“Now 23 years after his death, he will finally return home and find his last resting place in Tongyeong,” said Florian Riem, CEO of the Tongyeong International Music Festival, during a press conference at the Goethe-Institut in Seoul on Tuesday. 

The 2018 TIMF is slated to kick off on March 30, along with the reinterment ceremony for Yun I-sang scheduled on the same day. 

Originally developed from a concert titled “‘Night of Yun I-sang’s Music” in 1999, TIMF this year will become a special tribute to the return of the late Korean composer, who was previously buried in Germany. 

Composer Yun I-sang (TIMF)

Yun I-sang was buried at Gatow Cemetery in Berlin 23 years ago. Born in 1917, the late composer spent most of his later life in West Germany until he died in November 1996. Yun was unable to return to his home country after he was implicated in a spy case known as the “East Berlin Affair” during the authoritarian regime of former President Park Chung-hee, the father of ousted former President Park Geun-hye. After a series of meetings between Tongyeong and Berlin, the disinterment ceremony took place in Berlin last week, and Yun’s ashes arrived in Tongyeong on Sunday. 

“Last Friday, we witnessed (a) historical moment,” Riem said, recalling the disinterment ceremony that took place in Berlin. “It was (a) historical day also for his many European friends. In Germany his music was performed, appreciated more than anywhere else in the world.” 

The reinterment of Yun’s ashes will take place on a cliff above the sea, right next to the concert hall, to fulfill the late composer’s longtime wish to be buried in a site where he can see the ocean. On the launching date, TIMF plans to hold a small event, where visitors can lay flowers.

From left: Tonyeong International Music Festival Associate Director Kim So-hyun, CEO Florian Reim, gagok singer Park Min-hee and Lee Yong-min, the foundation’s secretary-general, attend a press conference held at the Goethe-Institut in Seoul on Tuesday. (TIMF)

“We hope that Yun I-sang’s return will be a message of reconciliation and contribution to peace and understanding. The greatest Korean composer of the past century is returning home and so our 2018 festival pays tribute to what it is most dear to us, our home, our country, and our identity”

Under the title of “Returning Home,” the 2018 TIMF has prepared musical works that delve into the meaning of home. 

On the opening day, TIMF will feature the world premiere of “Music Theatre: Returning Home,” a performance that has reinterpreted Monteverdi’s “The Return of Ulysses” by adding the unique tonality of Korea’s tradition folk music. “Returning Home” is a piece that will make allusions to the return of the late composer Yun, the foundation explained. 

During the festival, many artists from here and broad will commemorate Yun’s music legacy. In the opening concert by the Bochum Symphony Orchestra and violinist Chung Kyung-wha, Yun’s “Exemplum in memoriam Kwangju” will be performed. 

Yun’s “Poems of the Nakdong River” -- one of his early works composed in 1950s -- will also have its world premiere during the concert by the Hanover Chamber Orchestra on April 5. Violinist Tobias Feldmann and cellist Yang Sung-won will join the orchestra to perform Yun’s Chamber Symphony No. 2, “To the Victims of Freedom.”

On the final day of the festival, the Tongyeong Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Christoph Eschenbach, will perform Yun’s “Bora,” Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” and Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade,” accompanied by violinist Midori.