By analyzing socio-cultural contexts and musical texts, this paper examines diverse meanings of composition and performance of American composer Alan Hovhaness's <Symphony No. 16 for Korean Kayagŭm, Percussion and String Orchestra>. The piece was composed by Alan Hovhaness in 1963 during his brief visit to Korea in the midst of a trip to Japan and after his journey to India. The piece was performed by the KBS orchestra and kayagŭm artist Hwang Byung-ki and conducted by the composer himself.
Analysis of this piece shows that this piece imagines Korea as part of "remote Asia" rather than acknowledging characteristics of Korean music from other Asian musical elements. His use of drones, strong vibrato on the kayagŭm, and use of gongs and percussion in this piece shows that this music cannot be free from a conventional sense of "musical orientalism." Hovhaness imagined Korea as an "exotic and mysterious Other," which is solely distinguished from the West.
His interest in Asia in his life time led him to continue work on Indian, Japanese and Korean music until the late 1980s. He is known as one of the most representative modern American composers who made use of Asian musical idioms. His role as a cultural broker cannot be ignored. At the same time, Hovhaness's music was a good model for Korean musicians who wished to meet the world and achieve modernity during the 1960s. For them, Hovhaness's piece could be read as a symbol of modernity. In this sense, symphony No.16 is a site for negotiating two different world views. At the same time, this was music at a crossroads where the modern music history of America and Korea meets.