'Piri' – P'iri: Isang Yun's composition and the Korean oboe

Abstract

Isang Yun's 'Piri' (1971) for solo (Western) oboe, is a contemporary masterpiece that has been analysed for its use of serialism and Yun's Hauptton technique. This paper links the composition to Korea and Korean music. Yun had recently been released from prison in Korea, and the oboe becomes to him, as it is in Korean tradition, an instrument representing the human soul. At the same time, the Korean oboe, P'iri, is evoked in a number of ways in the piece, and the article explores differences and, through an analysis of ornamentation, connections between the P'iri and the composition 'Piri'.