‘Arirang’, a lyrical Korean folk song, bares various sentiments such as the life, joy, and sorrow of Korean ancestors. Arirang has been variously inherited and developed in each region. Accordingly, musical features such as scale, melody, sigims... ‘Arirang’, a lyrical Korean folk song, bares various sentiments such as the life, joy, and sorrow of Korean ancestors. Arirang has been variously inherited and developed in each region. Accordingly, musical features such as scale, melody, sigimsae(ornament), jangdan(beat), form, singing method are different from region. As missionary Homer B. Hulbert has mentioned in his article in titled ‘Arirang is like rice to the Koreans’, Arirang has been closely related to the life of Koreans and still lives in the hearts of the modern people. As Korean culture is recently gaining more attention, literary studies on Arirang are proceeding briskly, whereas only a few musical researches have been done. Currently, about 60 types and 3,600 songs in the system of Arirang has been handed down orally. Considering the vast amount of songs, various ways of studies are essential. Especially, theoretical study as well as systematic research to articulate melody, beat, tempo, and sigimsae is needed in order to develop ‘Arirang’ as a choral music that uses the western music notation. This study holds up some of the contemporary choral works, which uses the Arirang melody, as an example to take a look at how traditional melodies can be applied to contemporary choral music and find an effective way for the performance. To see the basis of Arirang, the study looks into the historical and cultural origin, value, and musical characteristics of Arirang divided into 5 tori (feature of each region), including Gyeonggi, Seodo, Dongbu, Namdo, and Jeju. To select the related works, Korean musical elements were considered preferentially. In addition, these works were selected due to its various musical attempts and high quality. The comparative analysis concentrates on ‘Yemaek Arari’ for a mixed, a cappella chorus by Tae-Kyun Ham, ‘Jeongseon Arirang’ by Jae-Yeol Park, and ‘Missa Arirang’ by Cool-Jae Huh for women's chorus. As a result, there were diverse attempts to express the traditional music elements of the folk songs in modern styles. In particular, lyrics, melodies, scales, rhythms have been applied with jangdan beats, and vocal techniques were effectively used to produce a Korean color. Taek-Kyun Ham's ‘Yemaek Arari’ borrows various Dongbu (Eastern) folk song melodies and forms. The song uses the sigimsae from Menari-tori melody and the rhythm of sixteenth notes to make a dramatic expression. Especially, the common folk song’s call-and-response singing style made a more multifarious structure. The folksy solo tune and the contrapuntal chorus must be performed attentively. ‘Jeongseon Arirang’ by Jae-Yeol Park borrows the Jeognseon Arirang from the eastern region and uses the Menari-tori scale based on Kyemyeon scale. Using the Gin-jajin form of the folk song, the structure stood out by starting very slowly and moving on rapidly. Diverse rhythms that applied the jangdan beat maximized the tension and the ‘Han (sorrow)’ sentiment. For the performance, harmonizing the flowing chorus melody, which weaves the chorus-saseol-sori, with the instrumental type of solo melody with ornaments must be carefully handled. ‘Missa Arirang’ by Cool-Jae Huh grafted different folk melodies and forms to five-movement Mass ordinary. The traditional drum, janggu, was used to effectively express its own Korean jangdan and rhythm. In terms of form, the motive is developed to quietly reminisce an ‘Arch form’. Based on each region, tori and sigimsae should be understood to make an enriched traditional color. In addition, the calling-and-response form should be carefully performed to show the contrast between the solo and the chorus. Through this study, it was found that Korean choral works using Arirang melody express a new musical element which combines various modern techniques based on Korean language by using chorus as a tool instead of merely using a traditional melody. It is highly appreciated that composers have expressed their own colors by naturally combining traditional element and modern one each other, and presented new possibilities of choral music with various expressional techniques of voices. In order to improve contemporary Korean choral music, a research on notation must be involved to interpret the traditional technique into a modern style. In addition, a basic education on Korean traditional music should be more emphasized. In particular, conductors and performers should develop a choral sound based on understanding the traditional elements, with continuous training on the conducting technique and sigimsae expression for the performance, and put efforts to pay more attention to the Korean culture and gain knowledge as well.
‘아리랑’은 우리 조상들의 삶과 애환이 담긴 서정민요이다. 아리랑은 지난 오랜 세월동안 계승, 발전되어 오면서 지역에 따라 다양하게 변화되어 왔으며 민중들의 삶과 밀접한 관계를 가... |
