Music as tie between nations

The former ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Hungary, Chung-ha Suh who left Budapest in September, wrote a lovely piece for Diplomacy and Trade about his fascination with music that connect lots Koreans and Hungarians.

Before I was assigned to Hungary as Korean Ambassador, the word ‘music’ used to come to my mind when I thought of Hungary. The primary reason was because one of my favorite musical pieces has always been Brahms’ Hungarian Dances. My enchantment with this piece was so great that I even chose the tune from Hungarian Dance No.5 as the ringtone of my mobile phone. Another reason for my connection of Hungary with music came from my fascination with the song Gloomy Sunday, the theme song for the film of the same title. Before taking up my new task here in Budapest, I took time to watch the film in an effort to better understand my new post. The song, composed by Hungarian pianist Rezso Seress, was so captivating that I could almost understand the wave of suicide allegedly touched off by this music in the 1930s. Feeling that the melancholic melody would appeal to Korean sentiment and that Koreans would be able to sympathize with the music, I gave CDs of this music as souvenir to many official visitors as well as personal guests from Korea.

Musical excellence

This rather fragmented encounter I had with Hungarian music motivated me to experience in earnest the musical world in Hungary during my service in this country. After being exposed to various kinds of Hungarian music on different occasions, my conclusion is that Hungary is indeed a "country of music". I, of course, am not the first to say this, and the great musicians from Hungary of international stature – Ferenc Liszt, Bela Bartok, Zoltan Kodaly, and Eugene Ormandy to mention a few – are a very testimony to it. The deep-rooted musical tradition in Hungary has today led to a wealth of talented musicians throughout the country. As Ambassador, I have been invited to numerous concerts, some of which were held in provincial cities. What amazed me was the high standard and professional level of musicians from the local areas.

The musical excellence I witnessed in these cities led me to realize how wrong I was to be biased against provincial cultural performances. Musicians from small cities impressed me as much as those from big cities such as Pecs, Miskolc, and Szeged. Recently, I had the prestigious opportunity to attend the opening ceremony of the “Water Theater” in Szarvas, a small city in southeast Hungary. Coupled with the beauty of the theater and its natural surroundings, the performance by the local musicians was absolutely marvelous. Such high level of music, I believe, comes from the Hungarian people’s love and passion for music itself. Music appears to be an integral part of the lives of the Hungarian people and even the economic difficulties following the global financial crisis of 2008 did not seem to have prevented them from going to concerts and musical events.

Music plays a greater role

For a country where music is given so much importance, it must also be an important resource for promoting external relations. As for Korea, our musical link with Hungary dates back to 70 years ago when Ahn Eak Tae, composer of the Korean national anthem, studied music under Zoltan Kodaly in the Liszt Academy of Music. Once diplomatic relations were established, the bilateral link in music also was reestablished, and many Korean students have been benefiting from good education in the prestigious Liszt Academy. The Academy orchestra’s visit to Korea in 2009 highlighted the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations of our two countries, and their concert turned out to be a huge success.

Against this background, I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize that music will continue to play a bridging role between Hungary and Korea. Now that Korean music, particularly Korean pop music, better known as K-pop, is becoming very popular across the world, music will play a greater role in bringing Hungarians and Koreans closer to each other. In this vein, I am happy to note that K-pop has successfully landed in Europe. Its first appearance in Paris this summer was indeed a big success. I am confident that Hungarian music lovers will quickly fall in love with the dynamism, vitality and the colorfulness of Korean music. And the Korean Cultural Center scheduled to open at the end of this year will greatly contribute to both introducing Korean music and promoting interactive exchange and cooperation in the field of music between Hungary and Korea.