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born in 1945 in Cheongju (South Korea), she studied music
theory and composition at the Seoul National University. In 1974 she
received a daad scholarship to continue her studies at the Musik-hochschule
in Freiburg on Breisgau with Hans Huber (composition), Brian Ferneyhough (analysis),
Peter Förtig (theory) and Edith Picht-Axenfeld (piano).
Her compositions have been performed at the iscm World Music Days, the
Donaueschinger Musiktage, numerous new music festivals, as well as on many
European radio stations. Man-Nam for clari-net and string trio won her a
jury prize at the 5th International Composers’ Seminar in Boswil
(1978), First Prize at the unesco International Composers’ Rostrum in
Paris (1979) and the Nan-Pa Music Prize in Korea (1979). In 1980 she
received the City of Stuttgart Prize for the orchestral work Sori, premiered
at the Festival in Donaueschingen. She held grants from the Heinrich Strobel
Foundation of the Südwestfunk Baden-Baden (1980/81) and the Arts Foundation
of Baden-Württemberg. In 1991 she was a guest professor in composition at
the Music Academy in Graz. A years later she taught composition and analysis
at the Music Academy in Karlsruhe. Since 1994 she has been a professor at
the Hochschule der Künste in Bremen, where she founded the Atelier for New
Music.
She lives in Bremen and Panicale (Italy).
Younghi Pagh-Paan’s most lasting musical impressions came from the
marketplace in the small town of Cheongju, where she was born and grew up.
There she could hear the folk music of Korea: songs, instrumental music,
Shamanist daily rituals, but above all pansori, the popular form of song
epic in which an actor or actress, alternating between recitation and
expressive singing and accompanied only by a drummer, can hold the
spectators entranced for hours. Years later these childhood experiences came
back into her mind. What brought this about was the political unrest of
1968, which she became involved in at Seoul University. She realized that a
progressive composer in Korea could not go running after Western models, but
should write music based on national cultural traditions. It took another
five years and the decisive move to Europe, before these insights led to
valid artistic outcomes. The distance acted as a catalyst, releasing her
creative powers.
According to the critic Max Nyffeler, rhythms and melodies from Korean
peasant music, colourful harmony, exciting sonic processes, introverted
silence, and a spirit of rebellion are the main aspects of Pagh-Paan’s
music.
Selected works: Dreisam-Nore for flute (1975), Man-Nam I
for clarinet and string trio (1977, version for alto flute and string trio
1977–86), Nun for five female singers and 18 instrumentalists, with
words by Kwang Kyun Kim (1979), Sori for large orchestra (1979–80),
Madi for 12 instrumentalists (1981), Pyon-Kyong for piano and percussion
(1982), Flammenzeichen for female voice with a small percussion instrument,
set to texts by various German authors (1983), Aa-Ga 1 for cello (1984),
No-Ul for viola, cello and double bass (1984–85), Hin-Nun for six
female singers with small percussion instruments, text: Kwang-Kyun Kim
(1985), Nim for large orchestra (1986–87), Ta-Ryong II for 16
instrumentalists (1987–88), Hwang-To (Gerber Erde) for mixed choir and
nine instrumentalists, text: Kim Chi-ha (1988–89; version for five
singers – 1989/92/98), Ma-Um for mezzo-soprano and
12 instrumentalists, texts: Angelus Silesius, Chung-Chul and Han-Shan
(1990–91), ma-am for female solo voice, to lyrics by Chung Chul
(1990), Mein Herz, vocal duet for mezzo-soprano and baritone with small
percussion instruments, text: h. c. Artmann and Chung-Chul (1991), Tsi-Shin/Ta-Ryong
III for two percussions (1991), Ma-Um for mezzo-soprano and 12
instrumentalists (1990–91), Ta-Ryong IV (Die Rückseite der
Postmoderne) for percussion (1991), Ta-Ryong VI for six instruments
(1988–98), Rast in einem alten Kloster for bass flute (1992–94),
U-Mul (Der Brunnen) for seven instrumentalists (1992), Bidan-Sil (Seidener
Faden) for oboe and ensemble (1992–93), Hang-Sang for alto flute,
guitar and ‘rahmentrommel’ (1993), Tsi-Shin-Kut for four
percussions and electronic sounds from tape (1993–94), Ta-Ryong V for
two clarinets and Shô (1995), Sowon (Wunsch) for mezzo-soprano and ten
instruments, text: Rose Ausländer and Anna Akhmatova (1995–96), Noch…
for mezzo-soprano and viola, text:
A. Akhmatova, R. Ausländer and Louise Labé (1996), Ne Ma-Um for accordion
(1996), In Dunkel Träumen… for speaking voice, flute and viola, text:
Heinrich Heine (1997), Die Insel schwimmt for piano and percussion (1997),
Go-Un Nim for orchestra (1997–98), sowon…borira for female voice
and orchestra, set to texts by Akhmatova, Ausländer and Labé (1998), Bi-Yu
for soprano, bass flute, clarinet, cello and small percussion instruments
(1999), Io for nine instrumentalists (1999–2000), Roaring Hooves for
seven instruments (2000), Dorthin, wo der Himmel wendet for orchestra with
mezzo-soprano and six male voices, text: Kim Chi-ha, Aeschylus
(2000–01), Louise Labé for mezzo-soprano, oboe d’amore,
clarinet in a, violin and percussion (2002).
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