Arirang: Korean Folk Song
Arranged Michael Story. (Miami, FL: Belwin Mills, 2005).
Essential Questions & Information about Arirang
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What cultural and historical facts to do we know about the song?
"ARIRANG is perhaps the most popular of all Korean folk songs. Some scholars think it was written 150 years ago near the end of the Choson Dynasty. Others believe it is much older—possibly more than 1,000 years. ARIRANG tells the story of a heartbroken maiden who wishes that her departing sweetheart will have sore feet before he has gone “ten li” (about two and a half miles) and will have to come back to her" (program notes from score). However, there clearly is more than one version of the folk tale. Indeed, there are indeed conflicting stories. The lyrics tell the story of a woman who is either longing for her lost love, glad that he has gone, or is ambivalent about his departure.
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What is the song like when sounded by traditional instruments/voices?
Korean folk instruments include both plucked and bowed string instruments. There is xxx.
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How is the song taught traditionally?
The song is taught by ear traditionally. Of course, there are many notated versions of the song (see #4). One of the orchestra moms says that the song is so amazingly popular that she doesn't think most people know how or when they learned it. It is just the kind of song that everyone "just knows."
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How does the song live today for the people of and from that culture?
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How does Arirang mean for people who live in Korea today?
Arirang has “moved” from the song described in the program notes. Pop arrangers, solo performers, and symphony orchestras have adapted the song for modern, outdoor concerts. The song is used as part of large outdoor ceremonies in both North and South Korea. Arirang is the the name of large television network in Korea.
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What does Arirang mean to people from Korea or people whose families are from Korea who live in our community today?
Mrs. Kim says that in Korea there are many mountain passes with the name Arirang and no one is sure which is the one from the story. Because of this, it is also possible to interpret Arirang not as a physical location but as a state of mind or as a place better than the here and now. I think, “Wow! This viewpoint is a long way from Snow White waiting for Prince Charming to return.”
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How we can play the song in a way that illustrates what we’ve learned about how a person can reflect and respect a song and the people who own it and think it important?
Students in the Florida Middle School All-State decided that Michael Story’s arrangement for string orchestra is less related to these contemporary performances than it is to the older folk song connected to the folk tale. They conclude that the arrangement demonstrates the personal, contemplative nature of the folk song. So they further decided to alter the arrangement to increase its connection to the personal nature of the folk song. Therefore, instead of the large first violin section playing the melody after the arrangement’s four-measure introduction, they decided to begin with a single violinist playing the first verse and then have the rest of the violinists enter at the repetition of mm. 5–12, which we also add.
In Illinois, students decided to begin with everyone playing the song on their own to reflect the personal and aural nature of the song. The resulting cacophony merged into a unison performance and segued into the arrangement itself. As each player aurally recognized that the bass section had begun to play together, he or she stopped playing at his or her own speed and style and joined in with the larger group. When the tutti version concluded, the piano entered with the introduction from the arrangement, which the orchestra played as written. This last part reflected the videos we saw in which Arirang was performed by an orchestra in different ways (e.g., accompanying a vocal solo or a piano rhapsody or as an outdoor festival showpiece).
Print Sources
- Story, Michael. Arirang: Korean Folk Song. (Musical score.) Miami, FL: Belwin Mills, 2005.
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Website Sources
| Source Name | | Page # | | Quote |
Story, Michael. Arirang: Korean Folk Song. (Musical score.) Miami, FL: Belwin Mills, 2005. | cover | "ARIRANG is perhaps the most popular of all Korean folk songs. Some scholars think it was written 150 years ago near the end of the Choson Dynasty. Others believe it is much older—possibly more than 1,000 years. ARIRANG tells the story of a heartbroken maiden who wishes that her departing sweetheart will have sore feet before he has gone “ten li” (about two and a half miles) and will have to come back to her" |
| Arriang: An Interactive Classroom on the Korean-American Experience | | | | There are indeed conflicting stories. The lyrics tell the story of a woman who is either longing for her lost love, glad that he has gone, or is ambivalent about his departure. |
Audio Sources
- Source 1
- Source 2
- Source 3
- Source 4
Video Sources
Arirang by Jang Sa Ik |
| Joe Hisaishi |
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Traditional Korea Rendition |
| Arirang-Solo guitar | |
Arirang sung in Insadong (Seoul, Korea) |
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