Isang Yun was born in 1917 in Tongyeong, Korea, an area with a rich tradition in culture and arts. He began learning the violin and guitar at the age of 13. It says that his dream as a composer started growing when he heard music played at a silent movie theater at his village. He enrolled to a school in Osaka Japan in 1935 to study commerce at the will of his father but instead of study commerce he focused on learning playing the cello composing music and music theories. After The end of World War II and liberation of the Korean peninsula, He returned to Tongyeong and established the Tongyeong Culture Association He composed while teaching music in Tongyeong. After winning the Seoul city culture Award in 1955 he left for Paris to study contemporary composition and music theories at the age of 39
Isang Yun studied composition with Tony Aubin, Pierre Revel, Boris Blacher, Josef Rufer, and Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling in Paris and West Berlin. In the 1950's he became well know in Europe with premieres of his works like Music for Seven Instruments and Five Pieces for Piano in Bilthoven by attending to the Darmstadt festival.
Isang Yun established his career around compositions that included his own technique main-tone also called "Hauptton Technique". The prime example of that would be Duo for Cello and Harp (1984). He also connected Western and Eastern music together in his works such as the Riul for Clarinet and Piano (1968). On this website you will able to find out more about those two wonderful works.
In the late 1960's Isang Yun visited North Korea and subsequently was captured by South Korean secret police for violating their foreign policy. Imprisoned in Seoul, Isang faced a severe punishment including life in prison. A large petition was signed by many influential of the twentieth century musical figures including: van Karajan, Stravinsky, Otto Klemperer, Ligeti, Stockhausen among others to the South Korean government. The positive aspect of his incarceration was that Yun could still compose in prison. While there, he completed few of his chamber music works and one of his operas "Butterfly Widow". Being released in 1969, Yun returned to West Berlin where shortly after he became the German citizen. Even though he never returned to South Korea after 1969, Isang Yun was involved in democratization and reunification of his native South Korea.
Isang Yun studied composition with Tony Aubin, Pierre Revel, Boris Blacher, Josef Rufer, and Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling in Paris and West Berlin. In the 1950's he became well know in Europe with premieres of his works like Music for Seven Instruments and Five Pieces for Piano in Bilthoven by attending to the Darmstadt festival.
Isang Yun established his career around compositions that included his own technique main-tone also called "Hauptton Technique". The prime example of that would be Duo for Cello and Harp (1984). He also connected Western and Eastern music together in his works such as the Riul for Clarinet and Piano (1968). On this website you will able to find out more about those two wonderful works.
In the late 1960's Isang Yun visited North Korea and subsequently was captured by South Korean secret police for violating their foreign policy. Imprisoned in Seoul, Isang faced a severe punishment including life in prison. A large petition was signed by many influential of the twentieth century musical figures including: van Karajan, Stravinsky, Otto Klemperer, Ligeti, Stockhausen among others to the South Korean government. The positive aspect of his incarceration was that Yun could still compose in prison. While there, he completed few of his chamber music works and one of his operas "Butterfly Widow". Being released in 1969, Yun returned to West Berlin where shortly after he became the German citizen. Even though he never returned to South Korea after 1969, Isang Yun was involved in democratization and reunification of his native South Korea.