NY Philharmonic: a Tune for 2 KoreasBy BURT HERMAN | Associated Press Writer 11:18 AM CST, February 28, 2008
SEOUL, South Korea - For just a moment, all it took was a simple folk tune to unite the two Koreas.Performing
on both sides of one of the world's most impassible borders, the New
York Philharmonic built a musical bridge between North and South with a
reprise of the beloved Korean song "Arirang" in Seoul that echoed its
unprecedented concert in Pyongyang.A lone piccolo intoning the
song's theme at the start of the orchestra's arrangement was able to do
what soldiers and politicians could not. The gentle force of violin
bows swept away lines drawn on maps more than a half-century ago."There's
no sides -- there's no North and South in 'Arirang,'" Philharmonic
music director Lorin Maazel told The Associated Press after Thursday's
performance in Seoul. "It's a melody for everybody. All these
artificially created barriers fade away."
After the Berlin Wall
fell in 1989, Leonard Bernstein led the Philharmonic in mirrored
performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 -- its final movement the
ascendant, uplifting "Ode to Joy."For its trip across the
Korean Peninsula's Demilitarized Zone, the Philharmonic also chose
Beethoven, finishing its program with his Symphony No. 5.That
work's famous first four notes, representing fate knocking, could be
viewed as a musical call to end a standoff between the two sides, which
remain technically at war since their three-year war ended not with a
peace treaty but a 1953 cease-fire.In Pyongyang, the concert
began on a formal note with the North Korean and U.S. anthems, the
stage framed by the flags of the two countries.Such symbols of
nationalism rang hollow under the soft strains of "Arirang."
The crowd
of North Koreans murmured with surprise and recognition when the
Philharmonic strings intoned the well-known theme, harps chiming in
with their heavenly twinkling.The arrangement began with the
piccolo mimicking the lone morning call of a bird and rose to its
strident chorus evoking a picture of simple, proud village life and a
time long before the Koreas were divided.No one knows the exact
meaning of the word "Arirang" -- pronounced ah-ree-RAHNG -- and the
song is believed to date back centuries. The first part "ari" can mean
"beautiful" or "deep yearning," and the "rang" means "young person."
The
song is considered a sort of anthem for a reunified Korea and is
usually played before friendly events between the two sides, which have
made strides since the late 1990s to move past decades of animosity.The
North Koreans in the audience in Pyongyang, hand-picked party elites,
rose to their feet and waved farewell to the orchestra. The musicians
waved back, some in tears.The parting was reminiscent of North
Korean performances at the South Korean-run Diamond Mountain resort,
one of the few places in the North outsiders can freely visit.There,
citizens of both sides wave to each other amid applause, communicating
a feeling of "han" -- an untranslatable Korean word that evokes lament
-- between people who cannot talk by telephone or send mail across
their fortified border.In South Korea's Seoul Art Center, the
anticipation of the audience of 2,500 was palpable.
They gave the
American orchestra ovation after ovation following its program and two
encores -- yearning to hear the song beloved by all Koreans.As Maazel raised his hands for "Arirang," the audience hushed.Thunderous applause and cries of "Bravo!" rang out from people jumping from their seats after the music ended.And with that, the American orchestra made history in a moment that rendered weapons arsenals and political dictates irrelevant.
