[Herald Interivew] Composer and conductor Yoon Han-kyeol on why 'Grium' is 'Grium'

The year 2024 has been a whirlwind of a year for Yoon Han-kyeol, winner of the 2023 Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award. The rising conductor led the Hankyung Arte Philharmonic in all-Brahms symphony concerts in May and many other performances in Europe. Earlier this month, he debuted with the Munich Philharmonic, an unexpected opportunity that he enjoyed immensely.

Then, there was his debut with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna in August at the Salzburg Festival. Returning to the city a year after the Karajan win, he opened the concert with his own composition, a 13-minute symphony titled "Grium."

This Korean word, romanized as "geurium" and meaning "yearning," was born out of a playful exchange with the Salzburg Festival organizers.

While planning his performance at the festival, the organizers sought a contemporary piece similar to Shin Dong-hoon's "Of Rats and Men," which Yoon conducted after winning the Karajan award. As they explored options through email -- which proved challenging -- Yoon jokingly suggested writing a new piece himself.

After three days of silence, he assumed the organizers lacked a sense of humor. To his surprise, they had taken his suggestion seriously, setting the stage for his return to composition after a three-year break.

“When composing, I usually seek ideas from daily life, something small, funny and cute because the creative process can be quite lonely and challenging. But I had already set the program for the concert with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 and Bruch’s Violin Concerto and I did not want to do a lighthearted piece as I usually do to begin the concert with those two pieces. I decided to do something serious and poignant," the 30-year-old composer and conductor said.

The piece is an encapsulation of things he had to forgo as he made the life choices of moving from his hometown Daegu to Seoul, and then to Germany.

Born in 1994 in Daegu, South Korea, Yoon moved to Seoul to attend arts middle and high schools. He then headed to Germany where he studied conducting, composition and piano performance at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.

Why use the Korean word for the title? Yoon told The Korea Herald on Wednesday that it's his belief that “music becomes fresher and allows for greater interpretive freedom when we aren’t aware of the composer’s intentions.”

“I think this may also be a reason behind past debates between advocates of program music and absolute music. Incidentally, the Korean word geurium can be written in Roman letters, yet it defies complete translation into foreign languages -- both longing and nostalgia fall short,” he explained.

“‘Grium’ implies a somewhat broader or even negative nuance. It feels as though this ambiguity, or the desire to offer interpretive freedom to both musicians and audiences, may have driven the choice of this word,” he added.

“I imagine that a foreign audience’s impressions would differ significantly depending on whether they initially hear the music without understanding the title, discover the title in Hangeul, or look up the exact meaning.”

The Asian premiere of "Grium" will take place Sept. 12 next year, with pianist Kit Armstrong and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. The premier will also mark Yoon's first time conducting the orchestra.

Asked about his communication skills as a conductor, Yoon said, “I’m not good with words. I definitely try to express my emotions in the most genuine way in the moment, but people always end up laughing. Even when I tell a sad story, they laugh, and sometimes when I say something funny, they don’t react at all."

"Fortunately, and I’m truly grateful for this, many times the environment just naturally creates a positive atmosphere for the performance,” Yoon said.

Yoon is due to lead the opening concert of Music Festival Pohang on Friday.