The creation of this étude stemmed from my obsession with groove, inspired by pop beats, namely the UK Garage genre. This was further deepened by the works of the South Korean painter Sangnam Lee, whose pieces I encountered at the Perrotin in Seoul. His works are products of repeated grinding, which almost attain the level of flawlessness seen in machine-made products. I found his craftsmanship analogous to playing the acoustic piano in a digital age: while repeated sounds can be flawlessly executed and created by machines, I somehow find meaning and value in striving to reach that state manually on the piano.

This work is intended to be paired by Étude No. 1, Op. 10 by Frédéric Chopin & Étude No. 2 by Philip Glass; its predecessors.

Composed and Performed by 
Yeonjoon Yoon

Mixed and Mastered by
Hyomin Kang

Recorded at Brickwall Studio, Seoul

Étude for Piano No. 1, 'Recursion' 피아노를 위한 연습곡 1번 '회귀'

pianistㅣcomposer

Yeonjoon Yoon is a versatile artist, creating and performing music that is both accessible and experimental, blending tradition with innovation, centered around the piano and synthesizer.

In 2024, he was chosen as a recipient of the Young Artist Scheme by the Arts Council Korea and premiered his original composition project UM움 in collaboration with traditional Korean musicians at the Barbican Center in London and JCC Art Center in Seoul. His next project is the Chopin-Glass-Yoon Études for Piano, created in collaboration with electronic musicians. He contributed to the arrangement of the tvN drama Maestra and director Myung-se Lee’s film The Killers.

Yoon was the first Korean to unanimously win the prestigious Gold Medal at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was named a Rising Star by BBC Music Magazine. He has won and placed in international piano competitions in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, the United States, and Japan. He has performed at world-renowned venues such as the Seoul Arts Center, New York's Lincoln Center, London's Barbican Centre, and Palau de la Música in Spain. His collaborations include performances with the Fort Worth Symphony, Hastings Philharmonic, Guildhall Symphony, Peabody Sinfonietta, members of the Guarneri and Ying Quartets, and the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. His artistic work spans a wide range of fields, including solo piano recitals, chamber music, concerto performances, contemporary music, improvisation, interdisciplinary arts, film music, and popular music.

Yoon pursued his classical training at leading institutions, including the Korea National University of Arts Preparatory School, Yewon School, Peabody Preparatory School, Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, all on full scholarships.

Étude for Piano No. 1, 'Recursion' 피아노를 위한 연습곡 1번 '회귀'

Yeonjoon Yoon 윤연준 尹涓埈