Korean folksongs have unique melodies and vocalization methods by region. These regional features are called “tori토리” in Korean. The musical characteristics of songs from the Seoul area are called “gyeongtori경토리,” those from the southern provinces “yukjabaegi tori육자배기토리,” from the Gangwon region “menari tori메나리토리,” and from Pyeongan-do평안도 and Hwanghae-do황해도 Provinces “susimga tori수심가토리.” “Susimga” is actually a song from the Pyeongan region, distinguished by its slow and soulful melody which is sung with nasal vibrations. This song begins with the lyrics that are generally translated as thus. “If a person can leave her footprints even in a dream, I would have gone into your dreams so often that the stone-paved path leading to your door would have worn down to sand.” These lyrics were taken from a poem written by poetess Lee Ok-bong in the late Joseon period. She once helped out a person falsely accused of a crime by writing a poem. She did it out of the kindness of her heart, but her husband sent her back to her parents because she got involved in a matter outside of home, and never saw her again. The poem she had written out of her longing for him was the basis for “Susimga.” Today’s “Susimga” is sung by Oh Bok-nyeo and her students Shin Jeong-ae and Yu Ji-sook.

Susimga/ Sung by Oh Bok-nyeo, Shin Jeong-ae, Yu Ji-sook

It is said that the folksongs of the western region, namely Pyeongan and Hwanghae areas, can be sung properly only when a singer drinks from the Daedonggang대동강 River, meaning that a person who was born and raised in the region can properly express the sentiments in the song. The Daedonggang River is located in what is now Pyongyang, North Korea, so there are hardly any singer living in South Korea born and raised there. There is another reason we can no longer hear western folksongs because North Korea developed a new vocalization method since the country was divided in the 1940s. Around the time of Korea’s liberation, there were many artists from the southern provinces in North Korea because pansori and changgeuk창극, Korean traditional opera, were still popular. But then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung reportedly hated the pansori sound. Also the unique nasal sound of western folksongs strained the vocal cord and didn’t appeal to some people. It wasn’t surprising that North Korea developed a new vocalization method called “minseong민성,” or voice of the people, which produced a clearer and higher sound. Let’s listen to “Yeokkeum Susimga엮음수심가” in North Korea’s minseong. Here’s Song Myong-hwa of Geumgangsan금강산 Theater Troupe comprised of ethnic Koreans living in Japan. 

Yeokkeum Susimga/ Sung by Song Myong-hwa

Did you hear the difference between this song and the “Susimga” you heard earlier in the show? Vocalization wasn’t the only thing North Korea changed. North Korea modified traditional instruments as well. For example, haegeum was altered into four different types – sohaegeum소해금, junghaegeum중해금, daehaegeum대해금 and jeohaegeum저해금. Even the number of strings was increased from two to four, and instead of squeezing and relaxing the strings to vary the tune, North Koreans play the haegeum by pressing down the strings to the fingerboard. In short, the instrument only looks like haegeum but played like the violin or cello. Even the cheonggong청공, a thin membrane that creates the daegeum’s unique sound, is removed to create a light, clear sound like the flute. Geomungo is rarely played in North Korea. Instead, they created a new instrument called okryugeum옥류금. Today’s last song is a fantasy inspired by Bonjo Arirang, better known to South Koreans as “Arirang Fantasy.” This piece was arranged by North Korean musician Choi Song-hwan최성환 and performed by North Korea’s National Symphony Orchestra.

Arirang Fantasy/ Written by Choi Song-hwan, performed by the North Korea National Symphony Orchestra