A STUDY of UNSUK CHIN's VIOLIN CONCERTO By
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A STUDY OF UNSUK CHIN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO by Youngsin Seo Submitted to the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Music Indiana University December 2016 Accepted by the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Music Doctoral Committee ______________________________________ Marianne C. Kielian-Gilbert, Research Director ______________________________________ Mark Kaplan, Chair ______________________________________ Emilio Colon ______________________________________ Kevork Mardirossian December 1, 2016 ii Copyright © 2016 Youngsin Seo iii To my dear parents Jae Ku Seo and Junghee Yoo iv Acknowledgements My sincere appreciation goes to my research director, Marianne C. Kielian- Gilbert, for her insightful guidance, patience, and encouragement in every step of this project. Also, I would like to extend my profound thanks to my violin teacher, Mark Kaplan, and all my former and current doctoral committee members: Ik-Hwan Bae, Emilio Colon, and Kevork Mardirossian. I give my heartfelt and deepest gratitude to my parents, who have shown me unlimited love and support. I would like to express my thankfulness to my sister and her family, and also to all my friends for their encouragement and prayers. Special thanks goes to Virginia Whealton for her effort and wise work on editing this final project. Permission to reproduce the score of Unsuk Chin’s Violin Concerto was kindly granted by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers, Ltd. Last but most of all, I give all the glory to my God, who has given me great strength and led me in every moment of my life. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Musical Examples ................................................................................................. vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix List of Appendices .............................................................................................................. x Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter I: Unsuk Chin, Her Musical Style, and the Violin Concerto ................................. 2 Chapter II: Violin Concerto, Movement I ......................................................................... 21 Chapter III: Violin Concerto, Movement II, III, and IV ................................................... 60 Appendix: List of Works by Unsuk Chin ......................................................................... 99 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 101 vi List of Musical Examples Example 1.1. Berg's Row in His Violin Concerto. ........................................................... 19 Example 2.1. Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement, mm. 1–5 ..................................... 27 Example 2.2. Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement, mm. 22–26, Marimbas I and II .. 29 Example 2.3. Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement, mm. 2–7 and mm. 38–42, Solo Violin ........................................................................................................................ 34 Example 2.4. Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement, mm. 65–69, Solo Violin ............ 37 Example 2.5. Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement, mm. 134–138 ............................. 42 Example 2.6. Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement, mm. 134–137 and mm. 146–149, Solo Violin ................................................................................................................ 44 Example 2.7. Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement, mm. 136–139 Violins I and II ... 46 Example 2.8. Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement, mm. 244–247 ............................. 55 Example 3.1. Chin, Violin Concerto, Second Movement, mm. 1–23, Solo Violin .......... 62 Example 3.2. Chin, Violin Concerto, Second Movement, mm. 1–5 ................................ 73 Example 3.3. Chin, Violin Concerto, Third Movement, mm. 20–26 ............................... 75 Example 3.4. Chin, Violin Concerto, Third Movement, mm. 31–37, Violins I and II ..... 78 Example 3.5. Chin, Violin Concerto, Third Movement, mm.78–84 ................................ 81 Example 3.6. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 1–6 ................................. 89 Example 3.7. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 34–39, Solo Violin ......... 90 Example 3.8. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 1–5, Solo Violin ............. 92 Example 3.9. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 57–59, Solo Violin ......... 92 Example 3.10. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 36–38, Solo Violin ....... 93 vii Example 3.11. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 90–93, Solo Violin ....... 93 Example 3.12. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 114–122, Solo Violin ... 94 Example 3.13. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 215–221, Solo Violin ... 94 Example 3.14. Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement, mm. 145–152 ....................... 96 viii List of Figures Figure 1.1. Scoring of Chin, Violin Concerto ................................................................... 16 Figure 2.1. Diagram of Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement ..................................... 23 Figure 2.2. Rhythmic Patterns used in Chin, Violin Concerto, First Movement .............. 29 Figure 2.3. Rhythmic Patterns in Part A1 ......................................................................... 29 Figure 2.4. Instruments and Patterns in mm. 1–9 ............................................................. 30 Figure 2.5. Rhythmic Patterns and Transfers in Part A1 .................................................. 33 Figure 2.6. Unfolding Versions of Circle of Fifth ............................................................ 34 Figure 2.7. Repeated Figures in Part A2 ........................................................................... 36 Figure 2.8. Rhythmic Patterns in Part A2, mm. 63–105 ................................................... 37 Figure 2.9. Instruments and Rhythmic Patterns in Part A2 .............................................. 38 Figure 2.10. Instruments and Rhythmic Patterns in Part B1 ............................................. 41 Figure 2.11. Instruments and Rhythmic Figures in Part B2, mm. 134–155 ..................... 45 Figure 2.12. Rhythmic Changes of the Solo Violin in Part C1................................ ......... 54 Figure 3.1. Diagram of Chin, Violin Concerto, Second Movement ................................. 61 Figure 3.2. Solo Violin’s Phrasing and Used Intervals in Part A, mm. 1–47 ................... 62 Figure 3.3. Entrances of Pitches in the Solo Violin in Part C, mm. 81–118 .................... 66 Figure 3.4. Diagram of Chin, Violin Concerto, Third Movement .................................... 69 Figure 3.5. Diagram of Chin, Violin Concerto, Fourth Movement .................................. 87 ix List of Appendices Appendix. Work List by Unsuk Chin ............................................................................... 99 x Introduction Unsuk Chin (b. July 14, 1961) received international recognition within Europe for her Akrostichon-Wortspiel (1993), but it was after winning the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in [Acrostic2004 for her-Wordplay] Violin Concerto (2001) that she started to gain attention in North America. Chin’s music is generally considered to be timbral. It is full of unique colors but does not evoke any particular culture or style of traditional Asian or Western music, even though she was raised in South Korea and studied in Germany, where she has been living for decades. This document attempts to reveal Chin’s compositional processes in her violin concerto. The first chapter introduces a biographical sketch of the composer, including her childhood in South Korea and the period of her study with György Ligeti (1923-2006) in Germany. It also offers a general guide to her musical style and her activities as a composer. In the latter part of the chapter, I provide information on her Violin Concerto and her other five concertos (to date). The second chapter presents an in-depth analysis of the concerto’s first movement, focusing on Chin’s treatment of developmental and variational processes and highlighting her use of the character of the violin itself. Finally, the last chapter offers a formal and stylistic analysis of the rest of the concerto: the slow second movement, the scherzo-like third movement, and the closing last movement, at the end of which material from the very beginning of the concerto returns. 1 Chapter I: Unsuk Chin, Her Musical Style, and the Violin Concerto The premiere of Unsuk Chin’s at Akristichon-Wortspiel at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 1994 was more than a professional success; it was a personal triumph. During the late 1980s, Chin had struggled to find her voice after her former teacher, György Ligeti (1923-2006), had encouraged her break away from the post-avant-garde aesthetic (including integral serialism) that had been central to her work. Around that time, Chin began