Byung-Hee Oh's Cantata Light of the East: A Fusion of Western and Korean Musical Elements.

Abstract

Byung-Hee Oh (b. 1975) is a leading composer in the second generation of Korean choral composers. She has held professional positions including as a church musician, as an instructor at the Korea Choir Academy, on the faculty of Han-Sei University, as a composer and editor for the Korean publishing company Chorus Center, and as resident composer for both the Hak-Won Yoon Chorale and the National Chorus of Korea. Her compositional output includes choral-orchestral works, orchestral works, chamber music, musicals, vocal music, and a large body of sacred and secular choral works. Light of the East is a large choral-orchestral work commissioned by the National Chorus of Korea for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Korean Independence Movement, and was premiered in 2019. The work is set in three large parts. The first focuses on ancient Korean foundation myths, the second deals with the ethos of the Korean people, and the third is a remembrance and celebration of Korea’s independence from Japanese imperial occupation. In this monumental work Byung-Hee Oh incorporates traditional Korean themes, singing and playing techniques, instruments, folk materials and singing styles. She combines them with Western elements, including a Western classical orchestra, notation, and compositional techniques in her unique compositional voice in Light of the East. Knowledge of the traditional Korean elements in Light of the East will lead to deeper understanding of this work and its important place in Korean classical music.