Germany-based composer Chin Unsuk talks to The Korea Times about how she strives to bring her creations to fans. The 47-year-old composer-in-residence at Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra believes that music should be ``communicative’’ not autistic. /Courtesy of Kim Moon-jungThe relativity of human existence, how it is sandwiched between heaven and hell, is central to many people’s thoughts. South Korean composer Chin Unsuk may produce unearthly sounds, but she’s only human, and the creative process inevitably involves descending into the depths of hell.
``I visit hell several times when I write a composition,’’ the 47-year-old told The Korea Times, Thursday, with one of her hearty, boisterous laughs. ``My gray hair multiplies in relation to how long it takes to write a piece,’’ she said, despite her signature long hair hanging jet black and silky.
The musician said she is first and foremost a mother who spends a great deal of time on domestic affairs. She pours the rest of her time into her art to create one to one-and-a-half pieces per year. The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s composer-in-residence thus deals with high demands through co-commissions.
The orchestral piece ``Rocana,’’ which makes its Korean debut Friday as part of the ``Ars Nova’’ program at the LG Arts Center, southern Seoul, was jointly commissioned by the Seoul Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian State Opera and Beijing Music Festival Arts Foundation. Meaning ``room of light'' in Sanskrit, ``Rocana'' depicts Chin's observation of the behavior of beams of light, ``their distortion, reflections, and undulations.’’
``This is my unique composition for the orchestra,’’ said Chin. Writing ``Rocana’’ was difficult to start writing since, unlike concertos, it lacks a protagonist (soloist) and she had to conceive the interaction of multiple instruments. What inspired her? ``It’s difficult to say. The human brain has a complex formation and multiple networks. Something external triggers me, becomes a seed of thought and grows into multiple branches, like a tree,’’ she said.
Chin is praised for her ``formidable ear for sonority and for mining the expressive potential of the slightest nuances of pitch and pulse’’ (The Guardian). Born in Seoul in 1961, Chin learned piano and music theory on her own at an early age and pursued composition under Kang Sukhi at Seoul National University. A scholarship took her to Hamburg in the late 1980s, where she studied with the esteemed Gyorgy Ligeti. She won the 2004 Grawemeyer Award _ the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the music world _ among other honors, for her Violin Concerto.
For Koreans, Chin is the exotic expatriate, and without a close look into her work, one may easily assume that her music would be markedly ``German.’’ Modern classical music here is heavily associated with the avant-garde of the 1950s and ‘60s, which is defined by the late Korean-German composer Isang Yun, among others. But moving to avant-garde ``headquarters,’’ said Chin, enabled her to look past established aesthetics. ``Ironically, living in Germany for 24 years now has disillusioned my obsession and fantasy of the avant-garde,’’ she said.
While some contemporary classical music composers insist on the traditional symphony or sonata format, Chin said she feels forms have long gone out of fashion. Others insist on an idiosyncratic, recognizable language, but this composer resists categorization. ``It’d be easier if I had a definable style, but I’m not interested in establishing my name. That’s why I’m pretty much an outsider in Germany,’’ she said, laughing.
Chin reminds you of a gust of wind _ difficult to grasp and transcending boundaries yet exuding a presence that is inevitably felt.
Chin said she plays a Bach fugue whenever she has composer's block. /Courtesy of Kim Moon-jungHer work reflects her affinity for non-European traditions as well as her background in electronic music. She may be a classical pianist who worships Chopin and plays a Bach fugue whenever she has composer’s block, but she loves pop songs from the 1970s and ‘80s and prefers working with instruments such as the Balinese gamelan. Her music is modern in language but poetic and ``multilingual'' in communicatve power.
``Music should be communicative rather than autistic,’’ said the artist, who seeks to converse with as many channels as possible. ``The word `audience’ is difficult to define. If you play a Bach suite to a gamelan player, he or she may think it sounds bizarre and foreign.’’
But she also writes something more accessible to the general public, such as ``Alice in Wonderland.’’ The opera in eight acts, with libretto by American playwright David Henry Hwang, was staged in 2007 at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera and was ranked in the ``Best of 2007'' list of the Los Angeles Times and was named ``World Premiere of the Year'' by European critics for Opernwelt magazine.
Despite such accomplishments, Chin constantly teased herself throughout the interview, saying that she is a loner and her works are almost never played in her European home. Germany, the birthplace of Beethoven and Bach, is strongly rooted in tradition and is not always open to new things, she said. This is similar to the situation in Korea.
``In Korea, there’s `music’ and then there’s `contemporary music,’’’ she said, meaning that Western classical music has become the blind norm for what music is supposed to be, while other genres are considered inferior. More important than introducing the works of contemporary composers such as those of her former teacher, Kang, however, is inspiring new attitude about art, said Chin.
``Here, culture is synonymous with entertainment, and someone more `cultured’ may associate it with Beethoven, but the concept or value of art and creativity is rather unrecognized,’’ she said, adding many subtitled variety programs in Korea give no room for individual thought, which disgusts and worries her. Creativity rarely flourishes in a place where people are prone to mindless, monotonous consumption, she suggested.
Chin regularly gives master classes as part of Seoul Philharmonic’s ``Ars Nova’’ program, and said that there are talented young students participating. But the social climate worries her. ``I’ve seen many of my talented elders (composers) perish from neglect,’’ she said.
``The degree of national obsession with standard classical music is bizarre, as is how classical music serves as a symbol of elitism and vanity,’’ she said. Her own works, such as ``Alice in Wonderland,’’ have yet to premiere because organizers want a world premiere instead of utilizing what exists.
``Ironically, if Koreans had been oblivious to Western classical music and continued with `gugak’ (traditional Korean music), they may have been more receptive to contemporary classical music,’’ said Chin, explaining that 21st-century Korea may be obsessed with Beethoven but is vastly different from 19th-century Europe.
Chin is busy these days studying gugak. She had been a longtime fan of the mouth organ ``saenghwang’’ and wrote her first concerto for it. Her love for the instrument came like a dream: One stormy night, she was at a camp when she heard someone playing the instrument outside by a cliff. ``It was like the sound of the universe,’’ she said.
``Gugak is boring but sophisticated in its abstract structure and beauty. But I hate the overuse of vibrato, so I pursue a very flat sound,’’ she said. Studying the Korean art also made her feel extremely baffled and concerned. ``It’s a mess, there’s no professionalism in the current gugak world. There’s much work to be done to preserve the folk art,’’ she said. She was able to write the Saenghwang Concerto only recently because she never met anyone who played it here, pointing back to her concern with the modern Korean manner toward art. ``It’s about attitude toward art, and ultimately, attitude toward life,’’ she said. What lies ahead in her own life? Just the same old battle with composing, she said.
Chin’s ``Rocana’’ may be her unique orchestral work but it is certainly not her first. Her first orchestra piece, ``Santika Ekatala’’ (1993), won her the first prize in a Japanese competition, but she was unhappy with it and deleted it from her composition listing and barred its performance. But this is an exception. Chin is no Bruckner, and she usually doesn’t turn back to make corrections or publish second editions. Yet this doesn’t mean she’s ever satisfied with her music _ ``As an artist, it helps to be a narcissist but I despair whenever I finish a piece. My hope of writing something better the next time keeps me going,’’ she said.
Composer Chin Unsuk, center, poses with members of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra will feature her unique orchestral piece ``Rocana’’ as part of its ``Ars Nova’’ series at LG Arts Center in southern Seoul, Friday. /Courtesy of Cho Nam-ryoung
Chin mentioned how she once marvelled at Chopin’s gravestone in Paris. ``It simply said Frederic Chopin, without any fancy engravings like `compositeur’ (composer),’’ she said. It’s not hard to imagine a world where the name Chin Unsuk could forgo such superfluous titles as ``South Korean composer’’ or ``award-winning musician.’’
Chin’s concerto, featuring the saenghwang, will make its world debut in Japan in August and then in October in the United States with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Another work, a new cello concerto written specially for Alban Gerhardt, will premiere August 13 at BBC Proms, one of the most exciting classical music events of the season.
In addition to Chin’s ``Rocana,’’ Friday’s ``Ars Nova’’ concert features other orchestral pieces including that of her former teacher Ligeti, ``San Francisco Polyphony.’’ At 7:20 p.m., 40 minutes prior to the concert, Chin will give a lecture about the program. Tickets for the concert cost from 5,000 won to 30,000 won. Call (02) 2005-0114.
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