Isang Yun

Born near Tongyeong on the south-east coast of Korea on 17 September 1917, died in Berlin on 3 November 1995; Isang Yun was a Korean-German composer whose music combines East Asian conceptions of sound with techniques of the European avant-garde. After studies in Korea and Japan he continued his training from 1956 to 1959 in Paris and Berlin, with Josef Rufer among others. In 1965 came the oratorio “Om mani padme hum”, and in 1966 his international breakthrough with “Réak” at the Donaueschinger Musiktage. In 1967 he was abducted from West Berlin by the South Korean secret service, tortured and sentenced to death; after international protests he was released in 1969. From 1969 he taught in Hanover and from 1970 to 1985 at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, from 1977 as full professor. His output comprises more than a hundred compositions, among them four operas, five symphonies and several instrumental concertos. The four-part Cybele production Isang Yun and the Cello (2019) places his cello works alongside recordings of his own voice.