There are many different varieties of Korea’s iconic folk song Arirang. The song was often performed at work and at play, both when life was hard and when life was good. Arirang was a very versatile song, communicating both sorrow and joy. In Pyeongan Province, now in North Korea, there used to be songs called “Ginari ” and “Jajinari ,” which were sung when women planted seeds, tilled the fields or picked clams on the beach. Many of the improvisations are about love between man and woman. What makes these short improvised phrases so unique is that sighs are thrown in here and there. Those who hear the song for the first time may think the sighs sound rather mournful. Master singer Oh Bok-nyeo said, “Korean songs may sound sad, but they contain life’s truth and tenacity played out with our own melodies.”

Ginari/ Sung by Oh Bok-nyeo

That was Oh Bok-nyeo’s rendition of “Ginari.” In many pieces of Korean traditional music, different songs are strung together and performed as one piece, much like a medley. In those cases, slow songs are performed in the beginning and fast-paced songs are placed toward the finale. For instance, Yeongsanhoisang, often lauded as the best seonbi music, begins with a seemingly endless and slow “Sangnyeongsan,” followed by seven or eight music pieces performed one after the other, and then concludes with a fast and energetic marching song. Sanjo, a free-style gayageum solo, also follows this pattern – starting with “jinyangjo” and passing through mid-tempo “jungmori” and “jungjungmori” and then cresting in presto-paced “jajinmori” and “hwimori”. The same pattern in tempo is repeated in folk songs as well. Now we’re going to listen to the modernized version of “Jajinari,” which has very amusing lyrics. The words describe how a young man, who just witnessed the girl he loves marry someone else, upsets her wedding procession by throwing a tantrum in front of her carriage. The young girl calms him down by offering him a job as her husband’s servant, so he can still stay near her.

Jajinari/ Sung by Choi Yun-young

That was the modern version of “Jajinari” sung by Choi Yun-young. Folk songs often have candid and witty lyrics. Oftentimes a song is a thinly disguised confession of what is truly in a person’s heart. So folk songs usually tell of what people were thinking at certain times. The next piece you are going to hear is “Ryonggang Ginari,” a folk song passed down in the Ryong River region in South Pyeongan Province. It has been adapted for a musical instrument called “jangsaenap ,” which is an elongated version of the traditional horn called “taepyeongso .” North Korea often modifies traditional musical instruments and jangsaenap is the modified taepyeongso. Taepyeongso has a sharp, loud sound, and is often used for farming music or military marches. In contrast, jangsaenap sounds rounder, softer, and mellower. Let’s wrap up this week’s Sounds of Korea with a jangsaenap performance of “Ryonggang Ginari” by third-generation Korean-Japanese Choi Young-deok.

Ryonggang Ginari / Jangsaenap by Choi Young-deok