Bruce Duffie: oday?

Let me start out with an easy question: Where is music going t

Isang Yun: I don't think anyone can really answer this question, myself inclu ded. I can say for myself that my music is becoming more understandable, and I find a quality of human sympathy is becoming more prevalent in it. BD: Is this something being added now that was missing earlier, or is it an o utgrowth of the way your music has been going all these years? IY: It's part of a natural process, and I've just noticed it through observat ion. This is a process that started about ten yeas ago and I think it will be a t least another ten years before it is fully developed. BD: Did something specific happen at that point ten years ago to make this ch ange? IY: My experience of the personal side and political area in Korea happened t wenty years ago, and it took ten years for me to be able to translate these expe riences into my music. I think today our world very badly needs music that brin gs us closer together, particularly because there are so many grave problems tha t people everywhere are having to deal with. In order to be able to articulate these problems in art, we need a great deal of musical understanding. BD: Should music be political in and of itself?

IY: That is exactly what I do not mean. Music is the expression of an inner truth, and this inner truth is naturally a mirror of today's events. It's alway s been that way. In earlier times, landscapes or love was the theme in works of art. Today the problems have become much different and much more serious. One example is the uncertainty of the future of mankind; this is in question. The anxieties over our future and the destruction of peace and the dangers of war, a nd the atomic dangers. This idea is very important. It is not the theme of mus ic, but the musical expressions that I use naturally and automatically which ref lect these influences. BD: Should the audience be aware of these influences and/or the process?

IY: Whatever the composer takes for his subject is privately his, and the lis teners don't have to know it. But the circumstances of the creation contain suc h elements. In other words, if these truths are part of the elements, part of t he process of composition, eventually the listener will be affected directly by it. BD: What do you expect of the audience that comes to hear your music?

IY: A composer is not in the position to dictate how a person listens to musi c. The public has total freedom and the listener is entirely free as to how he wishes to approach a piece of music. Every group of listeners is different one from another, and the situation that the listener finds himself in is different from that of another listener. But the important thing is that this music someh ow moves him deeply one way or another. BD: Does that mean that the same piece of music will be different at differen t times of performance? IY: Yes, it could be. But I feel that if the music really possesses these el ements that make up a truth as I see it, the public cannot help but be moved. BD: If you cannot have any expectations of the public, what are your hopes fo

r them? IY: I hope there will be a contact, a connection, and through this contact my music will mean something to the listener. BD: sic? Assuming that mankind survives, are you optimistic about the future of mu

IY: Yes, I'm very optimistic. That's why I compose! I haven't given up hope by any means. In spite of the fact that very often I deal with very negative o r tragic themes, I never personally find myself in a situation of depression or uncertainty. At the end of every piece, no matter how tragic the theme or the e vents around it, I always leave the possibility of hope in that piece. BD: IY: BD: Do you ever go back and revise works? Never. When you're writing a piece, how do you know when it's finished?

IY: My music doesn't have a beginning nor an end. You could combine elements from one piece into another piece very well. This is a Taoist philosophy. Mus ic flows in the cosmos, and I have an antenna which is able to cut out a piece o f the stream. The part which I've cut out is organized and formed through my ow n thought and body processes, and I commit it to paper. That's why my music is always continuous - like the clouds that are always the same but are never alike one to another. BD: When you're writing, are you in control of the music, or is the music in control of you? IY: My deep-lying inner feelings dictate to me. I'm not sure that's myself, but I'm fortunate to have a Godly gift speaking through me. So I can sound very Asiatic, or very Buddhistic, or very religious, or very philosophic. But that' s how I think. That's why I don't consider what I'm doing "composing." I'm wri ting down that which my deepest feelings and instincts tell me to write. BD: Then you're perhaps the ideal person to ask this question: How is the Ea stern public different from the Western public? IY: As far as the capabilities and capacities to listen, everyone is the same . The differences lie in the areas of experience. Basically you can describe v ery clearly the differences between European and Asian music, for example, but t hat's the result of the different experiences the people have had through their history. But the ability of the audiences to listen is the same. BD: Are you making a conscious effort to combine both the Eastern and Western spirits in your music? IY: No, that would be too artificial. The inner truth is, in actuality, a mu sic of the cosmos. Realistically seen, I've had two experiences, and I know the practice of both Asian music and European. I am equally at home in both fields . I'm a man living today, and within me is the Asia of the past combined with t he Europe of today. My purpose is not an artificial connection, but I'm natural ly convinced of the unity of these two elements. For that reason it's impossibl e to categorize my music as either European or Asian. I am exactly in the middl e. That's my world and my independent entity. BD: We've been talking about East and West. Are there more elements in this large musical cosmos?

IY: * *

In the cosmos, there is neither East nor West! * * *

BD: Have you basically been pleased with the performances and recordings of y our music over the years? IY: Looking at it realistically, they're the best I could have hoped for. To be completely honest, as a composer one cannot be 100% happy. As a composer I would find it impossible to be completely content with my own music or with the interpretation of the music. But I'm a very realistic person and know that I ha ve several unusual requirements in my writing which, especially for European-tra ined orchestras, are new and difficult. When one looks at it from this standpoi nt, I'm very happy. BD: IY: BD: You've done some teaching of composition? Yes, I've taught musical composition for 15 years in Berlin. Is musical composition something that can be taught?

IY: The idea of receiving thoughts through your antenna is not a very easy th ing to teach. The student must be quite developed in the soul and spirit. In E urope or America, one says, "to be inspired." The second thing is also difficul t, and that is to organize and write down these ideas or inspiration that one re ceived through the antenna. That's what we call compositional technique, and to get that across you need a very experienced teacher. BD: Have we, perhaps, got too many young composers coming along today?

IY: There are very many, and unfortunately they have a very difficult time. The human possibilities for enjoying and listening to music have become so manysided and so variable, and the young composer has to find a way to move the huma n heart. It is as difficult as getting a thread through a needle. BD: Tell me the particular joys and sorrows of writing for the human voice.

IY: I've written very few vocal pieces, but there are four operas. My Fifth Symphony has a singing line all the way through. The premiere will be in Berlin in September, and Fischer-Dieskau will sing. BD: Do you feel that opera is still a viable art form?

IY: I would say that opera can still be meaningful, but the future is not ver y optimistic. BD: Will opera change or will it die?

IY: As long as the trend continues to not give new operas a chance and not to promote the creation of new operas, that means that essentially the opera will die. BD: Can anything be done to avert this outcome?

IY: What has to happen is that operas must be composed as a teamwork between the composer, the stage director, and the management of the opera house. And th e operas that are composed must be attractive to the public, to a young public. But it has to be completely different than it has been up to this point. The d rama and the vocal line must not be destroyed through the orchestral playing! U

p to now, the orchestral sound has dominated the operas too much, and the pieces themselves have been much too complicated, much too intellectual. I'm speaking , of course, for contemporary works, and that is why the public has been alienat ed. But the music cannot just be cheapened or just done for effect. It must, a t the same time, have a very high quality and the possibility of winning a very broad public. How to do it is the question. I think the way would be this team work I mentioned, and intelligent commissions from the opera houses. BD: Is this happening, or do you think it will happen?

IY: I'm very pessimistic about that because an opera house is basically a sub sidized enterprise, and the people who subsidize these opera houses think only o f the box office. They're not in a position to think about the future. BD: Do you feel opera works well on television, and might this help the situa tion? IY: That might be a big possibility, but then you must realize that basically you're dealing with a very simple public. But dealing with a relatively inexpe rienced audience might have a very big future. I think that this is something t hat the television networks should definitely undertake. BD: IY: BD: IY: era! * * How do you feel about opera in translation? I think that generally translations are good. Have you seen this new gimmick of supertitles in the theater? I've never seen it, but many things should be tried in order to rescue op * * *

BD: Are most of the pieces you write on commission, or are some just things y ou have to get down on paper? IY: BD: I write everything on commission. Then how do you decide which ones to accept and which ones to turn aside?

IY: In the main I accept them all. I'm a very positive and nice person, and I like to do it. (laughter) That's why I've written a great number of pieces. BD: Do you work on more than one at a time?

IY: I could never do that. I currently have several small orchestra pieces t o write, but I would like to stop composing right now. However I don't think I could do that. BD: What would you do if you didn't compose? like to just think the music. I'd like to just fantasize and ima and not have to compose it. My health isn't the best and that's going to have to slow down a little bit. I can probably manage t I don't see myself being able to stop.

IY: I would gine the music one reason I'm o do that, but

BD: As you approach your 70th birthday, what is the most surprising or pleasi ng thing you've noticed about music? IY: It's been very difficult work, very hard work, but I've never regretted t

he fact that I am a composer. BD: What advice do you have for someone who wants to conduct modern music?

IY: I wouldn't presume to give advice to a conductor in that situation. The conductor would know exactly what to do. BD: Do you feel that conductors know what they're doing?

IY: Basically yes, but many times there are disappointments. There are also many times that are happy surprises. Maestro Davies [photo at right] is a very happy surprise! (laughter all around) BD: Do conductors or performers ever find things in your music that you didn' t know you'd put there? IY: I don't think so because I always know exactly what I'm composing. I've never tried out ideas with an instrument, but always with my imagination. I've never made sketches, but rather always composed each piece from the beginning to the end. It's never changed or corrected. I've always been able to hear in my ear that which I'm writing. BD: Are you conscious of the playing time of the piece even as you're working on it? IY: Yes. I know exactly how long it will be. As I said before, I'm taking a snip out of the cosmos and I know how many minutes I need. (laughter) BD: Thank you for being a composer.

IY: Thank you. That makes me very happy. I still question today whether I r eally am a composer. BD: IY: Do you feel that history will be the final judge? Exactly.

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Bruce Duffie was and announcer/producer with WNIB, Classical 97 in Chicago from 1975-2001, and now continues his radio work with special programs of music and i nterview on WNUR-FM, and Contemporary Classical Internet Radio. His interviews also continue to appear in various magazines and journals. For full details, pl us links to other interviews and photos, visit his website. 1987 Bruce Duffie

In a time when the concept "World Music" has become almost a musical cliche, and when exoticism and the travelogue aspects of music have become attractive in th eir own right, the music of the Korean Isang Yun is well worth examining.

In Britain Yun was never well known, but in several countries, especially in Ger many and Japan, he is considered a leading figure. In Japan he is described as a "continental composer". For the Japanese the Continent is China and the surroun ding lands, and the word represents vastness, wildness, grandeur, torrents and w aterfalls, as well as the ancient traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism and, more relevant to Yun, Taoism. All these qualities can be felt in Yun's music - by its sheer physical and sensu ous impact on the one hand, and its ethical profundity on the other. Yun was a c omposer and humanist equally. The music was the man. He followed no ideology. He was not a Communist, as has been claimed, but he was able to integrate his spir itual inheritance from the Far East into the European humanist tradition, which, of course, includes the Marxist analysis. He was a man who cared greatly about personal suffering and those world events which cause suffering. In 1967, the year after his first important work for orchestra (Reak), he was ki dnapped from West Germany by the dictator Park Chung Hee's South Korean secret p olice. He was tortured and sentenced first to death, then to life imprisonment, for alleged espionage. After the intervention of the West German government and appeals from many of the world's leading musicians, including Igor Stravinsky, E lliot Carter and Karlheinz Stockhausen, he was released in 1969. During his impr isonment he wrote Die Witwe des Schmetterlings ("The Butterfly's Widow"), the se cond of his four operas, on the stone floor of his prison cell. Yun's music is highly ethical. If we can adjust ourselves to see it as such it i s nothing less than overpowering. He was a master of protest: the Cello Concerto of 1975-76, first performed by Siegfried Palm, is a protest against imprisonmen t, both physical and spiritual. It is very direct music: the cello is the voice of the imprisoned spirit, the orchestra that of the oppressor, which, being huma n itself, can turn to love and reconciliation. In many other works protest is ve ry much in evidence: Teil Dich Nacht (1980) is a setting of poems by Nelly Sachs ; Exemplum in memoriam Kwangju (1981) rails against the massacre of Korean pro-d emocracy demonstrators the previous year. In the first of his five symphonies, w ritten for the Berlin Philharmonic in 1982-83, we find a protest against conditi oned existence itself, with its massive cycles of change and decay. What keeps Yun's music from being merely hysterical or dark and gloomy is a tech nique which he called Haupttone ("main-notes") . He once demonstrated this to hi s masterclass at the Berlin Hochschule der Kunste (where he was a full professor from 1972 to 1985) with a hefty chalk imprint, or so it seemed, on a blackboard , of the Chinese character for "tree": the sweep of the chalk was strong, full o f energy, yet light and playful. His music (he wrote over 150 works) can be very playful indeed. The slow movemen t of the Violin Concerto No 1 (1981) is a veritable Asian fairy tale; and I reca ll with great affection his works for oboe and harp he wrote for his friends Hei nz and Ursula Holliger. He came to Britain professionally only once, in 1988, thanks to the director of the Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music, Richard Steinitz. His last big work was Engel in Flammen ("Angels in Flames") for soprano, chorus and orchestra ; it was premiered in Suntory Hall, Tokyo, almost a year before his death. Keith Gifford Isang Yun, composer: born Tong Yong, South Korea 17 September 1917; married 1950 Soo-Ja Lee (one son, one daughter); died Berlin 3 November 1995

Isang Yun, 78, Korean-Born Composer Pursued by His Homeland By ALLAN KOZINN Published: November 7, 1995 SIGN IN TO RECOMMEND TWITTER SIGN IN TO E-MAIL PRINT Isang Yun, a Korean-born German composer of powerful, kaleidoscopically scored c hamber and orchestral works, died on Friday in Berlin, where he lived. He was 78 . The cause was a lung infection, according to The Associated Press. Mr. Yun, who was admired among musicians for the inventiveness with which he com bined Western and traditional Korean and Chinese musical techniques, became know n outside musical circles in June 1967, when South Korean agents abducted him an d his wife, Soo Ya Yun, from their West Berlin apartment. Because he had visited North Korea four years earlier, Mr. Yun was tried for treason and sentenced to life in prison. His wife was sentenced to three years as an accomplice. International pressure on South Korea -- including a formal protest by the West German Government and a petition from a large group of Western composers and per formers, led by Igor Stravinsky -- led to the Yuns' release two years later. The y returned to West Germany and became citizens in 1971. A second kidnapping atte mpt in 1976, during a visit to Japan, was thwarted by the composer's bodyguards. Mr. Yun was born in Tongyong, in what is now South Korea, on Sept. 17, 1917. He began composing when he was 14 and in the early 1940's went to Japan to study in Tokyo and at the Osaka Conservatory. But he opposed the Japanese occupation of Korea, and upon his return to Korea he joined an underground group, an act for w hich he was imprisoned by the occupation authorities. After World War II, he became a music teacher in Tongyong and later at Seoul Uni versity. His early compositions were performed and published (although he subseq uently withdrew these), and in 1955 he won the Seoul City Award, which made it p ossible for him to pursue further studies at the Paris Conservatory, the Hochsch ule fur Musik in Berlin, and at Darmstadt. He remained in Germany, settling in W est Berlin in 1964. In the music he composed during these years -- "Loyang" (1962) and "Reak" (1966) , for orchestra; "Gasa" for violin and piano (1963), and "Garak" for flute and p iano (1963) -- he drew inspiration from Chinese and Korean court music, blending exotic tone-production techniques with the angular Western style he had develop ed at Darmstadt. His style continued to evolve through the 1970's, when he was using what he call ed "main-tone technique," a method in which grand textures were woven around cen tral melodic figures. And by the mid-1980's, the sometimes acerbic edges of his early style had softened. In recent works like "Distanzen" (1988), string and wi nd quintets play off each other, creating a magical shimmer that eludes stylisti c classification. Mr. Yun also composed four operas on Korean and Taoist themes, as well as five s ymphonies and numerous vocal and chamber works. He is survived by his wife; a son, John Yun of California, and a daughter, Djong Yun of New York City.

Hankyoreh NIS intervenes in Isang IYPF staff say they are the project A screen capture of the Posted on : Feb.17,2010

Yun memorial project: unsure why the NIS is showing ideological opposition to Isang Yun Peace Foundation s website 12:08 KST

The memorial project for the late Isang Yun (1917-1995), the world-renowned comp oser, is reportedly amid a crisis as it faces cancellation due to opposition fro m the National Intelligence Service (NIS). According to reports from Tongyoung City, South Gyeongsang Province (Yun s hometow n), Unification Ministry and Isang Yun Peace Foundation (IYPF) on Feb. 16, the m emorial project, for which the city attempted to import a bust sculpture that wa s made in North Korea to South Korea, was not completed due to opposition by the NIS. Tongyoung City requested through IYPF that the Research Institue for Isang Yun s m usic (RIIYM) in North Korea send a reproduction of a bust sculpture currently lo cated in RIIYM to South Korea. The city had put a locally crafted bust sculpture on exhibit independently, but it was removed due to the complaint that the scul pture did not resumble Yun. Accordingly, IYPF submitted an application to import the sculpture, which arrive d at Incheon harbor in June 2009, but the Unification Ministry has not yet ackno wledged the application. An IYPF staff member said, The reproduction of the bust sculpture was made with permission from Unification Ministry at first, however, the Unification Ministry has not allowed it to be delivered due to the oppositio n from the NIS. A Unification Ministry official has also hinted at the NIS s object ion to delivering the statue by saying, It became difficult to deliver the statue because a related organization is voicing opposition. An IYPF staff member said, It is ridiculous that we have kept the bust of Isang Y un, the world-famous composer, stranded at Incheon customs. The staff member adde d, We cannot understand the NIS s ideological reasoning behind their decision. Isang Yun was a musician who had lived and worked in Germany. However, in 1967, he was abducted from Berlin and taken to Seoul by the Korea Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), the predecessor of the NIS under allegations of conducting spy a ctivities for North Korea. He initially received a life imprisonment sentence, b ut was released in 1969 following strong international protest. Many critics hav e stated that the trial was a political stunt meant to strengthen the dictatorsh ip of South Korea. During the former two administrations led by Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, memorable activities took place to memorialize him including the foundation of IYPF. The NIS, however, is seemingly changing its mind to oppose t he memorialization of the well-known composer Seoul Concocted 1967 East Berlin Spy Ring By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea's anti-communist intelligence agency fabricated a pro-Pyongyang spy ring in 1967 to silence dissidents and fortify th e power of the late President Park Chung-hee, investigators said on Thursday. Th ey acknowledged that some of the South Koreans caught by the agency actually vis ited North Korea. But even one-off contacts with North Koreans were exaggerated as spy activities, investigators said. Investigators recommended that the govern ment apologize to the victims of the dictatorial regime and seek ways to redeem their honor. In July 1967, Kim Hyong-uk, chief of the Korean Central Intelligenc e Agency (KCIA), announced that 194 South Koreans, mostly scholars and artists,

were involved in spy activities in East Berlin, which is pronounced in the old K orean way as ``Tongbaengnim.'' After a series of trials, 34 of the suspects, inc luding composer Isang Yun and poet Chun Sang-byung, were convicted in December t he same year. But all of them were granted amnesty in August 1970. [Disinformati on] [Human rights] [Espionage] South Korea to Invite Yun Isang's Wife By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The Isang Yun Peace Foundation said on Thursday t hat it will try to invite Yun's widow, Lee Soo-ja, from Pyongyang to South Korea this year as Seoul's apology is expected to come in the near future for falsely charging him with espionage in 1960s. The foundation, launched last year to res tore the honor of dissident Korean-German composer Isang Yun (1917-1995), welcom ed the announcement by Seoul's intelligence agency that it concocted a pro-Pyong yang spy ring in 1967, in which Yun was charged unjustly. ``Lee has always said that she would come to South Korea if Seoul officially apologizes for the false charge,'' Chang Yong-chul, the foundation's secretary-general, told The Korea Ti mes. Since he left for France to study music in 1956 and moved to Germany the followi ng year, he could never return to South Korea in his life time _ except once in June 1967 when he was kidnapped from West Berlin and brought to Seoul, tortured and then forced to make a false statement that he was working as a spy for North Korea through its embassy in East Berlin. Yun received a life sentence, but he returned to Germany in March 1969. His release was reportedly possible thanks to the German government's threat to sever diplomatic ties with South Korea. [Abdu ctees] [Human rights] [Espionage] [Disinformation]