Composer Choe Young-seop [Provided by the family]
Composer Choe Young-seop [Provided by the family]

Choe Young-seop, the conductor and composer behind the art song "Geuriun Geumgangsan" ("Longing for Mount Geumgang"), died Monday. He was 97.

According to his family, Choe had been hospitalized at a care facility due to age-related illness and died that morning.

Born in Ganghwa, Gyeonggi Province in 1929, Choe enrolled in the composition department at Seoul National University but left without graduating after the Korean War interrupted his studies, completing four years of coursework. He later earned a graduate degree in conducting from the Vienna State Conservatory in Austria. He served as a professor in the music department at Hanyang University and as an adjunct professor of music education at Chung-Ang University. His best-known works include "Geuriun Geumgangsan," "Goyohan Achimui Nara" ("Land of the Morning Calm") and "O! Saranghaneun Naui Joguk" ("Oh! My Beloved Homeland").

"Geuriun Geumgangsan" was set to a poem by Han Sang-eok and premiered in 1962 as part of a cantata titled "Areumdaun Nae Gangsan" ("My Beautiful Land"), marking the 12th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. World-renowned singers including Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo chose it as an encore during their performances in Korea.

Choe was the father of Choe Seong-won, bassist and composer for the rock group Deulgukhwa. A memorial altar has been set up at the funeral hall of Sinchon Severance Hospital. The funeral is scheduled for July 1.


shee@heraldcorp.com