Mar
5
Music–the language that knows no boundary?
March 5, 2008 | | 1 Comment
By Wanching (Week 4)
The New York Philharmonic’s recent performance in North Korea seemed one of the most interesting piece of news since the start of the year, so it might be a good idea to write about this “music diplomacy” for the reading week.
The trip was widely described as an “ice-breaker” by the majority of international media and the governments of both the US and North Korea. Some analysts even compared it to Boston Symphony Orchestra’s visit to the Soviet Union in 1956 and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s trip to China in 1973, suggesting that the New York Philharmonic had a mission no less noble than the famous “pingpong diplomacy” that had a critical rolein opening up China in the 70s.
The show started with the national anthems of both the host and the guest, and reached its climax with “Arirang”, the theme of an emotional folklore yearning for the reunification of the South and the North. It did move many Koreans into tears, but the final number was even more interesting as “An American in Paris” was actually a rhapsodic ballet (as composer George Gershwin described) including jazz elements still banned in Pyongyong.
Kim Cheol-woong, a North Korean pianist who defected to South Korea six years ago after being punished for playing jazz, was extremely emotional knowing that the piece had actually obtained official endorsement to be played in North Korea. He lamented the lack of musical freedom in his homeland, but he still hoped the performance would help soften North Koreans’ negative views of the US as an imperialist force.
However, such note of optimism was not shared by others who believe that the performance was more gesture than substance between two countries still formally in a state of was as the armistice signed in the aftermath of the Korean War in the 1950s had yet to be replaced by a peace agreement.
Many worried that New York Philharmonic’s performance would only fueled North Korea’s official propaganda by showing that even artists from the strongest country in the world are willing to come all the way over to Pyongyong to play as tribute for our “Dear Leader” who, ironically though not unexpectedly, was actually not seen among the audience.
In fact, despite Kim Jong-il’s agreement to open doors to foreign musicians, his government’s grip on artistic freedom was still tight. Today, regular citizens were still prohibited from listening to or playing foreign music produced after 1900, and music produced before that was only reserved to the rich and privileged few – who formed the majority of the audience in the concert hall attending the historic performance on 26 February. The only thing that gave average citizens access to western music – classical or pop – was the counterfeit CDs smuggled from China. Even so, many of those who were caught in possession of music products from Japan, South Korea and the US had been severely penalized as secessionists.
The latest issue of Time Asia also featured the Philharmonic’s visit as the headline story, with the correspondent doubting whether it would bring substantial influence on government officials at the nuclear weapons negotiating table. There was indeed this huge question mark floating in the air since North Korea’s denuclearization programme was still overshadowed by complaints over aid and US political concessions. Not long ago, there even came rumours of North Korea’s nuclear co-operation and illicit arms trade with Syria.
The eight performing musicians of Korean origin also had mixed feelings about the visit to their ancestral home. Michelle Kim, a violinist whose parents moved from the North to Seoul in South Korea during the Korean War and to the US afterwards, said she was not there to send any political messages, but simply to offer people of her motherland “her love of music”.
Lisa Kim, the associate principal second violinist whose father was seriously wounded fighting the Korean War and had survived by hiding in the mountains, also had doubts about Kim Jong-il’s sincerity in opening up the hermit kingdom. “We could be just enhancing the way the North Korean government would have the world see them – that they are willing to open. But in the meantime, it’s not really that they’re doing that”, she said.
After talking to her family, she finally decided to join the other 105 musicians on this historic visit, and her mother even joined the trip to North Korea as a guest.
Whatever the response from the public and the media, the performance itself has been a significant achievement in the diplomatic dialogue between the two countries. Well, at least it has fulfilled its mission as a “two-edged sword”, giving people in both countries an invaluable chance to know more about, and even interact with, people who they had long viewed with suspicion and distrust.
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I agree, even though the visit might not achieve any immediate results, it is an interesting step..