of an international nerve center for coordinating the job of advancing contemporary music. And its history already covers a span of more than 20 years .

The term "Pan" is similar to the first syllable in the Korean term pansori. a narrative musical form. and as a single syllable. has several meanings like "a place to play or gamble" or "a scene. place or stage where something takes place." The term "Pan" in English similarly has several meanings. like "involving all of a specified group" and can also refer to the "pan flute" in Greek mythology. The word "Pan." embracing several meanings in. both Korean and English. might reflect the nature of the Pan Music Festival. which is diverse in its content and objectives. though all concern contemporary music.

The Pan Music Festival as a matter of fact serves several purposes. First. it offers all manner of information about current musical events taking place in various countries. Second. it serves as a platform on which the universal language of contemporary music can be creatively used.

Third. it explores new possibilities for a harmonious fusion of the traditional and the contemporary in music. Fourth. it plays an important role in attempting to integrate specialized fields of art. through positive interaction between music and other areas of art. Fifth. it is a means of informing the world of what's happening about contemporary music in Korea.

The festival has been doing its share of promoting a better understanding of contemporary music for audiences and composers. and has also given the continued support needed to produce new works in this fast-expanding. and highly exciting. field.

The first festival got going in 1969. Then it was called the Seoul Contemporary Music Festival. Young Korean composers began to take keen interest in contemporary music and its development around the world after the liberation of our country from Japanese rule. And that interest led to the establishment of the festival. Contemporary music back in those days was not warmly received even among music experts. Only a handful of musicians and critics perceived its importance and paved the way for its progress in Korea.

In the first festival. works by composers Paik Nam-june. Kang Sukhi. Bahk Jun-sang and others were performed. Played too were works by internationally renowned composers like John Cage.

Pierre Boulez. Karlheinz Stockhausen and Earl Brown. Twelve works were performed. Paik Namjune' s composition incorporated sexual themes and touched off an amusing stir.

But support for the festival in the form of money and public understanding was hard to come by. To begin with. it was not possible to hold the festival every year. The second festival did not take place until 197 1. This time around it was called the Seoul Biennial for Contem-

T

Born in 1955. Kim C~oon-mee graduated from t~e College of Music. Seoul National University (SNU) and received ~er M.A and P~.D. in musicology from Mic~igan State University. S~e is currently teaching at SNU and working as a music critic. S~e aut~ored a number of publications on music.

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Artus String Quartet from Germany, 1987

porary Music. This occasion lasted two days. The first day was devoted to seminars dealing with the trend in contemporary music and the second day to performances by chamber ensembles and piano soloist Klaus Billing. Something funny then happened.

At first. some of the officials of the festival were against the idea of holding it that year because they were convinced that a very limited attendance was bound to make it a financial disaster. When it did open after much ado. these officials were pleasantly surprised to see the venue. an auditorium seating 4.000. was packed beyond capacity. Nothing. though. had been printed in advance for a program. The sequence and contents of festival activities had to be announced time and again by means of a public address system to the audience.

It was a stunning success. at least in terms of the size of attendance. Billing took one stunned look at the huge turnout and declared that Korea was "a paradise for contemporary music."

In fact. the festival has yet to reach such a paradise.

The third festival. now called "Space 75." was staged in 1975 at the National Theater and the Space Theater. The second theater was imaginatively designed by architect Kim Swoogeun. Bigger in scale than the first two festivals. this event lasted all of three days. Presented were as many as 26 compositions. 20 of which were performed for the first time in Korea and five others for the first time in the world. The festival leitmotif was an unprecedented attempt at synthesizing the features of Korean and Western music. It was also designed to enable Korean audiences to discover the contemporary aspects of Korea's tradition in music.

A variety of pieces were presented. including films. dances and of course contemporary music works. Hong Shin-ja's dance. Pessimism of Han. was especially noteworthy. So was Kang Sukhi's "Three Way Dialogue." which incorporated in it several genres like electronic sounds. a dance drama and motion picture. It created some shock waves through the audience. "Space 75" finally amounted to an attempt at breaking through some old barriers in arts. More importantly. it tried to bridge the gap between the audience and the composer.

Composer Kang Sukhi now assumed the leadership of the festival. with assistance from his teacher !sang Yun and other artists like Paik Byung-Dong. Kim Chung-gil. Choe In-chan. and among others. Hwang Byong-ki.

In 1976. the event was finally called the Pan Music Festival. The same year. Luciano Serio's "Sequenza Vlll for Solo Violin" was premiered. and a new area of music. one opened by me-

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ans of computers. was introduced with over 50 works. making it the focal point of the fourth Pan Music Festival.

The festival has since accomplished a great deaL featuring many important developments. the first of which was the "Composer's Portarit:' The program was designed to shed new light on the life and works of a number of controversial contemporary composers including Albert Reiman. Philip Corner. Luigi Nono. Iannis Xenakis and Boris Blacher. Through the program the undying spirit of those artists who struggled to attain their ultimate artistic goal was newly appreciated. There is. though. one sad memory about the program in 1989. devoted to Lugi No no. The composer himself was going to be present at the festival. But his illness prevented him from coming to Seoul and he passed away the following year.

Korea's role as the host of an increasingly important festival in itself has been significant.

For the first time Korea began to play an active role as something of an international champion for the development of contemporary music. And the community of luminaries in the field of contemporary music from around the world started descending on Seoul. They not only showed their work but also registered a deep interest in the musical heritage of Korea. This in turn has served as a catalyst for Korean musicians to realize the true value of our country's heritage in music.

SAMULNORI In 1979. an impressive performance of kut. a traditional shamanist rite. was held along with other traditional Korean performances. Among them was Samulnori with four performers. each playing a different percussion instrument. So too was pansori. a narrative musical form unique to Korea. These performances allowed Korean composers and musicians to look at their ancestral music from an entirely new viewpoint. That meant a good opportunity for the revitalization of our musical tradition.

The festival has naturally served as an ideal forum for all manner of discussion. There too were introduced the results of many experiments. A strong emphasis has always been placed on the question of computer music. electronic music and theatrical music. Of the topics discussed in 1985. special note should be made of the seminar "New Tonal Music." Reinhard Febel's lecture. "Tonality After Its Catastrophe" and Belgian musicologist Hermann Sabbe's lecture "Case History of New Tonality" examined the role of the "new tonality" and its role in contemporary music. Peter Sloterdijk's lecture then followed. with inquiries about t~e psychology and the force behind this new area of music.

Performances by Ensemble 13 gave us another look at the state of contemporary music in the world at the I 3th Pan Music Festival. This fiesta took place. for a change. in Karlsruhe.

Germany, in 1985. Topics such as "New Music for Children" in 1977. "Music and Language" in 1988 and more recently "The Seoul-Berlin Festival" which followed the fall of the Berlin Wall all typify significant themes that the festival has taken up.

The festival has also played a meaningful role by showing a deep concern for the younger generation of composers. It has offered them programs titled "Young Korean Composers" and "Young European Composers." These programs made it possible for composers in their 20s and 30s to unveil their works. This is probably one of the key contributions that the festival has made. The fruits of its labor can directly be seen with the recognition that young Korean composers have attracted attention from around the world.

The festival's success is underlined by the fact that in 1991 five works by Korean composers

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were selected by the International Society for Contemporary Music (!SCM). This is an indication that Korea has definite potential to expand its horizons in contemporary music and serve as a center for the development of contemporary music in Asia.

The Pan Music Festival owes much of its success to many brilliant performers. including the Het Trio. the Arditi String Quartet Siegfried Palm. the Trio Exvoco. the KBS Symphony Orchestra. the Tokyo Flute Orchestra. James Fulkerson. Folkmar Hein. Zygmund Krauze and a number of other organizations.

The I 984 festival included a workshop concert. Performed then were works picked through an international competition. In it many composers from around the world including Japan took part.

In addition to these events, the festival has also served as an opportunity for the performance of ethnic music. Jazz has been played time and again. And then pieces incorporated in dances and dramas were studied. Opening concerts held in the evening have been especially exciting and appealing to artists. The steadily increasing audience always showed great enthusiasm. With up to 300 performers participating now. this festival in the East can be considered one of the leading music festivals of its kind in the world.

Looking at the festival in retrospect one cannot overlook the brand of leadership exercised by its director. Kang Sukhi. His contribution to it has been great indeed. He of course has been one of the main movers and doers behind the development of contemporary music in Korea. His meetings with !sang Yun. once a political dissident have had a profound influence on his life and work.

Kang Sukhi opened the "Contemporary Music Festival" for the first time in Seoul in I 969.

He then was 3 5. He has dedicated so much of his time and efforts to the Pan Music Festival.

In I 969 he was quoted as saying in an interview with The Seoul Shinmun. a national daily: "At first glance. contemporary music appears to break away from the traditional mold. In reality, it is actually a continuation of traditional music." That philosophy has changed not a bit.

But he has lately dropped hints that the time might have already come for him to hand over the leadership of the festival to members of a younger generation.

Let us take a look at more recent developments in the Pan Music Festival. The festival in I 990 lasted a full week. with the opening concert featuring Schoenberg's 3 Chamber Symphonies.

Boris Blacher's opera Abstract. and Kurt Weil's opera The Seven Sins of the Bourgeoisie. Participating in this event were soloists. as well as the Seoul Symphony Orchestra. the Seoul Symphony Choir. Minjug Drama Company and the Korean Percussion Ensemble. Blacher and Weil's works gave audiences a fresh and exciting insight into what could be achieved when contemporary music is combined with drama.

Next on the program was Robert Darroll and Kang Sukhi's joint work "Experimental Film and Music." This was presented at the National Museum of Contemporary Art along with "Experimental Film and Tape of the Netherlands." Composers such as Ramon Gonzales-Arroyo, Fritz Weiland, Keats Tazalaar and Nicolas Hopkins were present. Then a performance of Fritz Weiland's work "About the Wetness of the Baltimore Aquarium and the Dryness of Florence" followed. It was a world premiere. The Seoul Baroque Chamber Ensemble performed works

by Korea's leading composers such as Kim Chung-gil. Suh Kyung-sun and Paik Byung-dong.

The Korea Festival Ensemble performed works by Boris Blacher. Zsolt Durko. Doming Lam and Yi Manbang. "Composer's Portrait" gave a rare opportunity to hear lectures about Boris Blacher's works that number in excess of 200 and also to hear actual performances of some of them.

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Het Trio from Amsterdam, 1987

Composers and performers came from around Asia . Featured was The Masunaga Ensemble. The Tokyo Flute Orchestra which played Ryohei Hirose's works and Korean compositions provided a memorable performance.

The Havenith Quartet now stepped forward with an absorbing performance of a work that combines Bach and contemporary music. The Concert for Orchestral Music offered Chang Cheng-iek's "Nam-fiae for Orchestra." Zoltan )eney's "Something Like for 25 Strings" and Boris Blacher's "Second Piano Concerto." The Seoul National University Orchestra took part in the Workshop Concert for Young Korean Composers. There too an exciting performance was given by the Leonardo Quartet.

The political actualities in both divided Korea and unified Germany led to the "Seoul-Berlin Festival" in 1991. The Hans Eisler Ensemble. which had endured hardship under communist rule in East Germany, performed works by East and West German composers. This caused a keen audience reaction. Lectures were also given. shedding some light on the development of contemporary music in what used to be East Germany. The Pan Music Festival in 1991 sharply reflected the global commotions caused by the upheavals in Europe.

The title "Seoul-Berlin Festival" will be used for the festival in Berlin in 1992 . Plans are under way to dispatch Korean traditional music troupes and to enable our contemporary music ensembles to play with their German counterparts . It is also hoped that troupes from 9ermany, Switzerland. Japan. the U.S. and Norway with the !SCM Ensemble will join us for the Pan Music Festival in 1992. We also look forward to the latest developments presented in all areas. including electronic music. computer music. film music. tape music and improvisations.

The Pan Music Festival has become a familiar and important event for lovers of contemporary music around the world. It has been a tremendous force in dispelling many of the misconceptions about contemporary music. It has attracted a steadily increasing audience. The major Korean TV network. KBS. covered the festival last year. That kind of thing was unthinkable at the onset of the festival's history.

Over the years a long list of organizations has come to support the festival in earnest. Among these supporters. we particularly would want to mention with a deep sense of gratitude the Goethe Institute. the French Cultural Center. the British Council. the Netherlands Cultural Center. the Japanese Cultural Center. the U.S. Information Service. the International Cultural Society of Korea (now the Korea Foundation) and the Wukyong Cultural Foundation. @

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KOREANA Interview

BRAVE NEW TOMORROW AWAITS KOREAN MUSIC PAK YONG--KU Music critic ew people in Korea would be more qualified to discuss music .than Pak. Yong-ku. He began writing about music as long ago as 1937 when fie graduated from a mus1c college 1n Tokyo. Pak has s1nce been at 1t so actively that many of his admirers call him the dean of music criticism in Korea. Pak has also distinguished himself in many other fields. He has created operas. He has founded a musical company. He has written plays.

In his output as a playwright is a flaunting 1983 tragedy. titled Hukpi (Downpour) and set against the final bloody days of Dr. Rflee Syngman's regime. Eighteen years ago fie became the founding charter member of the Music PEN Club. probably the most respected grouping of music critics in Korea. Its membership now ranges from philosophers to sociologists.

In a recent interview with KOREANA. Pak took a nard look at the musical scene in Korea today and gave a penetrating discourse. Excerpts:

F

KOREANA: What's wrong with musical activities in Korea today?

Pak: As the old saying goes. "All that glitters is not gold." l must say that so many of us engaged in musical activities in Korea today seem to have completely forgotten the basic purpose of it all.

K: And what would that be?

P: Let me first of all characterize the background. As has been dwelled upon time and again in a number of articles appearing in this issue. ours has been an inauspicious history. Western music was introduced to Korea before the turn of the century. But soon afterwards.

Japanese colonial rule got under way. What followed was almost inevitable. Korea then had no choice but to swallow what must be categorized as a Japanized version of Western music. So forceful was this process that our fundamental tradition in music nearly died away.

Following our liberation from colonial rule. there emerged an earnest attempt at reviving many aspects of our musical heritage. This exceedingly promising movement was initiated in the main by those Korean students of music who had returned home from Japan. Indeed these pioneers championed that cause in the hope of ushering in what they thought would be a brave new tomorrow of music in our country. Then. for the first time. a brand of music

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Pak Yong-ku

at once promising and unique was about to materialize in our musical endeavors when another disaster struck us. I mean t he Korean War. In its wake. what had been about to bloom was all but killed.

K: Do you mean to say that musical endeavors worth mentioning got going only after the Korean War?

P: Precisely.

K: And today?

P: What we see today is an unhappy confrontational situation. On the one hand. there is the music of the rock-and-pop variety and on the other. classical Western music. The gap continues to deepen endlessly.

K: What then must be done?

P: Of course. we must do everything possible to bridge the gap. One way to help achieve that job would be to encourage the creation of more and more musicals incorporating Korean themes and traditional music styles. That's the reason why I founded the Yegrin Musica l Company a long time ago. the first one of its kind in this country.

Reunification of Korea on the other hand might possibly help. too. Up in North Korea there exists what could pass for a national music style. It is highly nationalistic. accordingly

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xenophobic and political. Dictatorial though the political backdrop to it is. here at least are no musical gaps of the kind from which we suffer in the South. When reunificaiton on this peninsula is achieved, then a fusion might follow in the musical institution between North and South. Then possibly - I say possibly - the outcome might be a community of music devoid of the gap I am talking about. But again I must stress that this could amount to wishful thinking.

K: What, however, do you think must be done in South Korea right now - before reunification?

P: So I come back to your first question and the first portion of my reply.

Ultimately all our creative efforts in music must be dedicated to coming out with a form of music rooted in Korea and effective in advancing the glories of music. We have to produce our own Dvorak or Sibelius.

And we have to do something even more constructive. I think of our time-honored propensity of mixing music with dance. Down through the ages in Korea. wherever there was music there was dance. Our instinct makes it hard to sever the fundamental ties between the two forms of our artistic energy.

Obviously we should take advantage of this happy tradition in combining music. dance and drama. and stage the fruit on a heroic scale outdoors. Such a musical spectacle. shown around the globe via satellite relay systems. should create a truly meaningful genre in music that would enrich the musical heritage of the world.

I think we could do that. Consider what proved to be a fantastic hit around the world - our spectacular opening and closing pageants for the I 988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

We Koreans are a very richly endowed people when it comes to music. We have brains enough, talent enough, and energy enough to do that.

We have a Jot of work to do in the immediate future. But I'm not at all pessimistic about our musical future. I'm sure we will succeed in this gigentic task that lies ahead of us.

ÂŽ

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Reviewtrheater

THEATER FESTS SCORE SUCCESS Han Sang-chul

ast year in Korea was "The Year of Theater and Cinema." It featured a series of perfor-

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mances and events .. and r~~ched its climax with the I 5th Seoul Theater Festival (September) and the Asia Pacific Theater Festival (October). ¡ The Seoul Theater Festival is an annual review of the Korean theater and is open only to Korean plays. Last year it saw the premieres of five new plays and presentation of the three best productions of the preceding season . The eight entries. with the exception of one musical. were straight dramas. While no major change or progress was found in the craft of playwrights. remarkable development was seen in the domain of directing and set design .

In particular. Family Taking to the Road. written by Kim Eyu-kyung and directed by Lee Yun-taek who had come home to Korea after participating in the Essen Theater Festival in Germany last summer. was an outstanding production. It was indeed a memorable exercise in realism. expressionism and surrealism. though the plot merely explores the life of a well-known Korean artist. Sure enough. it copped the best play award at the Seoul Theater Festival.

The Asia Pacific Theater Festival. as an extension of the Seoul Theater Festival. was designed to commemorate The Year of Theater and Cinema and offered dramas from countries around the Pacific rim and elsewhere. The occasion was designed to pose a question: could you or should you take advantage of the cultural legacy of your neighboring countries in the interest of developing modern theater? A symposium on the same theme was held in parallel with the presentation of drama works .

Participants included the "Ginga Tesudo" Theater Company and Tokyo Engeki (Drama) Ensemble of Japan. Laboratorio De Artes Escenicas of Mexico. Bread and Puppet Theater of the U.S.. Contemporary Legend Theater of Taiwan. Wybrzeze Theater of Poland and Leningrad Bolshoi Drama Theater of Russia.

The two participants from Japan performed modern plays built around Japanese legends.

The Legend of Eight Dogs. created by "Ginga Tesudo" Theater Company. one of Japan's local theater groups. amounted to a memorable modern musical and was full of brilliant directing ideas:

Han Sang-chul. a well-known drama critic who was born in 1936 and who graduated from the English Department of Yonsei University Graduate School. presently serves as professor of English literature at Hallim University. He has co-authored such works as Understanding Modern Drama and A Collection of Works by Korean Dramatists of Today.

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Columbus: The New World Order

by Bread and Puppet Theater. USA.

The use of contemporary music and novel lighting methods left the Korean audience captivat¡ ed. In contrast to this rustic drama. Lost in a Flurrlj of Cherries by Tokyo Engeki Ensemble was both gorgeous and mysterious. A relationship develops between bandits and a woman from an aristocratic family. It is bewitching and beautiful as the story unfolds itself in a cascade of falling cherry blossom petals.

Japan's traditional estheticism and chromatic sensibility were fully exhibited. Then the peculiar mechanism of psychology innate to Japanese women and the bandits' strange way of life were exquisitely amusing. However. an excessive dependence on modern stage techniques seemed to dilute the deep meanings implied in the legendary atmosphere and poetic metaphors. As in the case of The Legend of Eight Dogs. though. the language barrier was a problem to most members of the Korean audience.

The mime presentation from Mexico was a realistic depiction of everyday work as suggested by its title: The Works and the Daljs. The production. however. was devoid of any notable features and so was the performance of the mimer.

Bread and Puppet Theater from the U.S. staged Columbus: The New World Order. as prt=sented during its summer tour of Europe. Because the company had such an impact on American theater in the 1960s. its visit to Seoul touched off a keen sense of curiosity and expectation among Korean theatergoers who had heard so much about it. They were not disappointed.

Once exposed to a live presentation. the Seoul audience was surprised indeed to see its unique style.

Divided into two parts. the performance was given inside the theater on the first day and outdoors - just outside the National Theater - on the second day. Part I dramatizes the arrival in the New World of Columbus and Part II typifies the manner of ensuing plundering by his men. The work is sobering because of its message: while Columbus¡ arrival in the New World is said to have spelt an advancement of Christendom. it actually meant another exercise in imperialism.

While following the story of Columbus in Part I. the production gives a narration at each

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turn of the scene to say how killing machines were mobilized in the Gulf War last year and how many lives and resources were done away with in consequence. Bread and Puppet's viewpoint is marked. In relating Columbus' arrival on the American continent. the play seeks to sound a warning by saying that the tragedy that dates 500 years back has been repeated.

The staging by Bread and Puppet. while maintaining the rustic and simple air as in the past. still played up its agitprop character. The sense of rusticity achieved by the images of puppets and their costumes had something perfectly familiar for the Korean audience. The company's excellent brand of dramaturgy for delivering messages must have been quite instructive to those Korean dramatists who championed the cause of staging political plays through the 1980s.

However. the company seems to have lost much of its vitality and vigor which I witnessed in New York back in the 1980s.

The company from Taiwan offered an extraordinary and indeed exciting version of Shakespeare's Macbeth in the legitimate fashion of Chinese tradition . The Kingdom of Desire borrowed the story line from Macbeth. though the names of characters and locality are different.

Another departure consists of the deletion of the part where the son of the murdered king escapes from the country.

The work. based on the traditional style of Peking Opera. added a considerable amount of modernistic coloration in singing. Similarly the tradition of stylized. or symbolic. acting was replaced by realistic performance. In other words. it was an attempt at achieving innovation on the basis of tradition . Acrobatics by soldiers were outstanding and the hero was played by a highly competent pro.

However. much of Shakespeare's poetic dialogue by necessity lost its glaze in the process of transformation. This weakened the sublime sense of tragedy. The death scene of Macbeth was spectacular. Wounded by an arrow. Macbeth falls straight down from the top of a soaring rock .

The two companies from Poland and the Soviet Union. specially invited on account of the keen interest generated by the upheavals in Eastern Europe, provided performances that were possibly the highlight of the festival. A lbert Camus¡ Caligula by the Polish company caused a considerable sensation because of its extraordinary use of stage space beyond the dimensions of common sense. The play used not only the center and down stage but the entire space for the audience; seats for the audience were temporarily installed upstage.

As a result. the audience was drawn into an illusion whereby they felt as though they were taking part in the play in the role of the audience for a play within a play. Then the audience on stage were able to watch the play being unfurled in the space ordinarily set aside for the audience. It gave them a fresh vista. The audience was led to utter cries when the front curtain. being used on the set to symbolize a great wall. was raised to reveal the empty stage of an auditorium of great size. The strange behavior and thoughts of Emperor Caligula in search of absolute freedom were expertly presented on stage, which was bare except for a few beach benches. Much of what went on in the play broke through the language barrier and made it understood by the Korean theatergoers.

This was possible. thanks to the excellent acting of all members of the cast. The actor shouldering the demanding role of Caligula acted Caligula so well that he needed no special costume or make-up. Especially when he showed up on stage disguised as Venus. spontaneous cries of astonishment went up from the audience. The play demonstrated the theory of Grotowski's

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Kingdom of Desire Chinese version of Macbeth by Contemporary Legend Theater. Taiwan .

"The Poor Theater." though it used a different methodology.

Supreme acting was exhibited in Ostrovsky's Balzaminov: Scenes from the Moscow Life from Russia. In a satirical comedy about the empty dreams of Balzaminov wishing to marry a wealthy woman. the comical acting by the hero was a masterpiece, appropriately supported by those playing his mother and the matchmaker. The changing tempo of actors' movement against an incessant flood of noise made by people. animals and other sources marked the essence inherent in comedy.

The institution of international theater festival is worth encouraging. It seeks to promot~ mutual understanding and exchanges between peoples through drama. In this respect the Asia Pacific Theater Festival was a great success.

ÂŽ

(The original text of this article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREAN A. This is a translation.)

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Review/Dance

DANCE FESTS HELP PROVINCIAL TROUPES Kim Chae-hyun

n the last several decades. it has been pointed out time and again that the concentrating of all cultural and artistic activities in Seoul is a habit that should be corrected. Of course. because social concerns are concentrated on economic development. not even the residents of Seoul have received enough cultural benefits. Still. the general opinion is that Seoulites have been doing .much better than people in the provinces. Provincial people and culture and arts are obviously viewed as being totally unrelated.

Things being as they are. the feeling of being neglected is quite severe in the provinces.

There has been much public outcry that this should be remedied. but it has been ignored in cultural policies and cultural activities. Recently, however. with travel to anywhere in the country in a day having becoming possible and with the institution of local autonomy, the equal distribution of cultural benefits is becoming an important social issue. In other words. the establishment of provincial cultural identities is becoming more and more obvious owing to the provincial residents' own self-awareness and to the activation of new cultural policies.

Consequently. the expansion of art into the provinces and the substantial growth in the number of art enthusiasts in the provinces has become a major art issue in the nineties.

This is very analogous with the issue that the Korean art community is represented by a Seoul face. The creation of an art form that reflects Korean reality. the Korean ethos. and Korean cosmology is an urgent matter that challenges every field of Korean art. Japanese rule. Western influence. national disasters like the Korean War. economy-oriented development plans. and failures in the education policy are the major causes of the decline in art enthusiasts since the beginning of the twentieth century. Public outcry for a national identity in Korean arts and varied attempts by artists to comply with this can be interpreted as efforts to achieve selfreliance in Korean society.

From this standpoint. two dance festivals deserve special note: the Third National Dance Festival of Municipal Troupes held in October. and the Fourth Interregional Dance Festival

I

Born in 1954. Kim Chae-hyun graduated from the Department of Philosophy. Seoul National University. and obtained a master's degree in aesthetics from his alma mater. Since 1986. Kim has been teaching the aesthetics of dance at Sea Won University and has been active as a dance critic. The author of Dance and Our Life. published in 1989. Kim has also produced several discourses including "Research on the Nature of Aesthetic Experience."

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held in November. These two festivals have contributed to the reactivation of provincial dance activities. which is doubly meaningful because it is happening simultaneously with the institution of local autonomy.

This year's Third National Dance Festival of Municipal Troupes was participated in by eight municipal troupes from SeouL Kwangju, Pusan. Taegu, Taechon. Inchon. Mokpo and Cheju.

It lasted all of six days. National dance troupes are ubiquitous in nations all over the world and it is no different in Korea where there are about I 5 government-sponsored troupes such as the National Dance Troupe and the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Troupe.

In Korea. where dance troupes have no popular support. government-sponsored dance troupes have the benefit of security and enjoy better facilities and conditions which allow more concentration on artistic activities than privately supported troupes. The government-sponsored troupes have been established during the past 20 years. Their quality has been rather low because their artistic independence and creativity has not been protected by the bureaucrats of government agencies under whose jurisdiction these troupes exist.

The most creative of the municipal dance troupes is the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Troupe which was established in 197 5 and is devoted mainly to theatrical dance performances. It is recognized as a troupe which has succeeded in staging theatrical dances of a Korean style.

The next most active one is the Kwangju Municipal Troupe which was established in 1976.

Its major goal is to Koreanize classical ballet and. because of this emphasis on ballet it is sometimes called the Kwangju Municipal Ballet Troupe. These two troupes are two forerunners in the Koreanization of theatrical dance and classical ballet.

The other municipal troupes did not do much until two or three years ago when they began making attempts at self-improvement. They tried to increase their audiences by increasing their number of performances and also by upgrading the quality of their performances. However. the truth is that in places other than Seoul, the environment for dance. not to mention the general overall cultural environment is. to put it bluntly, not very good. Accordingly, their attempts have not been very successful. But it is also only natural that they are experiencing difficulties for it has only been a few years since they became aware of the need for selfimprovement.

So one is not supposed to find high quality theatrical performances in these festivals. but to find and reevaluate every weak point of each of the municipal troupes based on its performance. In the First National Festival of Municipal Dance Troupes which was held in 1989. there were drastic differences in quality among the participating troupes. However. as was clearly seen in the last festivaL the gaps had been reduced, which shows that the festivals have contributed to the improvement of these troupes. StilL the quality of this year's performances leaves much to be desired, a fact that prompts me to say that the environment for provincial troupes is still not satisfactory.

In Korea, the works performed by municipal dance troupes are classified as theatrical dances for indoor proscenium stages. So obviously indoor theater facilities are a basic requirement for every municipal dance troupe. But until a few years ago, few municipal dance troupes had such basic facilities. One can imagine the difficulties the municipal dance troupes faced; they not only had the difficulty of getting performers but the added difficulty of getting facilities.

These problems are the major reasons for the low quality of the performances.

In other words. a lack of creative desire stemming from a poor environment for dance is

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Zoom performed by Modern Dance Troupe

a problem that all municipal dance troupes are facing. That is why I have been emphatically urging the improvement of the environment for dance. The general elevation of the quality of this year's festival and the elevation of the dramaturgy of dance. including the staging and use of props. appears to indicate that there has been some improvement in the dance environment and an increased awareness on the part of directors. It appears that we can now safely hope that performances are going to be better.

In this year's festival. the Taegu Municipal Dance Troupe performed Carl Orff's Carmina Bureana. boldly costuming all the female dancers in white. It highlighted in a light touch the religious image of life. Regrettably, the Taegu Municipal Troupe could not take full credit for the performance as the choreography was done by a visiting choreographer. However. it shows that even a poor dance troupe can become top rate if only it has a top rate choreographer. In the same vein. the. Kwangju Municipal Dance Troupe. which has been pursuing the Koreanization of classical ballet for the last I 5 years and was rather successful last year. displayed an ability equal to many ballet troupes in Seoul.

In the past five or six years. dance has been gaining attention as an artistic genre that is growing properly. However. there are heaps of tasks to be overcome if it is to grow properly.

Even in Seoul. the center of Korean culture and art, dance audiences are small in number.

Given this reality, dance would not exist if not for the dedication of the dancers themselves.

But we cannot expect such dedication forever. so we should provide an environment where dance can exist on its own. Dance can only exist on its own if it has a substantial following.

But as mentioned before. it is rather premature to expect substantial audiences in the provinces. The most we can hope for is an increase in continued and regular performances by the troupes.

Vol. 6 No. I KOREAN A 1992

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It always takes a lot of courage for a dancer or a troupe to organize a performance, so the idea of an interregional dance festival such as the Fourth Interregional Dance Festival seems very good. The Fourth Interregional Dance Festival was encouraging because many dancers worked together for many days in one place.

For the provinces, where the very survival of dance is very precarious, the Fourth Interregional Dance Festival was like a sweet rain in time of drought. Held in Chonju, Collabuk-do with the participation of nine troupes from SeouL Pusan, Kwangju, and Taegu, it presented a gift of various dances to the provincial people. Dancers, artists, art lovers, and journalists of the Chonju region said that they were encouraged by the festival which opened their eyes to dance. Of special note is that this festival included outdoor performances in Naejangsan National Park which naturally introduced dance to the myriad tourists who came to the park to enjoy the autumn leaves.

Next year, the interregional dance festival is going to be held in the port city of Pusan. Because the city is a traditional bastion of dance, the festival will probably turn into a seaside cultural festival. @

(The original text of this article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREANA. This is a translation.)

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Vol. 6 No. I KOREAN A 1992

Review/Cinema

NO BLOCKBUSTERS, NO CRITICAL HITS Lee Seung--ku

ast year was a dull period in Korean cinema. Nothing particularly noteworthy took place.

There came no commercial blockbusters. Nor was there any heaven-moving critical triumph. What happened could be summed up as follows. In spite of a fear that the industry would be intimidated by a flood of foreign imports, it proved at least productive.

Produced were. all told. more than I 00 films.

Nevertheless. seven or eight films. less than I 0 percent of the movies made in 1991. attracted to varying degrees the attention of Korean moviegoers. The rest reached almost nowhere -- commercially or critically. Indeed it would not be an exaggeration to say that the output was meant on the whole to satisfy the screen quota system which requires local theaters to run domestic products for a certain period of time each year.

Among the films that deserve a mention here are Fly High Run Far. My Love My Bride. Who

L

Saw the Dragon's Claws?, Silver Stallion. Arirang of Susan Brink. An Admiration of Death. Scattered Name.

A Portrait of Young Day. and Berlin Report. Unfortunately. not even half of these films could make money.

Fly High Run Far was directed by Im Kwon-taek. one of the most prominent Korean cineastes.

Although the film was well-financed and highly evaluated by critics and many members of its audience. it was not a box-office hit. Director Im indeed succeeds in conveying his message about the saga of the highest priest of Tonghak (a reformist ideology that gained ground in Korea more than a century ago). Choe Shi-hyong. who battled for the cause of nonviolence.

Yes. it was artistically a fine performance. But most moviegoers turned a cold shoulder to the film because its theme was too solemn to make it entertaining. The film reminds us of the plain old fact of life in cinema: fun. as well as artistic value. is of great importance to the success of a film.

My Love My Bride was directed by Yi Myong-se. a promising young artist. He made his debut with Gagman. which rated favorable reviews from critics for its fresh planning and new format of movie-making. My Love My Bridge was released early in I 991 and was for the year something rare: a major hit. The major elements of its success were not only its fun but also its

Lee Seung-ku is a professor of cinema at Chung-ang University. He has written extensively about cinema in various publications in Seoul. Currently a member of the Korean Film Academy. he received his M.A. from Columbia University in 1980.

Vol. 6 No. I KOREAN A 1992

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Scene from Fly High Run Far

starring actors. teen-idols Choe Jin-shil and Park Chung-hun. ThP.ir acting was outstanding. It is about a just-married couple and features several episodes that occur as they embark on a new life together. It was virtually the only movie of the year that was more or less successful artistically and commercially. And yes. it reminded some filmmakers in Korea of that eternal wisdom: movies. if well-made. can also be successful.

Who Saw the Dragon's Claws? was directed by Kang Wu-sok. another young man. Opening scenes are shocking: a former security commander being attacked by terrorists and an opposition presidential candidate making love to his mistress. Little else is. The movie's main claim to significance seems to lie in one fact it is political. Political films have long been considered taboo in Korea . Although it attracted the public's attention just because it is a political movie and accordingly features a political conspiracy, the film failed commercially. Critics said that it used "an overly American style" and that it was spent in the pursuit of too many themes.

The film was also criticized for its propensity toward commercialism.

Arirang of Susan Brink is about a Korean girl adopted abroad. Since it is based on a true story, it touched the audience more deeply than most fictional tales. Director Chang Kil-su. who made this movie. is the busiest man of the year in his business. He also directed Silver Stallion.

Actress Yi Hye-suk. who starred in Silver Stallion. won the Best Actress award at the 1991 Montreal World Film Festival. and director Chang the Best Screenplay award. The movie studies how war can dehumanize humans and examines the bondage of custom in the process of being severed by war. It invited a discussion of whether it is an anti-American movie. It is based on a novel with the same title written by Ahn Chong-hyo.

An Admiration of Death. directed by Kim Ho-sun. is a sad love story of a married intellectual and a singer under Japanese colonial rule. It was well received by young audiences. Actress Chang Mi-hee. who has not appeared on the big screen for a long time. performed the role of Yun Shim-dok well. Technical problems like the discordance of scenes and sounds caused disappointment.

Scattered Name. directed by Chong Ji-yong. is a pure love story about a young Buddhist monk

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Vol. 6 No. I KOR EAN A 1992

Scene from

Silver Stallion

and nun. and is like a beautiful poem. But it nevertheless was a fiasco commercially.

A Portrait of Young Days was directed by Kwak Ji-kyun. Based on a best-selling novel written

by Yi Mun-yol. it is about a young man who recalls his soul-searching journey and tries to find truth in life. It reminds many members of its audience of their younger days. Some criticized it for its facile inclination toward aestheticism.

Berlin Report. directed by Park Kwang-soo. whose controversial works include Cflilsu and Mansu and Tfley. Like Us. takes up the weighty theme of divided Korea. The story follows an adopted Korean brother and sister against the backdrop of unified Germany. Some critics said the intention of the director was good. Not the quality of the direction.

The problem of the Korean cinema community is shown in most.of the rest of the films produced in 1991 . They all seem to share an idle thinking that the video rights would guarantee a certain level of income. The fact that not one film for students released during the months of July and August was successful makes it hard for us to understand if our movie makers really understand their audience. In order to cope with imported foreign movies. especially entertaining American movies distributed directly by American companies. Korean movie makers should think hard and do much. much better.

ÂŽ

(Tfle original text of tflis article was written in Korean and contributed for exclusive use by KOREANA. Tflis is a translation.)

Vol. 6 No. I KOREAN A 1992

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The Korea Foundation Is dedicated to promoting friendship and understanding between the peoples of Korea and the rest of the world through mutual international exchange which includes, but is not limited to. the following activities: • To organize. sponsor and participate in diverse international cultural exchange programs • To invite foreigners to Korea and dispatch Koreans abroad for international conferences. seminars and research activities • To support Korean studies overseas and distribute Korean studies reference materials • To promote cooperation with major foreign cultural and academic organizations • To implement other programs and activities designed to help broaden understanding of Korea in the international community .

.-----The Korea Foundation Fellowship Program-------, The Korea Foundation announces its 1993 Fellowship Program for Korean studies in the fields of humanities, social sciences and arts. The Program is intended to provide scholars. students. and other professionals from overseas with an opportunity to carry out in-depth research in Korea for a period of one to six months.

Eligible candidates must have a Master's degree and should be pursuing advanced studies in any of the fields mentioned above.

Each successful applicant will be provided with one round-trip-air ticket to Korea and monthly stipend of I ,500,000 won (approximately US$2.000) and I .000.000 won for postdoctoral and predoctoral work, respectively.

Applicants should complete two copies of the 1993 Fellowship Program application form and submit their academic research proposals to the Korea Foundation by October 31, 1992.

For application forms. program guidelines. or further information, please write to: Fellowship Program The Korea Foundation C.P.O. Box 2147 SeouL Korea Fax: (02) 757-2049 Tel: (02) 753-6553

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Vol. 6 No. I KOREAN A 1992

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