Junsang Bahk (born 2 June 1937 in Norumegi, a small village in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

) is a celebrated Korean

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, also active in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Biography

Bahk studied composition at the Graduate School,

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

, where he received a Master of Music Degree in 1965. An Austrian government stipend enabled him to study composition from 1967 to 1973 at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, with

Hanns Jelinek Hanns Jelinek (5 December 1901 – 27 January 1969) was an Austrian composer of Czech descent who is also known under the pseudonyms Hanns Elin, H. J. Hirsch, Jakob Fidelbogen. Biography Jelinek was born and died in Vienna. His father was a ma ...

and Alfred Uhl, twelve-tone technique with Jelinek and

Erich Urbanner Erich Urbanner (born 26 March 1936) is an Austrian composer and teacher. Biography Born in Innsbruck, Urbanner studied from 1955 to 1961 at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, in the composition classes of Karl Schiske and Hanns ...

, electronic music and modern music with Friedrich Cerha. He graduated with Distinction in 1973. In 1968 and 1970 he took part in the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, in

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

's composition studios, and later in

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

's composition seminar. Subsequently, he studied musicology and ethnomusicology at the University of Vienna, where he received a Ph.D. in 1991 with a dissertation titled "Die Auswirkungen der Volksliedforschung auf das kompositorische Schaffen von Béla Bartók". In 1969 in Seoul, together with

Isang Yun Isang Yun, also spelled Yun I-sang (17 September 1917 – 3 November 1995), was a Korean-born composer who made his later career in West Germany. Early life and education Yun was born in Sancheong (Sansei), Chōsen (today part of independe ...

, Nam June Paik, and Sukhi Kang, he helped organize the "Biennale for Contemporary Music", where new Western music was performed for the first time in Korea (Stockhausen,

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

Herbert Eimert Herbert Eimert (8 April 1897 – 15 December 1972) was a German music theorist, musicologist, journalist, music critic, editor, radio producer, and composer. Education Herbert Eimert was born in Bad Kreuznach. He studied music theory and compo ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

Roman Haubenstock-Ramati Roman Haubenstock-Ramati ( he, רוֹמן האובּנשׁטוֹק-רָמָתִי; 27 February 1919 – 3 March 1994) was a composer and music editor who worked in Kraków, Tel Aviv and Vienna. Life Haubenstock-Ramati was born in Kraków. He stud ...

, etc.). His compositions have won many important prizes, including the Korean National Prize for Composition (1980), First Prize of the Korean Information Ministry (1964), and the Kompositionspreis des Grazer Musikprotokolls (1973 and 1975).

Bibliography

* Dibelius, Ulrich (ed.). 1998. "Junsang Bahk". In ''Moderne Musik nach 1945. Mit 75 Abbildungen und 87 Notenbeispielen''. Munich, Zürich: Piper, 1998. * ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik begründet von Friedrich Blume'', vol. 5. Kassel, London, New York: Baerenreiter.

Works (selective list)

* Symphony No. 1 for grand orchestra (1965) * ''Mark'' for piano (1971) * ''Seak I'' for chamber ensemble (1971) * ''Echo'' for wind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn) * ''Invokation'' for dancing soprano, bass clarinet, and percussion (1977) * ''Chunhyang Chon'' (The Tale of the Maiden Chunhyang), opera, to a libretto by the composer (1985) * ''Sublim'' for orchestra (1987) * String Quartet No. 1 (2000) * ''Coreana'', Symphony for string orchestra (2003) * ''Trans-Danza'' (''Utdari Pungmul'') for violin and piano (2005) * ''Mozartiana'' for violin and piano (2006) * ''Dokdo Symphony'' for orchestra (2009) * ''Pastoral Concerto'' for flute and orchestra (2017) * ''Mantra'', Concerto for piano and orchestra (2018) * ''Children's World'' for chamber orchestra (2020) * ''Manpasikjeok(만파식적/萬波息笛)'', Concerto for daegeum and Korean traditional orchestra (2020) * Symphony No. 3 for orchestra (2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahk, Junsang 1937 births 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers South Korean classical composers Austrian classical composers Living people Austrian opera composers Male opera composers Pupils of Karlheinz Stockhausen Austrian male classical composers People from North Gyeongsang Province Seoul National University alumni Pupils of György Ligeti University of Vienna alumni 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians