Return To Korea
On August 15, 1948, Ahn's Aegukga was sung during the ceremony commemorating the establishment of the Korean government. After the Korean War, President Syngman Rhee invited Ahn to be part of his 80th birthday celebration, and, on February 19, 1955, Ahn returned to his motherland after 25 years away from home. The military band played the Aegukga upon Ahn's arrival. Soon after, Ahn was awarded the Cultural Medal of Merit.
On invitation from the Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku, Ahn arrived at the Haneda Airport in January 1960, and conducted a concert at the Yaon Hibiya Auditorium on the night of February 4. After his success in Tokyo, Ahn flew to Osaka where he held another concert. After the concert, Ahn urged the Korean population in the area, who had been divided politically between the North and South, to further unity and cooperation. Later in 1964, Ahn conducted a concert during the 1964 Summer Olympics, as requested by the NHK.
After a successful concert in Spain, Ahn organized three successive Seoul International Music Festivals, but could not continue the event any further because it disrupted Ahn's work for the Seoul Philharmonic. On September 16, 1965, Ahn was stricken by a sudden illness and died while staying on the island of Majorca. On July 8, 1977, Ahn's ashes were transferred from Majorca to the Korean National Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: Ahn Eak-tai
Famous quotes containing the words return to and/or return:
“When we suffer anguish we return to early childhood because that is the period in which we first learnt to suffer the experience of total loss. It was more than that. It was the period in which we suffered more total losses than in all the rest of our life put together.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)
“Lise: Look, monsieur, I don’t know what type of girl you think I am, but I’m not. And now I would like to return to my friends.
Jerry: I thought you were bored with them. You sure looked it.
Lise: You should see me now.
Jerry: Ouch.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)