ID :
20028
Wed, 09/17/2008 - 20:01
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20028
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Festival honoring late composer Yun Isang opens By Kim Young-gyo
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- A festival honoring late composer Yun Isang, who failed to receive recognition from his land of birth until recently, opened in Seoul on Wednesday for its third annual run.
The 2008 Isang Yun Festival, organized by South Korea's Isang Yun Peace Foundation, will continue until Sunday in the cities of Chuncheon, Jeonju and Yu's hometown, Tongyeong, located on the southern coast of the country, to mark the 91st anniversary of his birth.
Although he was widely recognized in Europe for his musical originality based on Korean sensibilities, Yun was treated as an outcast in his homeland, which labeled him a communist.
Yun was at the peak of his celebrity as a composer in Europe in 1967, when he was abducted by the South Korean secret service and taken from Berlin to Seoul.
He was tortured and charged with high treason for meeting with North Koreans in Berlin and for visiting the North. In a political show trial, he was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 1969 after some 200 artists -- including Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky and Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan -- made worldwide appeals.
Yun was given political asylum by West Germany, eventually becoming a naturalized German citizen. He died of pneumonia in November 1995.
Although he sometimes visited North Korea to teach young musicians, he was never
able to return to his birthplace.
It was only in 2005 that his honor was restored as a result of a government-led
investigation into human rights abuses, which said the incident had been
exaggerated and the current government should apologize to the victims.
This year's festival opened with the Korean Symphony Orchestra playing Johannes
Brahms' Tragic Overture Op. 81, as if the music spoke for his life of tragedy.
"The life of Yun Isang as a human being is a symbol that penetrates all the
tragedies that occurred in the modern history of Korea," the Isang Yun Peace
Foundation said in a statement. "However, we should not go amiss by being
infatuated with the drama his unusual life has shown, instead of the sublimation
of his human suffering and musical ideals."
Conducted by Chong Chi-yong, one of most sought-after conductors of his
generation in South Korea, the orchestra also played Yun's Concerto for
Violoncello and Orchestra, composed from 1975-1976.
The music was followed by Yun's "Exemplum" in memory of Gwangju, which he wrote
in 1981 in memory of the Gwangju massacre, expressing his life-long concern for
his native country and culture. In a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju,
South Korea from May 18-27, 1980, citizens rose up against then President Chun
Doo-hwan's authoritarian rule, but were crushed by the South Korean Army.
North Korea has celebrated Yun's legacy in late October every year since the
early 1980s.
The North had honored the exiled musician with a special residence while he was
alive and opened the Isang Yun Music Institute in 1984.
The 2008 Isang Yun Festival, organized by South Korea's Isang Yun Peace Foundation, will continue until Sunday in the cities of Chuncheon, Jeonju and Yu's hometown, Tongyeong, located on the southern coast of the country, to mark the 91st anniversary of his birth.
Although he was widely recognized in Europe for his musical originality based on Korean sensibilities, Yun was treated as an outcast in his homeland, which labeled him a communist.
Yun was at the peak of his celebrity as a composer in Europe in 1967, when he was abducted by the South Korean secret service and taken from Berlin to Seoul.
He was tortured and charged with high treason for meeting with North Koreans in Berlin and for visiting the North. In a political show trial, he was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 1969 after some 200 artists -- including Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky and Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan -- made worldwide appeals.
Yun was given political asylum by West Germany, eventually becoming a naturalized German citizen. He died of pneumonia in November 1995.
Although he sometimes visited North Korea to teach young musicians, he was never
able to return to his birthplace.
It was only in 2005 that his honor was restored as a result of a government-led
investigation into human rights abuses, which said the incident had been
exaggerated and the current government should apologize to the victims.
This year's festival opened with the Korean Symphony Orchestra playing Johannes
Brahms' Tragic Overture Op. 81, as if the music spoke for his life of tragedy.
"The life of Yun Isang as a human being is a symbol that penetrates all the
tragedies that occurred in the modern history of Korea," the Isang Yun Peace
Foundation said in a statement. "However, we should not go amiss by being
infatuated with the drama his unusual life has shown, instead of the sublimation
of his human suffering and musical ideals."
Conducted by Chong Chi-yong, one of most sought-after conductors of his
generation in South Korea, the orchestra also played Yun's Concerto for
Violoncello and Orchestra, composed from 1975-1976.
The music was followed by Yun's "Exemplum" in memory of Gwangju, which he wrote
in 1981 in memory of the Gwangju massacre, expressing his life-long concern for
his native country and culture. In a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju,
South Korea from May 18-27, 1980, citizens rose up against then President Chun
Doo-hwan's authoritarian rule, but were crushed by the South Korean Army.
North Korea has celebrated Yun's legacy in late October every year since the
early 1980s.
The North had honored the exiled musician with a special residence while he was
alive and opened the Isang Yun Music Institute in 1984.
