Variations on a Korean Folk Song

[FltnPicc_David]

Has anyone ever played this? I love it! Our band is going to play it this year. The only part I hate is in the variation marked Larghetto. [This is where the oboe solo is.] The flutes have this beautiful part but I play piccolo part, which is COMPLETELY excluded from it so i sit there in envy. [Lol]

Anyways, my question was during the Vivace variation, their is that run. Well there are a series of consecutive sixteenth note runs that are
D-natural to E-flat OVER AND OVER again. Would it be okay just to trill this section witht eh two trill keys? (The ones utilized in 3rd octave B-flat and B-natural)

[flutepicc06]

I wouldn't suggest it. That particular trill is normally very out of tune, and has definite differences in timbre compared to the "true" fingerings, especially on piccolo. With such an easy to hear part, you don't want to cause intonation issues, or sound funky in such a gorgeous piece. It should be entirely possible for you to do this passage with the standard fingerings, and only if you find after a reasonable amount of practice that speed is holding you back would I recommend using the trills. Incidentally, my school just hosted the WE from the Korean National University of the Arts, and they played this piece. It was stunning in every way, and I think that them understanding what the folk song was about, and how it sounds in it's unadulterated state helped them to play as well as they did (though they were absolutely PHENOMENAL on every other piece as well), so I would suggest doing some research into the music, and perhaps suggesting that others do the same.

[FltnPicc_David]

Thanks! I just compared the two and the regular fingerings promote a much better sound. I read somewhere that Korean Folksongs tend to to have a dark and melancholy tone to them, perhaps due to the country's history of civil war and other tragedies...so I suppose I ought to keep that in mind when I interpret the music.

[MeLizzard]

There's a lot of good information floating around about this piece, as it's about 40 years old now. Arirang is the name of the folk song on which the work is based. The composer, John Barnes Chance, heard it while serving in the military in Korea during the 1950s. Here's a link featuring some history and translation:
http://members.aol.com/panmunjom/arirang.htm

and one with a student study guide:
http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/artsed ... 10sg5.html

Wikipedia also has an article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations ... _Folk_Song
BTW, how does your instrument sound if you trill from D to E-flat with your left pinky (G# key)? You do mean the third-octave passage? If not, disregard.

[fluteguy18]

John Barnes Chance? I just played his piece Elegy. Nice piece.... if you dont like to breathe. He actually taught at a college not far from here (University of Kentucky...... I think). I like his stuff.

[remnantpark]

I know this is completely off topic but I love Arirang! I'm Korean myself...

[flutytooty91]

oh my goodness!! my band played this song last year and I absolutely loved it ..if anyone wants to listen to it..go here http://www.auburnschools.org/ahs_Band/piece/v.html and click listen next to variations on a korean folk song

[flutepicc06]

Is that your school, flutytooty? I found that website long ago and have been using it for reference recordings ever since.

[flutytooty91]

no, i just found out about the website from one of my former band members. I go to Hermitage High School

[amourdelaflute]

Has anyone ever played this? I love it! Our band is going to play it this year. The only part I hate is in the variation marked Larghetto. [This is where the oboe solo is.] The flutes have this beautiful part but I play piccolo part, which is COMPLETELY excluded from it so i sit there in envy. [Lol]

Anyways, my question was during the Vivace variation, their is that run. Well there are a series of consecutive sixteenth note runs that are
D-natural to E-flat OVER AND OVER again. Would it be okay just to trill this section witht eh two trill keys? (The ones utilized in 3rd octave B-flat and B-natural)

I have played this song before. It's really good too. You shouldn't trill the notes at all they are meant to be heard note by note because it is part of a chord with the low woodwinds and brass.

[freshginger]

i played piccolo on this piece for band last year i think it's a great piece; people were having problems with the NOTEieeee part [bijillion notes] i think the only way to get through it is play slow at first with a metronome and pump up the tempo gradually

[DivaricationOfMind]

my bands playing this song this year! It's such a beautiful piece. I love Chance's compositions. We played Incantation and Dance last year and we might also be playing Elegy this year.

[sakuramimato]

I love John Barnes Chance's music.

This is my second year playing Variations on a Korean Folk Song, so I'm pretty excited to be playing it again, but I kind of have to sit through the re-learning and the woodshedding of the Vivace section and the section at measure 140, since I transferred schools from last year.

I really like the section that plays the Vivace up an octave with the 16th note run before the Larghetto. The F#-Ab 16th is a killer, though. And the grace note up to C4 in the Sostenuto is fun, too. ;D


I didn't start truly appreciating Chance's work until I played Incantation and Dance at an Honor Band this year, and I played Elegy as well. :] It's great playing his pieces in concert band! Have fun with it this year.

[fluteguy18]

Elegy..... tough piece. Even though it isnt technically difficult, having all of those sustained tones and getting tuning and intonation to match well, is very difficult. I particularly disliked the low note on the second page that the flutes had to sustain for over a minute.... It is a nice piece, but I dont enjoy playing it at all.

[deina-kun]

Elegy..... tough piece. Even though it isnt technically difficult, having all of those sustained tones and getting tuning and intonation to match well, is very difficult. I particularly disliked the low note on the second page that the flutes had to sustain for over a minute.... It is a nice piece, but I dont enjoy playing it at all.

Yeah, we played it at an Honor Band last year with around 50 flutes on it, and a lot of them were complaning about it cuz it wasn't really the most exciting thing to play. But then, we played Royal Fireworks a few years before that and it's not as bad as getting "Tacet"ed the whole first movement.