Isang Yun is one of the most significant figures in Korean music of the twentieth century. He moved beyond serialism, founding his musical resources in Korean traditional music as well as in Taoism. Yun created unique sound which has resemblance to Korean traditional music particularly in ornaments through Western instrumentation and musical techniques. Consequently, Yun invented his own main tone technique, and its distinctive Koran sound separated him from other important avant-garde composers of the twentieth century. In this thesis Yun's life is introduced as a strong influence on his compositional styles. Also, his compositional styles are placed within the larger context of twentieth century musical trends, which shows why his works are important in twentieth century music history. Most importantly, it demonstrates that the idiosyncratic style of Isang Yun's Duo for Viola and Piano results from a blending of Eastern and Western musical elements. For this reason, in this document I will analyze and examine the Duo for Viola and Piano, and explain how Yun translated Eastern musical concepts into Western musical techniques.

Thesis (D. M. A.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-102).

Thesis (A.Mus.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A. Adviser: John Dee. Miscellaneous chamber works for small and large ensembles also included. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-134) and discography (leaves 126-130). Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Isang Yun employed several contrasting methods to achieve the combination of two different musical worlds, Eastern and Western, in his Tänzerische Fantasie für Großes Orchester, Muak. In presenting Eastern elements, he adopts Taoism as his musical philosophy, describes the Korean traditional dance motion Chun-Aeng-Mu (Dance of the Oriole), and applies Korean traditional performance practice in the use of Western instruments. Showing the influence of aspects of Western music, he employs a musical form similar to that of the Baroque Concerto Grosso, evokes Igor Stravinsky’s rhythmic mood and tension from Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), and even uses his own compositional technique Hauptklangtechnik within the format of Western orchestration. In its analysis of Muak, this research project addresses how Korean performance practice can be applied to the modern Western symphony orchestra. This research project also provides insights regarding the sounds of instruments in the Korean tradition and explains how it is possible to create those sounds with modern instruments in order to make Yun’s dream sounds possible. This study provides several examples and describes various performance techniques that appear in Korean traditional music. It provides indications to orchestras and conductors, assisting them to arrive at effective basic performance ideas for the performance of Muak.

Isang Yun (1917-1995) is one of the most important composers in Korean history. Even though Yun is a South Korean-born composer, most of his music was composed in Germany and has been largely performed and studied in Europe, Japan, and even North Korea. His music is unfamiliar to South Korean audiences because of the political issues surrounding the East Berlin Spy Incident (1967). Isang Yun composed a massive amount of music employing his unique compositional methods, such as the Korean traditional zither technique, Nonghyun, which is very similar to the vocal technique, Sigimsae. Also Yun created a Main-Tone Technique that was influenced by Korean court music and utilized more practically for his orchestra pieces as a Main-Sound Technique. Based on Taoist philosophy, Yun employed yin and yang concepts in his compositions and formulated his music with balance. All of his techniques and styles of music were designed by employing Eastern musical language and European compositional techniques. In this thesis, I will introduce the concepts and compositional techniques of Isang Yun. Also, by analyzing how he translated Eastern musical concepts into Western musical techniques in his opera, Die Witwe des Schmetterlings (The Butterfly Widow), I will attempt to demonstrate Yun's unique compositional style which resulted from a blending of Eastern and Western musical elements. In this opera, we have a unique example of how he successfully employed his own Korean musical values and techniques within the context of Western practice. Yun rediscovered the value of his own Eastern compositional techniques and then shared his music with Western audiences.

A Korean-German composer Isang Yun.s life was evenly distributed between two different countries, and his music contains both elements of performance practices of Eastern Asian and Western music. This dissertation presents his ethnic and aesthetic musical roots by an analytic examination of his solo violin piece, K♠nigliches Thema (1976). The dissertation is divided into four chapters. The first chapter contains Isang Yuns biography and his works of the four periods. The second chapter studies his philosophy in music and compositional techniques such as twelve-tone technique, Taoism, Hauptton, Hauptklang and the Korean instrumental technique in Western instruments. The third chapter presents a detailed analysis of Knigliches Thema with his Taoist philosophy. The fourth chapter is solely dedicated to the performance perspectives of Königliches Thema in tempo, dynamic and various violin techniques.

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This dissertation introduces a Korean composer, Isang Yun (1917-1995), who embraced European traditions but retained Asian characteristics in his compositions. Attending the 1958 summer course in Darmstadt in Germany, Yun was strongly influenced by the avant-garde style of Boulez, Stockhausen, Nono, and Cage. In addition to his work as a composer, Yun distinguished himself, as one of the most important Asian composers to blend Eastern and Western music; and although his musical training focused on Western music, he continued the pursuit of Eastern sounds and philosophies throughout his musical life. Imprisoned in 1967 by the South Korean government, Isang Yun's music, particularly in later life, incorporates his beliefs on social and political issues together with musical ideas. Although his love of country was deep, Isang Yun was not allowed to return to South Korea, and he lived in Germany for the remainder of his professional life. In this study, my purpose is to investigate the development of Yun's musical ideas from his acceptance of Taoism four structures in the world: the Tao, heaven, earth, and man. The presence of both Western and Eastern influences in Yun's music provides the basic of his musical style, and analysis of Salomo für Altoflöte oder Flöte is included in this dissertation.

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