Kim Won-gyun (; 2 January 1917 – 5 April 2002) was a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n composer and politician. He is considered one of the most prominent, if not the most celebrated, composer of North Korea. He composed "

Aegukka "" (Chosŏn'gŭl: ; ), officially translated as "Patriotic Song", is the national anthem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea. It was composed in 1945 as a patriotic song celebrating independence from ...

" — the national anthem of the country — and "

Song of General Kim Il-sung The "Song of General Kim Il-sung" ( Korean: 김일성장군의 노래) is a North Korean marching song composed by Kim Won-gyun in 1946. As a part of an ongoing cult of personality, the song praising Kim Il-sung, North Korea's "Eternal Presiden ...

", in addition to revolutionary operas.

Career

In his youth, Kim Won-gyun attended high school but dropped out after three grades. After the liberation of Korea, he wrote his first composition: "March of Korea". Before his musical career, Kim had been only "a farmer who just happened to write he'Song of General Kim Il Sung. That was in 1946, very early into the

cult of personality of Kim Il-sung The North Korean cult of personality surrounding its ruling family, the Kim dynasty (North Korea), Kim family, has existed in North Korea for decades and can be found in many examples of Culture of North Korea, North Korean culture. Although not a ...

; the song was the first work of art that verifiably mentions

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

, then leader of

Workers' Party of North Korea The Workers' Party of North Korea () was a communist party in North Korea from 1946 to 1949 and was a predecessor of the current Workers' Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on 28–30 August 1946, by the merger of the northern branch ...

, one of precursors of WPK. After the success of the song, he was asked to compose "

". As a musician, he was initially self-taught but went to Moscow in order to study there. At some point he attended a music school in Japan. By 1947, when "Aegukka" was adapted as the national anthem of

Provisional People's Committee of North Korea The Provisional People's Committee of North Korea was the provisional government of North Korea. The committee was established on 8 February 1946 in response for the need of the Soviet Civil Administration and the communists to have centralizatio ...

, he had risen in status. Other compositions by Kim include: "Democratic Youth March", "Our Supreme Commander", "Glory to the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)", "Sunrise on Mt. Paektu", "Steel-strong Ranks Advance", "Song of Great National Unity", "We Rush Forward in Spirit of

Chollima The ''qianlima'' (; also ''chollima'', ''cheollima'', and ''senrima''; ) is a mythical horse that originates from the Chinese classics and is commonly portrayed in East Asian mythology. The winged horse is said to be too swift and elegant to be m ...

", and "Song of Anti-Imperialist Struggle". Kim is credited with contributing to "the creation of the 'Sea of Blood' -type revolutionary operas". It is possible that he worked on the operatic version of ''

Sea of Blood ''Sea of Blood'' () is a propagandist North Korean opera credited to Kim Il-sung. It was first produced as an opera by Sea of Blood Theatrical Troupe (''Pibada Guekdan'') in 1971. It was then later adapted into a novel by the Choseon Novelist ...

'' and a symphony based on music from the opera. He is also credited with the opera '' Chirisan''. Kim served as a composer to

National Art Theatre National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. He also became the head of the Central Committee of the

Korean Musicians Union Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

in 1954, and would later become the vice-president and president of the Union. He was the president of the

Pyongyang University of Music and Dance The Pyongyang University of Music and Dance is a North Korean performing arts university founded in July 1972 in the Taedonggang District of Pyongyang from a merge with the Pyongyang Art College. Its facilities include a full orchestra and a musi ...

since 1960. In 1985, he became the general director of the

Sea of Blood Opera Troupe The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

. He was the North Korean chairman of the

Reunification Music Festival A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...

in September 1990. He was also the chairman of the

National Music Committee of Korea National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and honorary member of the

International Music Council The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, where it functions as an independent international non-governmental organization. Its p ...

. Besides his musical activities, he was a deputy to the ninth and tenth Supreme People's Assemblies (SPA). Upon his death in 2002, he held the posts of deputy to the SPA and adviser to the Central Committee of the Korean Musicians Union. He received many prizes and honors, including Labor Hero, Merited Artist,

People's Artist People's Artist is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Union republics, in some other Eastern bloc states (and communist states in general), as well as in a number of post-Soviet states, modeled after the title of the People's Artist of the U ...

, recipient of the

Order of Kim Il-sung The Order of Kim Il-sung () is the highest order of North Korea, along with the Order of Kim Jong-il, and only second to one honorary title, the Hero of Labour. The order, named after the country's first leader Kim Il-sung, was instituted in 1 ...

and a Kim Il-sung Prize winner. The Pyongyang Conservatory was renamed the Kim Won-gyun Conservatory on 27 June 2006. Kim Won-gyun died on 5 April 2002 of heart failure. Kim Jong-il sent a wreath to his bier on the day following his death. Kim Jong-un paid homage to Kim Won-gyun by organizing a concert on the centenary of his birth in 2017.

References

External links

Pyongyang Kim Won Gyun Conservatory website

Bust in front of the Kim Won-gyun Conservatory
at

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Article
at

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* *
Video of bust in front of the Kim Won-gyun Conservatory

The cradle of North Korean musicians - Pyongyang Kim Won Kyun University of Music

Seal of the Conservatory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Won-gyun 1917 births 2002 deaths 20th-century classical composers Members of the Supreme People's Assembly North Korean composers North Korean opera composers People from Wonsan Recipients of the Order of Kim Il-sung Male classical composers Place of death missing National anthem writers 20th-century male musicians

Career

See also

References

Further reading

External links