Unsuk Chin: 'Holland is more open to new music than other countries'

In 1985, Unsuk Chin (Seoul 1961) won the Gaudeamus Music Prize with Spektra for three cellos, six years later she broke through with her Akrostichon-Wortspiel for soprano and ensemble. In 2004, she won the Grawemeyer Award, the world's most prestigious music prize; in 2007, she made a deep impression with her opera Alice in Wonderland. Tomorrow, Thursday 22 October, the New Ensemble puts her centre stage at the concert Visions of colour splendour at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. Five questions for Unsuk Chin.

You grew up in Seoul, what role did music play in your upbringing?

'My father was a pastor and we had a piano at home but no records. The population of Korea in the 1960s and 1970s was very poor, but fortunately I knew a few people who had a pick-up had and LPs with classical music. I often went to them to listen to them. The most modern piece I knew was Petrushka of Stravinsky, but I was very open to anything new, even if I thought it sounded strange.

By the way, I also loved Brahms and Tchaikovsky, but contrary to what people often think, I did not grow up with the sounds of Korean traditional music in my ears. I only sometimes heard in the distance a saenghwang, the Korean version of the sheng, a mouth organ akin to the western harmonica.'

You studied composition with Sukhi Kang at Seoul University. What was that like?

'Kang introduced me to the music of the Western classics, but also to the work of avant-gardists like Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis and Pierre Boulez. This was totally new in Korea; we did not know such music. He not only brought recordings for us, but also scores. I greedily slurped up all these influences.'

In 1985, you won the Gaudeamus Prize and then studied with György Ligeti in Hamburg. What did that mean for you?

'It was very honourable, but also meant a huge shock for me. When I presented Ligeti with the compositions I had won prizes with, he exclaimed: 'Throw it all away, there's nothing original in it!' I was incredibly disappointed, but deep down I knew he was right, because I hadn't really found my own voice yet. That realisation sent me into a compositional impasse that lasted three years. During this period, I played a lot of piano, especially pieces by Chopin, Schumann, Skrjabin and Scarlatti.'

In your compositions, you sometimes hark back to Korean traditional music; you are often called a Korean composer. How do you feel about that?

'That seems almost absurd to me, because what is 'Korean music?' There was once traditional music in Korea, but that connection broke down long ago and it belongs to other social structures. In the late 1980s, early 1990s, especially in Germany, you had strong expectations of what kind of music you should write as a foreign composer. If you came from Korea, you were expected to incorporate Korean folk or art music. [Tweet "Unsuk Chin: 'What is Korean music?'"]

Otherwise, you were assumed to follow the compositional rules of the typical German avant-garde. If you did not meet those expectations. then you were boycotted. Not consciously, that happened unconsciously. But I find it dangerous to draw a strict line between modern and pre-modern music anyway; what matters to me is quality and originality. Absolute modernity is also a dogma, I resist that way of thinking. I want to be perceived as an individual and compose my own music. I don't write 'German music' either, even though I have lived in Germany for more than half my life.'

What role does Holland play in your career?

'That one is very important! Holland is more open to new music than other countries. My career started here and my music is still most often performed here. The concert with the Nieuw Ensemble feels like coming home to me'.

This article is based on conversations I had with Chin in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
In 2014, a CD of three solo concerts by Chin was released, which I put at the top of my top list best shots posted.