Isang Yun, Piri for Oboe Solo (1971)

Abstract This chapter offers historical context and musical analysis of Isang Yun’s (1917–1995) solo oboe composition Piri (1971). Yun’s compelling life journey, from his birth in Ch’ungmu, Korea, through the subsequent period of Japanese occupation, his activism, imprisonment, and ultimately his role as a distinguished composer in Berlin, profoundly influenced his work. Piri reflects Yun’s unique compositional style, an amalgamation of Western avant-garde techniques and Eastern aesthetics and philosophy. This chapter introduces the Korean double-reed instrument, the piri, its spiritual significance, and its timbral flexibility. It investigates the East Asian concept of “Living Tones,” which organically expand the oboe’s timbral spectrum. Organized in four sections, Piri is a sort of mirror, symmetrically moving toward and away from a central point in both gesture and pitch-space, and uses Haupttontechnik. Weaving together opposing forces, Yun crafts a formidable exploration of the oboe and presents an anthropomorphic narrative of oppression and freedom.