Unsuk Chin
Encyclopedia
Unsuk Chin is a South Korea
n composer
of classical music, based in Berlin
, Germany
. She was awarded the Grawemeyer Award
in 2004 and the Arnold Schönberg Prize
in 2005.
. She studied composition with Sukhi Kang at Seoul National University
and won several international prizes in her early 20s. She studied with György Ligeti
in Hamburg 1985-1988. Ligeti dismissed Chin's early pieces as unoriginal, which led her to stop composing for a few years.
In 1988 Unsuk Chin moved to Berlin, where she worked for years as a freelance composer at the Electronic music
studio of the Technical University of Berlin
, realizing seven works.
Her first large orchestral piece, Troerinnen, was premiered by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
in 1990.
In 1991, her breakthrough work Acrostic Wordplay was premiered by the Nieuw Ensemble
- since then it has been performed in 15 countries in Europe, Asia and North America.
Chin's collaboration with the Ensemble Intercontemporain
, which has led to several commissions from the latter, started in 1994 with Fantaisie mecanique.
Since 1995, Unsuk Chin is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes
. In 1999, Chin began an artistic collaboration with Kent Nagano
, who has since premiered five of her works.
Chin's Violin Concerto
, for which she was awarded the Grawemeyer
, was premiered in 2002 by Viviane Hagner
. Since then it has been programmed in Europe, Asia and North America, and performed, among others, by Christian Tetzlaff
, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
and Simon Rattle
in 2005.
Unsuk Chin's works have been performed by conductors such as Kent Nagano
, Simon Rattle
, Gustavo Dudamel
, Neeme Järvi
, Peter Eötvös
, David Robertson and George Benjamin
as well as by leading orchestras and ensembles. Commissioners include the Kronos Quartet
, Radio France
, the BBC
, the London Sinfonietta
, South Bank Centre
, Los Angeles Opera
, IRCAM
and the Bavarian State Opera
.
Chin's music has been highlighted at major music festivals such as Festival Musica in Strasbourg
or Settembre Musica in Italy.
2001/2002 Unsuk Chin was appointed composer-in-residence at Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
; since 2006 she holds the position of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's
composer-in-residence and Artistic Director of its Contemporary Music Series.
2007 Chin's first opera Alice in Wonderland
was premiered at Bavarian State Opera
.
Unsuk Chin was a featured composer in the 2009 Suntory Summer Festival in Tokyo which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Suntory Music Foundation. The festival culminated with the world premiere of Šu, a concerto for Chinese sheng
and orchestra. The work was commissioned by Suntory Hall International Programme, ZaterdagMatinée, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
and the Essen Philharmonie, and was composed for sheng virtuoso Wu Wei
. The world premiere on 28 August featured the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama
.
Chin names Béla Bartók
, Igor Stravinsky
, Claude Debussy
, Anton Webern
, Iannis Xenakis
, and György Ligeti
, among others, as 20th century composers of special importance for her. Chin regards her working experience with Electronic music
and her preoccupation with Bali
nese Gamelan
as influential for her work. The colour of her music might perhaps be explained through Chin's affinity for non-European music. However, Chin has also clearly been influenced by musical modernism
. In her orchestral work Miroirs des temps Chin has also used compositional concepts of Medieval composers, such as Machaut and Ciconia
, by employing and evolving techniques such as musical palindrome
s and crab canon
s.
Characteristic for Unsuk Chin's music is a fascination with virtuosity, which is reflected in the difficulty of her works. Virtuosity is an important feature also in Chin's electronic pieces such as Gradus ad infinitum for 8 pianos. In general, Chin doesn't prefer to make a strong distinction between electronic
and instrumental music. A dominant aspect of Chin's work is playfulness. In some pieces, theatrical actions are employed: e.g. in Allegro ma non troppo for percussion and tape, in Cantatrix Sopranica for voices and ensemble and in Double Bind? for violin and electronics.
The texts of Chin's vocal music are often based on experimental poetry, and occasionally they are self-referential
, employing techniques such as acrostic
s, anagram
s and palindrome
s, all of which are also reflected in the compositional structure. Consequently, Chin has set music to poems by writers such as Inger Christensen
, Harry Matthews, Gerhard Rühm or Unica Zürn
into music, and the title of Cantatrix Sopranica is derived from a Nonsens treatise by Georges Perec
. However, in Kalá
Chin has also composed works with less experimental texts by writers such as Gunnar Ekelöf
, Paavo Haavikko
, and Arthur Rimbaud
, and Troerinnen is based on a play by Euripides
.
Playful aspects are dominant also in Chin's opera Alice in Wonderland
, which is based on Lewis Carroll's
classic. The opera's libretto
was written by David Henry Hwang
and the composer. The Munich
production, which has been released on DVD by Unitel
, was directed by Achim Freyer
, and it was selected 'Premiere of the Year' by an international critics' poll, which was conducted in 2007 by the German opera magazine "Opernwelt".
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of classical music, based in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. She was awarded the Grawemeyer Award
Grawemeyer Award
The Grawemeyer Awards are five awards given annually by the University of Louisville in the state of Kentucky, United States. The prizes are presented to individuals in the fields of education, ideas improving world order, music composition, religion, and psychology...
in 2004 and the Arnold Schönberg Prize
Arnold Schönberg Prize
The International Arnold-Schönberg-Prize was established in 2001, and named after the Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg, thanks to the initiative of Kent Nagano, the former principal conductor and musical director of the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, together with Deutschlandradio...
in 2005.
Biography
Unsuk Chin was born in SeoulSeoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
. She studied composition with Sukhi Kang at Seoul National University
Seoul National University
Seoul National University , colloquially known in Korean as Seoul-dae , is a national research university in Seoul, Korea, ranked 24th in the world in publications in an analysis of data from the Science Citation Index, 7th in Asia and 42nd in the world by the 2011 QS World University Rankings...
and won several international prizes in her early 20s. She studied with György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
in Hamburg 1985-1988. Ligeti dismissed Chin's early pieces as unoriginal, which led her to stop composing for a few years.
In 1988 Unsuk Chin moved to Berlin, where she worked for years as a freelance composer at the Electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
studio of the Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
, realizing seven works.
Her first large orchestral piece, Troerinnen, was premiered by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world's oldest orchestral institutions. It performs some 110 concerts a year, and is based at the 1,500-seat Grieg Hall in Bergen, Norway.-History:...
in 1990.
In 1991, her breakthrough work Acrostic Wordplay was premiered by the Nieuw Ensemble
Nieuw Ensemble
The Nieuw Ensemble was founded in 1980 in Amsterdam. It has a unique instrumental structure, using plucked instruments such as mandolin, guitar and harp in combination with wind, string and percussion. Ed Spanjaard has been the principal conductor since 1982...
- since then it has been performed in 15 countries in Europe, Asia and North America.
Chin's collaboration with the Ensemble Intercontemporain
Ensemble InterContemporain
The Ensemble InterContemporain is a French chamber orchestra, based in Paris at the Cité de la musique and IRCAM, which specialises in contemporary classical music....
, which has led to several commissions from the latter, started in 1994 with Fantaisie mecanique.
Since 1995, Unsuk Chin is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
. In 1999, Chin began an artistic collaboration with Kent Nagano
Kent Nagano
__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
, who has since premiered five of her works.
Chin's Violin Concerto
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
, for which she was awarded the Grawemeyer
Grawemeyer Award
The Grawemeyer Awards are five awards given annually by the University of Louisville in the state of Kentucky, United States. The prizes are presented to individuals in the fields of education, ideas improving world order, music composition, religion, and psychology...
, was premiered in 2002 by Viviane Hagner
Viviane Hagner
Viviane Hagner is an internationally renowned violinist. She was born in Munich, Germany in 1977, to a German father and Korean mother.Hagner made her international debut at the age of 12, and one year later performed as soloist at the historic "Joint Concert" in Tel Aviv with the Berlin and...
. Since then it has been programmed in Europe, Asia and North America, and performed, among others, by Christian Tetzlaff
Christian Tetzlaff
-Biography:Tetzlaff was born in Hamburg. He began playing the violin and piano at the age of 6, and made his concert debut at 14 years old. He studied with Uwe-Martin Haiberg at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and with Walter Levine at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.He is...
, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic, German: , formerly Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the...
and Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
in 2005.
Unsuk Chin's works have been performed by conductors such as Kent Nagano
Kent Nagano
__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
, Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
, Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Gothenburg, Sweden, and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, California...
, Neeme Järvi
Neeme Järvi
Neeme Järvi is an Estonian-born conductor.-Early life:Järvi studied music first in Tallinn, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, among others...
, Peter Eötvös
Peter Eötvös
Péter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer and conductor.Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, Transylvania . He studied composition in Budapest and Cologne. From 1962, he composed for film in Hungary. Eötvös played regularly with the Stockhausen Ensemble between 1968 and...
, David Robertson and George Benjamin
George Benjamin
George Benjamin may refer to:* George Benjamin , Canadian political figure* George Benjamin , English composer...
as well as by leading orchestras and ensembles. Commissioners include the Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...
, Radio France
Radio France
Radio France is a French public service radio broadcaster.-Mission:Radio France's two principal missions are:* To create and expand the programming on all of their stations; and...
, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
, South Bank Centre
South Bank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, UK, on the South Bank of the River Thames between County Hall and Waterloo Bridge. It comprises three main buildings , and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts. It attracts more than three million visitors annually...
, Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
, IRCAM
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
and the Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
.
Chin's music has been highlighted at major music festivals such as Festival Musica in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
or Settembre Musica in Italy.
2001/2002 Unsuk Chin was appointed composer-in-residence at Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1946 by American occupation forces as the RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester . It was also known as the American Sector Symphony Orchestra...
; since 2006 she holds the position of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1948, is one of the oldest and most famous orchestras in South Korea. Its first foreign tour came on a 1965 trip to Japan, followed by performances in Southeast Asia in 1977, the United States in 1982, 1986 and 1996, a 1988 tour of Europe before the...
composer-in-residence and Artistic Director of its Contemporary Music Series.
2007 Chin's first opera Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (opera)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2007 operatic adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. It is the first opera of Korean composer Unsuk Chin, who co-wrote the English libretto with the Asian-American playwright David Henry Hwang...
was premiered at Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
.
Unsuk Chin was a featured composer in the 2009 Suntory Summer Festival in Tokyo which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Suntory Music Foundation. The festival culminated with the world premiere of Šu, a concerto for Chinese sheng
Sheng (instrument)
The Chinese sheng is a mouth-blown free reed instrument consisting of vertical pipes.Traditionally, the sheng has been used as an accompaniment instrument for solo suona or dizi performances. It is one of the main instruments in kunqu and some other forms of Chinese opera...
and orchestra. The work was commissioned by Suntory Hall International Programme, ZaterdagMatinée, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
and the Essen Philharmonie, and was composed for sheng virtuoso Wu Wei
Wu Wei
Wu Wei may refer to:*Wu wei, important tenet of Taoism that involves knowing when to act and when not to act*Wu Wei , Chinese landscape painter during the Ming Dynasty*Wei Wu Wei , Taoist philosopher and writer...
. The world premiere on 28 August featured the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
The , or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra . It assumed its present name in 1951.Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as the pit ensemble for some productions at New National Theatre, Tokyo, the city's leading opera house...
conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama
Kazuyoshi Akiyama
is a Japanese conductor.-Biography:Born into a musical family, he studied piano at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, but was fascinated by the conducting activities of a fellow student, Seiji Ozawa. He decided to study conducting with Hideo Saito...
.
Awards and recognition
- 1984 International Rostrum of ComposersInternational Rostrum of ComposersThe International Rostrum of Composers is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music...
for the chamber music work Gestalten - 1985 First Prize of Gaudeamus FoundationGaudeamus FoundationThe Gaudeamus Foundation and Contemporary Music Center is a renowned center for contemporary music. The Gaudeamus Foundation organizes and promotes contemporary musical activities and concerts both in the Netherlands and abroad...
for Spektra - 1993 First Prize at the Contest for Orchestra Works to Commemorate the Semicentennial for the Tokyo Government
- 1997 First Prize for Contemporary Piano Music at the Concours International de Piano d'Orléans for the Piano Studies Nos. 2-4
- 1999 First Prize at Concours Internationaux de Musique et d’Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges for Xi
- 2004 Grawemeyer AwardGrawemeyer AwardThe Grawemeyer Awards are five awards given annually by the University of Louisville in the state of Kentucky, United States. The prizes are presented to individuals in the fields of education, ideas improving world order, music composition, religion, and psychology...
for Violin Concerto - 2005 Arnold Schönberg PrizeArnold Schönberg PrizeThe International Arnold-Schönberg-Prize was established in 2001, and named after the Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg, thanks to the initiative of Kent Nagano, the former principal conductor and musical director of the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, together with Deutschlandradio...
Works
Unsuk Chin doesn't regard her music as belonging to any specific culture.Chin names Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
, Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers...
, and György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
, among others, as 20th century composers of special importance for her. Chin regards her working experience with Electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and her preoccupation with Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
nese Gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
as influential for her work. The colour of her music might perhaps be explained through Chin's affinity for non-European music. However, Chin has also clearly been influenced by musical modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
. In her orchestral work Miroirs des temps Chin has also used compositional concepts of Medieval composers, such as Machaut and Ciconia
Ciconia
Ciconia is a genus of birds in the stork family. Six of the seven living species occur in the Old World, but the Maguari Stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that Ciconia storks were somewhat more common in the tropical Americas in prehistoric times.These are large storks,...
, by employing and evolving techniques such as musical palindrome
Palindrome
A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....
s and crab canon
Crab canon
A crab canon—also known by the Latin form of the name, canon cancrizans—is an arrangement of two musical lines that are complementary and backward, similar to a palindrome. Originally it is a musical term for a kind of canon in which one line is reversed in time from the other . A famous example...
s.
Characteristic for Unsuk Chin's music is a fascination with virtuosity, which is reflected in the difficulty of her works. Virtuosity is an important feature also in Chin's electronic pieces such as Gradus ad infinitum for 8 pianos. In general, Chin doesn't prefer to make a strong distinction between electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and instrumental music. A dominant aspect of Chin's work is playfulness. In some pieces, theatrical actions are employed: e.g. in Allegro ma non troppo for percussion and tape, in Cantatrix Sopranica for voices and ensemble and in Double Bind? for violin and electronics.
The texts of Chin's vocal music are often based on experimental poetry, and occasionally they are self-referential
Self-reference
Self-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly—through some intermediate sentence or formula—or by means of some encoding...
, employing techniques such as acrostic
Acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
s, anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
s and palindrome
Palindrome
A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....
s, all of which are also reflected in the compositional structure. Consequently, Chin has set music to poems by writers such as Inger Christensen
Inger Christensen
Inger Christensen was a Danish poet, novelist, essayist and editor considered the foremost Danish poetic experimentalist of her generation.-Life and work:...
, Harry Matthews, Gerhard Rühm or Unica Zürn
Unica Zürn
Unica Zürn was a German author and painter. She is remembered for her works of anagram poetry, exhibitions of automatic drawing, and her photographic collaborations with Hans Bellmer.-Biography:...
into music, and the title of Cantatrix Sopranica is derived from a Nonsens treatise by Georges Perec
Georges Perec
Georges Perec was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist. He is a member of the Oulipo group...
. However, in Kalá
Kala
Kala may refer to:In Hinduism:*Kāla , a Sanskrit word for "time"*Kalā: 64 arts*Kala Bo, a Hindu consort goddess*Kirtimukha: a fierce guardian faceIn culture*Kala , a character in the Tarzan novels*Kala , a 2007 Indonesian film...
Chin has also composed works with less experimental texts by writers such as Gunnar Ekelöf
Gunnar Ekelöf
Gunnar Ekelöf was a Swedish poet and writer. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1958. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958...
, Paavo Haavikko
Paavo Haavikko
Paavo Haavikko was a Finnish poet and playwright, considered one of the country's most outstanding writers...
, and Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
, and Troerinnen is based on a play by Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
.
Playful aspects are dominant also in Chin's opera Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (opera)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2007 operatic adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. It is the first opera of Korean composer Unsuk Chin, who co-wrote the English libretto with the Asian-American playwright David Henry Hwang...
, which is based on Lewis Carroll's
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
classic. The opera's libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
was written by David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...
and the composer. The Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
production, which has been released on DVD by Unitel
Unitel
Unitel may refer to:*Unitel Communications Incorporated, a Canadian telecommunications company later known as AT&T Canada.*Unitel Bolivia, a Bolivian television network*Unitel , a Mongolian mobile phone network*Unitel...
, was directed by Achim Freyer
Achim Freyer
Achim Freyer is a German stage director, set designer and painter. A protege of Bertolt Brecht, Freyer has become one of the world's leading opera directors, working throughout Europe and, since 2002, in the United States, principally with the Los Angeles Opera...
, and it was selected 'Premiere of the Year' by an international critics' poll, which was conducted in 2007 by the German opera magazine "Opernwelt".
Quotations
List of works (selection)
- Troerinnen (1986/1990) for 3 sopranos, women's choir und orchestra, after Euripides
- Gradus ad Infinitum for 8 pianos (1989/1990) for tape
- Akrostichon-Wortspiel (1991/93) for soprano and ensemble
- Fantaisie mécanique (1994/1997) für trumpet, trombone, two percussions and piano
- Piano Studies (1995-)
- ParaMetaString (1995) for string quartet and electronics
- Piano Concerto (1996-97)
- Xi (1998) for ensemble and electronics
- Miroirs des temps (1999/2000) for 4 singers and orchestra
- Kalá (2000-01) for soprano, bass, mixed choir and orchestra
- Violin concerto (2001)
- Double Concerto for piano, percussion and ensemble (2002)
- snagS&Snarls for soprano and orchestra (2004)
- Cantatrix Sopranica für two sopranos, countertenor and ensemble (2005)
- Double Bind? for violin and live electronics (2006-7)
- Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland (opera)Alice in Wonderland is a 2007 operatic adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. It is the first opera of Korean composer Unsuk Chin, who co-wrote the English libretto with the Asian-American playwright David Henry Hwang...
(Opera; 2004-2007) - Rocaná for orchestra (2008)
- Cello Concerto (2009)
- Šu for shengSheng (instrument)The Chinese sheng is a mouth-blown free reed instrument consisting of vertical pipes.Traditionally, the sheng has been used as an accompaniment instrument for solo suona or dizi performances. It is one of the main instruments in kunqu and some other forms of Chinese opera...
and orchestra (2009) - Gougalōn. Scenes from a Street Theater for Ensemble (2009)
Recordings
- Unsuk Chin: Akrostichon – Wortspiel. Ensemble IntercontemporainEnsemble InterContemporainThe Ensemble InterContemporain is a French chamber orchestra, based in Paris at the Cité de la musique and IRCAM, which specialises in contemporary classical music....
. CD. Deutsche Grammophon, 2005 - Unsuk Chin: Alice in Wonderland. Bayerische Staatsoper, Kent NaganoKent Nagano__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
. DVD. Unitel, 2008 - Allegro ma non troppo. In: Fifty Years Studio TU Berlin. EMF Media, DVD 054, 2008
- "Rocanà, Violin Concerto". Viviane HagnerViviane HagnerViviane Hagner is an internationally renowned violinist. She was born in Munich, Germany in 1977, to a German father and Korean mother.Hagner made her international debut at the age of 12, and one year later performed as soloist at the historic "Joint Concert" in Tel Aviv with the Berlin and...
, Kent NaganoKent Nagano__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
, Montreal Symphony OrchestraMontreal Symphony OrchestraOrchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...
. CD. Analekta, 2009. - Cantatrix Sopranica. In:Sprechgesänge - Speech Songs. musikFabrikMusikfabrikThe musikFabrik is an ensemble for contemporary music located in Cologne. Their official name is: musikFabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V. .-Overview:...
, Stefan Asbury. CD. Wergo, 2010.