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South Korea has taken the classical music world by storm over the past few decades. Koreans are increasingly overrepresented among high-level classical musicians. Hundreds of Koreans have been finalists and prizewinners in prestigious international music competitions. The Korean Musical Mystery (2012) is a documentary by Belgian filmmaker Thierry Loreau that seeks to understand this fascinating phenomenon.
The documentary points out that in 1995 there were no Korean candidates in the first round of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, while in 2011 there were 22. Since the documentary was released this trend has only continued to progress, and several Koreans have garnered top prizes at competitions. In 2015, Seong-Jin Cho and Ji-young Lim became the first Koreans to win the Chopin Competition and Queen Elisabeth Competition, respectively, the latter as a violin laureate. In 2017 Yekwon Sunwoo became the first Korean to win the Van Cliburn Competition. And last year, 18-year-old Yunchan Lim became the Cliburn’s youngest-ever winner and the first to have been educated solely in Korea.
South Korea is almost as populous as Italy, being smaller by about seven million, but it is a much bigger presence on the world stage. There are 25 Korean competitors in the Tchaikovsky Competition this year, compared to seven Italians. The contrast is particularly striking given that Italy is one of the birthplaces of classical music.
Asians’ success in classical music is generally credited to strict parenting and a strong work ethic. Human biodiversity enthusiasts would also be quick to note that they have relatively high IQs, which is an advantage insofar as the study of classical music is moderately g-loaded. All of the above are factors, but there is more to the story.
Arguably the most important contributor to Korea’s success in classical music, as highlighted by this documentary, is that the Koreans understand the important role that the arts play in cultivating a nation’s standing internationally and in fostering national pride. In America, artistic endeavors are regarded as mere diversions whose purpose is to provide pleasure and entertainment. In Korea the arts are regarded as an arena in which national excellence can be demonstrated and are taken very seriously. Just as national rivalries catalyze technological innovation, they also lead to artistic achievement.
Korea has a government agency devoted to culture whose purposes include promoting the arts and providing financial support to artists. In 1993 the agency founded the Korea National University of Arts (K-ARTS), which encompasses music, drama, film, dance, the visual arts, and the traditional Korean arts. Most elite young Korean musicians have studied there. K-ARTS has a preparatory division, the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts (KNIGA), which was established in 2008. Even though it is only 15 years old, it has already made its mark on the classical music world. Yunchan Lim, who currently studies at K-ARTS, studied at KNIGA as a teenager. KNIGA’s Director has remarked that the program has resulted in a more sophisticated selection process for K-ARTS, as the university already has an intimate knowledge of many of its applicants.
The Korean government is generous in providing support to talented young musicians. The tuition fees at KNIGA are covered by the government. K-ARTS students can also receive government assistance; the documentary profiles a young musician who came from a struggling family and received a free education.
Korea’s educational system used to be founded on a one-size-fits-all approach, but since the 1980s the government has become more attuned to gifted students’ potential. A turning point in the history of gifted education in Korea was the passing of the Gifted and Talented Education Promotion Act in 2000: from 2003 to 2013, the number of institutions offering gifted education went from 400 to 2,868. The act’s nationalistic underpinnings are made clear in its stated purpose: “to encourage [talented students] to develop innate potential, seek self-realization and contribute to [the] development of the nation and of society.” This kind of language is absent from Western gifted education laws, which only mention meeting students’ individual needs.[1]
Another factor is that classical music is a ubiquitous presence in South Korea. Korean children are exposed to classical music in school and in popular culture, so even those who are not musicians are familiar with it. An important effect of this is that musically-talented youth are more readily identified, just as athletic children are quickly identified in America, since everyone here knows what athletic ability looks like.
Koreans’ celebration of prominent Korean classical musicians has also likely played a role in furthering Korea’s success by inspiring younger people to follow in their footsteps. When Lim won the Cliburn last year, he became a rock star in Korea. His stunning performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 currently has 11 million views and hundreds of comments in Korean.[2] The Korean Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism personally congratulated Lim on his victory, writing that he expected “to see more Koreans [show] their interest in the Korean classical music world after hearing about [his] achievement.”
The Korean mania for musicians such as Lim and Seong-Jin Cho is reminiscent of Van Cliburn’s reception in America after his historic victory at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958, a year after the Sputnik launch. He was greeted with a ticker-tape parade upon his return to New York City and became a national hero. It is hard to imagine something similar happening in America today. Beyond the fact that Americans don’t care about classical music, they don’t take pride in the accomplishments of other Americans. There is nothing that unifies Americans apart from the fact that they occupy the same land mass. Meanwhile, South Korea is one of the most homogeneous countries in the world and boasts a population that is 96% Korean.
You can buy Collin Cleary’s Wagner’s Ring & the Germanic Tradition here.
Homogeneity is conducive to civilizational achievement because it is easier for people to identify with and be inspired by the accomplishments of those who are like themselves. A common criticism of the concept of racial, ethnic, and national pride — which is exclusively directed toward white people — is that it is foolish to take pride in anything but one’s own accomplishments. But we are heirs of past generations’ creations and are part of a larger tapestry that includes them. This fact in itself does not confer innate superiority upon any individual white person (which seems to be what critics of White Nationalism think we believe), but it does mean we will have an affinity for our heritage and are entitled to take pride in it. Most people understand this intuitively, which is apparent in Leftist talking points about the importance of “representation” and “role models.” (Their belief that the underrepresentation of minorities in certain fields is due to a lack of “role models” is obviously wrong, but their underlying premises are sound.) The effect of nationalism on national achievement is therefore twofold: national rivalries spur countries to innovate and create things, and national pride inspires subsequent generations to follow suit.
The documentary likewise attributes Koreans’ success to their traditional Confucian values. Young Koreans respect their elders and want to honor their parents and teachers, which motivates them to work hard. This can be a double-edged sword, as they are accustomed to following instructions and can be reluctant to challenge authority. A German piano professor in the documentary comments that asking questions is an important part of European culture. This questing, independent spirit should be nurtured. A healthy balance should be found between entirely submitting to authority and discarding it altogether. Right now, white children are generally too disconnected from their elders and are overly influenced by their same-age peers.
Nationalism, inegalitarianism, and traditional values have all played an important role in Korea’s rapid ascent in the classical music world. None of the above are especially popular with modern Westerners, but the West must embrace them if it is to regain its former prominence.
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Notes
[1] Jaeboon Lee, Byoungjik Kang, & Deoknan Lee, “Law for Gifted and Talented Education in Korea: Its Development, Issues, and Prospects” (Turkish Journal of Giftedness and Education 2016, Vol. 6, Issue 1, 14–23).
8 comments
In the backwash of Van Cliburn’s victory in Russia a renewed interest in the arts (classical music in particular) came to the states. When JFK came to town he had the best he could tap play at the White House; in 1961 Pablo Casals showed up:
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-arts-in-the-kennedy-white-house
Whether all this influenced the National Endowment to the Arts is unknown. Very well known is who opposed it, the Buckley conservatives. For years he and his minions jumped on any misspent penny.
Right or wrong, it’ll be very difficult in the US to get people in the US to go for any federal money for art. When Van Cliburn did Russia, the American economy then, like Korea’s now, was going up. Korea’s economy might keep going up, but the American one is in trouble.
The Olympics used to be something I could get behind and follow with interest. Since it’s been poisoned by professional athletes there is no longer national pride at stake. Who cares if a bunch of nba players represent the country. The majority of them despise what our country was founded to be yet are handsomely rewarded for their skills regardless. The athletes and artists that show early promise should receive support yet not so much as to remove the hunger to achieve greatness. What you won’t see is white people in a Chinese or Korean orchestra. But you sure as hell see a ton of Chinese and Korean men and even more women in American and European orchestras. Every black parent sees a child and hopes they can be an athlete or rap star. Chinese and Koreans and Japanese get them fitted for a violin or piano. The 10,000 hour rule applies and blacks can’t do it. Won’t do it or get ostracized for trying to act white. Lowering the standards for entry will only destroy the integrity of the system. Bravo for Korea in this instance.
Even at a local level I see Korean musicians over-represented. If seeking a music teacher for young child one finds multiple Koreans in PhD music programs or already with degree in hand. You think your job is competitive? I feel bad for so much talent (all races) and so few jobs in classical music for those who invested so much training. And meritocracy is now replaced by affirmative action, making it even more tragic for musicians left behind. Gone are the days of “blind” auditions, in which the judges listen but do not get to see who is playing the music. Yes, they wouldn’t know if it is man, woman or non-binary, Asian, Black or Caucasian. Diversity is a higher priority than a search for the sublime. The video posted above of the Cliburn competition: The conductor is a white lesbian who trained under Leonard Bernstein and many have suggested she was at least a small inspiration for the movie, Tar (reportedly nicer). Rumor has it she has a Black replacement at her old post, showing who wins out in the inter-sectional wars. Why are some groups over-represented? One expects some groups to be over and underrepresented depending on which groups are cultivating study of classical music at an early age. Heather MacDonald has a great series of articles in City-Journal on that topic.
You mention that Korea’s musical ascendancy is by embracing the important role of the arts. I would enunciate that further that the Koreans show reverence to great art of the past and are not constantly trying to “dismantle” or erase it. I could imagine the pool of Black classical musicians would improve if Black parents were exposing their kids to more Bach and less Waka Flocka Flame.
In terms of nature vs nurture, I know a Korean family who sent one kid off to grad school. The other kid has a severe brain problem way worse than Down’s syndrome, but they still doggedly cultivate in them an interest in classical music, the arts, and education regardless of an insurmountable disease. That is what were are up against.
The Korean education system is highly competitive. Parents do not drop the ball on a kid’s schooling. One’s score on their 8 hour version of the SAT determines one’s university and career path. Suicides are not uncommon afterwards. Perhaps it’s ruthless. At the same time, the US is going way in the other direction with an increasing tendency to ban standardized tests altogether (likely because they produce inconvenient results across demographic groups).
And South Korea is on an upswing in many fronts, not just classical music. Cars (Hyundai, Kia), Film/TV exports (from entertainments to prestige pieces like Parasite), and also pop music. The K-pop phenomenon shows that crafty Koreans can imitate shitty western boy bands too… Is it BTS or BTK? One is an infamous serial killer who tortured people, the other is torture to listen to.
The conductor in the video is Marin Allsop, the epitome of the mediocre Western diversity hire, being a lesbian with a talent for self-promotion but not very much else. That alone highlights why we in the West need to up our game.
For any readers who still need convincing, just check out the British “orchestra” called Chineke, a state-funded organisation which only hires blacks and which tries to persuade us that Florence Price is some sort of overlooked genius. In Britain at least, government spending on the arts is being used to undermine Western culture.
What a depressing site that orchestra is for sure. Why is it that these culture killers continue to feed the notion that someone being unrepresented in a particular field is a problem? Do you want the best surgeon when you need something fixed or do you prefer a black AA hire that is going to kill you? I see the nba has gone back to choosing a black mvp after a couple of years of the white euro star. Just the way they like it after all.
I’ve heard Alsop do a few interviews and felt she was a better than average educator for general audiences. On the surface she doesn’t evince the pretentiousness of Kate Blanchett in Tar. But I was disappointed to see an interview in which Alsop complained about the film, that she felt offended as a woman and a lesbian by the character’s behavior, which does not seem to be the point of the film.
Many argue that the role of conductors is overstated, especially for a live concert. A lot of what they have done is in the practice sessions for a performance, in which they lay out their interpretation for pacing, volume, clarity, etc. Especially relevant for this site are those conductors who also serve as music directors. They have a big say on which musical works are programmed and which musician are to be hired and fired. They can allow themselves to be steamrolled over by diversity demands. But I imagine the governing boards see it as a fine dance between some required preaching about diversity but not making incautious decisions that will sabotage the history of an organization. So we will how the field will cope with these pressures, because it requires virtuosic political skills dealing with the demands of various factions.
Not classical here, but I couldn’t help myself. They’re such a trip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMqL1iWfku4
My dear Mr. Woodruff, I was musing on the interpretive potential of sonata-allegro form being revolutionary as a mobility of modern sociology, fulfilling a necessary philosophy of reciprocal transcendence and propinquity as a richness of presence. Upon which I received your sedulously opted yet meretricious link and provide my reaction thusly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXIB9kZTjSI
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