Music that Records Literature: A Case Study of Yoon Dong-ju’s Creative Music Festival

The Yoon Dong-ju Creative Music Festival, first launched in 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of poet Yoon Dong-ju's passing, celebrates its 10th edition in 2024. As part of the broader “Yoon Dong-ju Literary Festival,” this music festival is a theme-based creative competition that honors and preserves the spirit of Yoon Dong-ju by transforming his poetry into musical compositions. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of the Yoon Dong-ju Creative Music Festival as a cultural record, focusing on its reinterpretation of poetry—a literary genre—through music. The research utilized application materials provided by the Jongno Cultural Foundation as documentary data, employing methods such as categorization, and analysis to derive meaning. First, it analyzed the creative intentions of participants who selected “New Path,” the most frequently chosen poem for composition. Second, it categorized the genres of original compositions and proposed a restructuring of application content. Third, it examined participants' “creative intentions” and “reasons for poem selection” to highlight the festival's value and significance. Additionally, trends in participant numbers over the past decade were analyzed, and suggestions for improvement and future development were presented. Reflecting on the festival's first decade provides an opportunity to assess its achievements, refine its direction, and ensure that Yoon Dong-ju's legacy continues to be documented and celebrated through music. Beyond literature-focused activities, this study anticipates that similar initiatives will emerge and thrive in cultural and artistic domains, with the Yoon Dong-ju Creative Music Festival leading the way as a unique convergence of music and literary heritage.