Variations on a Korean Folk Song by John Barnes Chance
Performed by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Wind Symphony
Orchestration was originally for concert band
Culture of origin was Korea
Variations on a Korean Folk Song is a staple of the wind band repertoire composed in 1965 by John Barnes Chance, a white American male from Texas who served in the 8th Army Band in South Korea. The piece is a warhorse of band music, although it is no longer considered to be performed as much as it should be. A discussion on this piece of music is appropriate for the parameters of this course, and specifically to this week's readings. One of the things our readings insist is that as music teachers, we must be aware of popular music from our students' cultures, as well as work to include culturally diverse programming. It could be argued that because Variations on a Korean Folk Song is based upon the Korean folk song "Airirang" that it meets the need to include more culturally diverse musical programming. However, this piece was composed by someone who was not Korean, nor was he a part of Korean culture. In the position of Contextualism in the Reimer reading, we are warned against ethnomusicology misrepresenting and/or misappropriating musics of another culture, and we are warned that such a thing is intrusive and potentially more dangerous than the damage that colonialism causes.
Because I have a large population of Hmong and Laotian students at Wausau East, we have discussed searching for and programming music of those cultures with the bands. I have repeatedly been told by my Southeast Asian students that they would welcome such action, but only on the musical and educational merits of the programming alone. They do not want to be patronized. I think this connects directly to the fears of the Contexualism position in Reimer's chapter this week. Is a piece like Variations patronizing of another culture, and should we continue to program it for its cultural diversity, it's musical merits, or should it just be relegated to the back shelf of the Band Library?
I really enjoy the fact that you choose this piece to share. I have performed this piece many times and never really knew the history of the piece. Now knowing about the composer I agree this is a perfect piece to post. However, I think that composers do pull ideas from other cultures and other works and this is why music is ever changing. I also think that it is a compliment to that culture that someone is that interested in them to want to spend the large amount of time it takes to compose a piece of music so beautiful as this one.
ReplyDeleteI've kind of always thought of this piece as a point of departure for Anglo/German heritage American concert bands to use to delve into musics from outside of our own heritage. Wausau has become such an unique place with respect to culture now with the Hmong and Laotian tribes in their 3rd and 4th generations that I'm not sure it's appropriate as a point of departure in this community. Certainly it stands on its musical and pragmatic merits alone, and my Southeast Asian students will respect it as such (far more that than if they thought I was trying to patronize them), but I'm not sure that it should meet any representation of being outside of Anglo/German culture.
DeleteHey! That's my band! Of course I graduated 13 years ago... but still...go UWEC!
ReplyDeleteWait, there's another Heidel acolyte in this course?
DeleteChance at least has an accurate transcription of the folk song. And this piece can be a 'way in', but better if an authentic recording of the song was played for the students as they learn the piece (which is essentially a Western composition), and for their parents at the concert, so they can understand the context of what their students learn. This piece is NOT simply another in the typical Bb Band Repertoire., rather it reflects the composer's learning when he was in Korea, I think during the Korean war.
ReplyDelete