ABSTRACT
Youngdong Kim is a composer and taegum player who aims to popularise Korean traditional music. Kim, the taegum performer, has written new compositions for ensemble and orchestra in which the taegum is the main symbolic and instrumental source for creation. This chapter investigates the development of Kim’s taegum compositions and the ways in which tradition and modernity have been integrated in his works. The analysis of a selection of works aims to provide specific ideas to help understand his musical world. The advent of kugak kayo and Myongsang umak has been regarded as one of the movements leading into ‘Korean fusion’, a term that refers especially to a kind of popular music drawing on Korean traditional elements and targeting the national sentiments of the Korean public. Korean traditional music has proven to be excellent at revealing the unique culture of Korea as distinct from other East Asian countries.
