Yiruma has been number one on the U.S. Billboard Classic chart for 11 weeks.
“I wondered,” composer Yiruma thought when his album “The Best Reminiscent 10th Anniversary” reached the top of the Billboard Classic album chart in February. The album has been in place since the 20th of this month. This is the result of adding YouTube views to sales of digital and physical albums in the U.S.

The record from nine years ago has been on the defensive since February.
“Planning a Piano and Other Musical Instruments Concerto next year”

The edited video of “Twilight,” in which “River Flows in You” became wrongly known as “Bella’s lullaby.”

Yiruma’s number one spot on the Billboard chart is an unusual reverse. The album was released to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his debut in 2011. The songs in the album are older. In particular, the second track “River Flows in You,” which led to the top spot, was Yiruma’s debut song in 2001.

Yiruma, who met on the 19th, said, “The song suddenly gained attention in 2006 due to the editing of a YouTuber.” A YouTuber posted a video of “River Flows in You” on a scene from the movie “Twilight” and became popular. From then on, digital music and album sales began to rise steadily and continued to top Billboard charts. Yiruma said, “It was a song that didn’t appear on Twilight, but it became popular as it became known,” adding, “I even received a call from Stephanie Mayer, the original author of the movie.”

Separately, the YouTube video of “River Flows in You,” played by Yiruma, currently has more than 100 million views. British classic FM magazine published an analysis of “River Flows in You,” saying, “The movie ‘Twilight’ had Debussy ‘Moonlight’, but Yiruma became more famous.” Yiruma said, “This song has a very unique chord progression,” and added, “If you listen to the first theme, it all develops into different major groups after a single minor chord.” “I guess that’s why people felt dreamlike. Because it’s neither sad nor bright.”

Yiruma’s “River Floss in You” performance video, which garnered more than 100 million views.

Yiruma, which marks the 20th anniversary of his debut next year, has a clear intuition about popularity. “It’s unclear what melodies people will like, but there are some rules for popular chord progression. “I make a new melody on top of these chords.” “But if I make music at my disposal, no one will listen,” he said. “What I really want to do is completely modern and avant-garde music.” Showing this “dream” is the 2006 album “H.I.S. Monologue.” John Cage-style automatic piano, a symbol of avant-garde in the 20th century, was bought, dismantled and reassembled. Modern music came out that used the piano like a percussion instrument. “Whenever Iruma receives disparaging reviews such as ‘Iruma does easy music’ and ‘a popular musician,’ I did it with the idea of showing my true music,” he said.

The roots of Yiruma music came from the Purcell School of Music in England, where he studied as a teenager. “I entered the school as a piano major, and the practice was so hard that I was making music at my disposal. At that time, one of my friends asked me for a score, saying he liked the song, and I thought, ‘The composer would be better.'” He said that the composition, which started at the age of 15, was the same classical style as Bach, Handel and Beethoven. His music is so popular that it is called “a common piano textbook of the 21st century,” but it is not easy to play in real life.

Yiruma released “Room with a View,” a song made in southern Italy last year. Next year, we will celebrate our 20th anniversary and build up the size of music. “So far, I have been known only for piano music, but I want to write songs with many instruments. I know that most of my music is made for commercial use, such as dramas and advertisements, and thus lacks completeness. Now I want to produce a lot of works with clear storylines for concerts.”

Reporter Kim Ho-jung wisehj@joongang.co.kr

No. 1 on Billboard, 100 million views on YouTube…Yiruma’s climb back in his 20th year of debut.