{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132675"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132675","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"A sound of Korea: Hunminjeongeum by Byunghee Oh","abstract":"Choral musicians worldwide are eager to explore new music characterized by diverse languages, backgrounds, and messages. The growing number of languages found in choral repertoires performed internationally is reflective of a global trend in choral music conducting. There is a significant surge of interest in music by women and, amid this growing global enthusiasm for female choral composers, women are currently at the forefront of the choral scene in South Korea. Even the most acclaimed Korean composers’ work, both male and female, often remains unrecognized internationally due to language barriers and the challenges of grasping traditional Korean melodies and rhythms. This dissertation addresses these challenges through an in-depth study of Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음, 2021), a 70-minute choral composition by a prominent Korean composer, Byunghee Oh. Inspired by the historical origins of the Korean writing system, Hangeul (한글), the work blends traditional Korean musical idioms with modern choral textures. Many ideas and materials explored will be familiar to Korean readers; however, the primary effort of this work is to synthesize and translate elements to facilitate an increased understanding by a larger choral conducting audience—and in a manner that will be engaging and accessible to conductors and ensembles worldwide. By providing detailed linguistic analysis, including International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions, this research aims to support non-Korean-speaking conductors and performers in approaching the work with linguistic and stylistic accuracy. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the broader effort of making contemporary Korean choral music more accessible to international audiences and encourages a more inclusive and diverse choral repertoire worldwide.","abstract_html":"Choral musicians worldwide are eager to explore new music characterized by diverse languages, backgrounds, and messages. The growing number of languages found in choral repertoires performed internationally is reflective of a global trend in choral music conducting. There is a significant surge of interest in music by women and, amid this growing global enthusiasm for female choral composers, women are currently at the forefront of the choral scene in South Korea. Even the most acclaimed Korean composers’ work, both male and female, often remains unrecognized internationally due to language barriers and the challenges of grasping traditional Korean melodies and rhythms. This dissertation addresses these challenges through an in-depth study of Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음, 2021), a 70-minute choral composition by a prominent Korean composer, Byunghee Oh. Inspired by the historical origins of the Korean writing system, Hangeul (한글), the work blends traditional Korean musical idioms with modern choral textures. Many ideas and materials explored will be familiar to Korean readers; however, the primary effort of this work is to synthesize and translate elements to facilitate an increased understanding by a larger choral conducting audience—and in a manner that will be engaging and accessible to conductors and ensembles worldwide. By providing detailed linguistic analysis, including International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions, this research aims to support non-Korean-speaking conductors and performers in approaching the work with linguistic and stylistic accuracy. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the broader effort of making contemporary Korean choral music more accessible to international audiences and encourages a more inclusive and diverse choral repertoire worldwide.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kwon, Seungah"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"A.Mus.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Music","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Eagen-Jones, Megan","Solya, Andrea","Taylor, Stephen","Tharp, Reynold"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12","date_published":"2025-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z","subjects":["Music","Choral","Korea","Korean","Korean Choral Music","Hangeul","Hunminjeongeum","Byunghee Oh","Korean letters","Composer","IPA","Performance practice"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Seungah Kwon"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132675","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Eagen-Jones, Megan","Solya, Andrea","Taylor, Stephen","Tharp, Reynold"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kwon, Seungah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-12","2025-12-03"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Music"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["A.Mus.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Music","Choral","Korea","Korean","Korean Choral Music","Hangeul","Hunminjeongeum","Byunghee Oh","Korean letters","Composer","IPA","Performance practice"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Seungah Kwon"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132675"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Choral musicians worldwide are eager to explore new music characterized by diverse languages, backgrounds, and messages. The growing number of languages found in choral repertoires performed internationally is reflective of a global trend in choral music conducting. There is a significant surge of interest in music by women and, amid this growing global enthusiasm for female choral composers, women are currently at the forefront of the choral scene in South Korea. Even the most acclaimed Korean composers’ work, both male and female, often remains unrecognized internationally due to language barriers and the challenges of grasping traditional Korean melodies and rhythms. This dissertation addresses these challenges through an in-depth study of Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음, 2021), a 70-minute choral composition by a prominent Korean composer, Byunghee Oh. Inspired by the historical origins of the Korean writing system, Hangeul (한글), the work blends traditional Korean musical idioms with modern choral textures. Many ideas and materials explored will be familiar to Korean readers; however, the primary effort of this work is to synthesize and translate elements to facilitate an increased understanding by a larger choral conducting audience—and in a manner that will be engaging and accessible to conductors and ensembles worldwide. By providing detailed linguistic analysis, including International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions, this research aims to support non-Korean-speaking conductors and performers in approaching the work with linguistic and stylistic accuracy. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the broader effort of making contemporary Korean choral music more accessible to international audiences and encourages a more inclusive and diverse choral repertoire worldwide.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-12-01","The student, Seungah Kwon, accepted the attached license on 2025-12-02 at 12:53.","The student, Seungah Kwon, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-12-02 at 23:30.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-12-03 at 10:50.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #23006 on 2026-02-19 at 18:46:23"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A sound of Korea: Hunminjeongeum by Byunghee Oh"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Eagen-Jones, Megan","Solya, Andrea","Taylor, Stephen","Tharp, Reynold"],"dc:creator":["Kwon, Seungah"],"dc:date":["2025-12","2025-12-03"],"dc:description":["Choral musicians worldwide are eager to explore new music characterized by diverse languages, backgrounds, and messages. The growing number of languages found in choral repertoires performed internationally is reflective of a global trend in choral music conducting. There is a significant surge of interest in music by women and, amid this growing global enthusiasm for female choral composers, women are currently at the forefront of the choral scene in South Korea. Even the most acclaimed Korean composers’ work, both male and female, often remains unrecognized internationally due to language barriers and the challenges of grasping traditional Korean melodies and rhythms. This dissertation addresses these challenges through an in-depth study of Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음, 2021), a 70-minute choral composition by a prominent Korean composer, Byunghee Oh. Inspired by the historical origins of the Korean writing system, Hangeul (한글), the work blends traditional Korean musical idioms with modern choral textures. Many ideas and materials explored will be familiar to Korean readers; however, the primary effort of this work is to synthesize and translate elements to facilitate an increased understanding by a larger choral conducting audience—and in a manner that will be engaging and accessible to conductors and ensembles worldwide. By providing detailed linguistic analysis, including International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions, this research aims to support non-Korean-speaking conductors and performers in approaching the work with linguistic and stylistic accuracy. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the broader effort of making contemporary Korean choral music more accessible to international audiences and encourages a more inclusive and diverse choral repertoire worldwide.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-12-01","The student, Seungah Kwon, accepted the attached license on 2025-12-02 at 12:53.","The student, Seungah Kwon, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-12-02 at 23:30.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-12-03 at 10:50.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #23006 on 2026-02-19 at 18:46:23"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132675"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Seungah Kwon"],"dc:subject":["Music","Choral","Korea","Korean","Korean Choral Music","Hangeul","Hunminjeongeum","Byunghee Oh","Korean letters","Composer","IPA","Performance practice"],"dc:title":["A sound of Korea: Hunminjeongeum by Byunghee Oh"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Music"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["A.Mus.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z"}