A Research On The Korean Composer Unsuk Chin And Her Violin Concerto

The music of Unsuk Chin has an important value of research,especially for those whose field of study lies in the modern classical music.She was born in Seoul in 1961,and currently resides in Berlin.She went abroad to Berlin for the first time in 1985 to study with Gyorgy Ligeti.She was also given the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Music in 2004 for her violin concerto.Recently,she was given the Wihuri Sibelius Prize.The cultural influence of her origin and the kind of music that she learned as she developed herself as a composer,all of that experience lies within her music as her musical ingredients.Therefore,it is crucial to make a research on her personal background and also of her compositional philosophy.In the progression of her growth as a person and also as a composer there are several significant events that would be dealt with in the chapter.They include;her passion for the instrument piano starting from early age(which persists until now),the fantasy she encountered in her dreams as a child,the first western classical music she was exposed to in her middle school years,and also her years in Hamburg as a pupil of Gyorgy Ligeti.All of these events play an important role in the development of her musical language.Among all these influences,it is most crucial to pay utmost attention to that of her teacher from her years in Hamburg,Gyorgy Ligeti.The main focus of the thesis would be on analyzing the violin concerto.However,it should also cover the historical background of the work and the composer.The thesis consists of 7 main chapters,including;the historical background of the Unsuk Chin,research on the compositional characteristics of Unsuk Chin,analysis of the violin concerto,cultural and philosophical background of the violin concerto,the realistic value of the violin concerto,etc.In any case the content of the thesis would mostly deal with the analysis of the violin concerto.The analysis of the violin concerto would be progressed in several different aspects;the use of pitch,rhythm,tone color,acoustic effect,orchestration,the influence of the traditional Korean music,philosophical background,and so on.After Unsuk Chin received the award in 2004,one year later in 2005 she started to hold a festival in Korea called the "Ars Nova" for contemporary music.The "Ars Nova" festival is held in Korea every year in spring and fall.As the festival continues to make progress over time,people in Korea started to pay more attention to contemporary music.Now the "Ars Nova" became a platform that brings great contemporary works to the Korean audience,and also to the music scholars in Korea including myself.In 2016,I was able to listen to many great contemporary pieces in the concerts given during the Ars Nova,and also was able to meet Unsuk Chin in person and listen to some of her advice on analyzing her violin concerto.The conclusion of the thesis in summary would be as below;As the harmony started to lose its function as the basis of the structure of a musical piece from the late 19th century,the composers had to find a way to create a form of their own music.In result,the form of a musical piece exists in so many different ways in the current generation.Among them,Unsuk Chin's music also has numerous traits of different culture and influences.At the same time,she maintains the traditional form of music,and builds her own form on the basis of traditions.That is the reason why Unsuk Chin's music has an important value worthy of research for the current music analysis studies.With all the globalization and the multi-cultural phenomena going on in this world,what would still be the criteria for a great piece of music?Regardless of time and culture,there are certain qualities that would always be crucial in a piece of music;the logic of its structure,the authenticity of its musical language,and lastly the ability to communicate with the listener.The qualification process of the Grawemeyer award explains that these are also the traits of greatness they are looking for in their candidates.A piece of music that had reached these standards,as Unsuk Chin's violin concerto,would always be able to reflect the most authentic voice of the composer,infinitely.