2013, Vol.21, No.1

Journal of the Korean Society for Musicology 2024 KCI Impact Factor : 0.64

eISSN : 3092-2410
https://journal.kci.go.kr/musicology

This article discusses mid-twentieth century ROK (the Republic of Korea) military band organizations, exploring their historical significance from educational perspectives rather than focusing on their military activities. These organizations functioned as the most expansive source of wind instrument performance education in the ROK at this time. In order to explain this educational role, this article details the musical training provided within each military band unit as well as the educational goals, scope and curriculum of the ROK Army Music School and the ROK Navy Music School in comparison with the wind instrumental music performance programs at the contemporary higher education institutions. A number of characteristics of the military allowed its music organizations to successfully act as an educational system: 1) the power of the state during the emergency of the Korean War allowed for the rapid growth of wind instrumental music education as part of its military music system; 2) tight military regulations led to intensive musical training; 3) musical communities easily developed within military camps as band members lived close together, thus allowing for extended teaching/learning experiences during free time as well as during on-duty hours; 4) the military demand for an ever-expanding repertory provided military musicians with strong motivation for the arrangement and composition of wind instrumental music as well as for the improvement of their performance skills; and 5) the ROK military’s employment of diverse types of music, it’s collaboration with musicians in various fields of music, and its military collaboration with the US provided opportunities for the study of a broad range of music in the military band organizations. By focusing on the ROK military music organizations' educational role, this article provides new insights into the military music organizations. Also, by detailing these often understated educational activities within the mid-twentieth-century military organizations, this article adds to the understanding of the history of wind instrumental music education in Korea.

Arirang is considered the most representative folksong in Korea and Arirang can be largely divided into three folksong categories: indigenous (hyangto minyo), popular (tongsok minyo) and newly-composed or new folksong (sin minyo), according to the context of the performance culture and reception history. Among them, arirang(s) which fall into the categories of hyangto minyo and tongsok minyo are widely recognized as the "traditional folksongs"that have been performed and transmitted among Korean traditional musicians, while thosecomposed during the Japanese colonial era are considered as sin minyo, as circulated in the stream of popular music. This paper focuses on the cultural aspects of the developmental stage and performance environments of arirang during the 1920s and 1930s based on in-depth research of the SP recordings. The paper further explores the musical characteristics and differences between sin minyo and tongsok minyo versions of arirang. The most remarkable differences between tongsok minyo and sin minyo arirang versions are found in that the former are derived and developed from the variations of the existing melodies, takgok, while the latter are created by the specific composers, jakgok, and these differences of the creative subjects affect musical content and characteristics. Tongsok minyo, an oral tradition that is created by a group of miscellaneous individuals, is based on the regional melodic idioms and stylistic tendecies, tori, while in sin minyo it is apparent that both composer and lyricist participate in creating the new song and popularized by popular singers at that time. These newly-composed songs are considered as "hybrid musical activities," influenced by both Korean indigenous melodies and Western musical elements. The sin minyo arirang have contributed to the opportunities that accelerate the popularity of arirang not only in the traditional music market but also in the popular music industry. By the same token, the popularization of tongsok minyo arirang has further supplied the needs of commercialization for the mass popular market.

This article investigated how the parody, translation and revision practice of various opera genres in the 18th century contributed to opera reform. Christoph Willibald von Gluck (1714-1787) was chosen as a window which could illuminate the parody practices of various operas in the 18th century. Most of his opera seria, opera comique and tragédie lyrique were parodied and revised by himself and others as well as translated into other languages. The parody process of his operas will show how various opera genres in the 18th century were closely interconnected and interacted with each other. The investigation of relationship among opera comique, ballad opera and singspiel also shows that the parody practice among these comic operas was spread all over the Europe and became a main trend in the 18th century. While the parody practice among various operas in the 18th century increased outwardly, Gluck's self-parody practice was also active within his operas inwardly. His self-parody practice in his own operas was summarized in a chart and analyzed in detail as well as explained in relation to his opera reform.