Djong Victorin Yu

Tano, a Korea Rhapsody

Tano, a Korea Rhapsody, is a work that portrays the events of the Tano Day, one of the most important traditional holidays in the ancient kingdom of Korea, falling on the fifth day of the fifth month by the lunar calendar. This day also happens to be the composer’s birthday. Tano occurred (in June of the solar calendar) just after the spring planting when it was possible for farmers to take time out for fun and to glorify the climax of the spring season. It is only natural then, that on this day it was believed that the ‘yang’ of ‘yin and yang’ was at its full force, signifying vitality and virility.

In conservative and Confucian Korea, Tano was the only day of the year when young men and women were free to flaunt their sexuality and beauty. Thus, on this day, it was a tradition to wash the hair in herbal shampoo made with iris, put on the best and brightest clothes, and to eat pasty and drink cool herbal drinks specially made for the occasion. Women engaged in daring swing contests in which the swings were hanging from a crossbar some three stories high, and men as well as boys entered contests of “ssirum”, the Korean version of wrestling which had generous prizes including the grand prize of an ox.

The composition Tano, symbolizing the day it represents, begins with farmers’ band music with its improvisatory nature. Soon a traditional farmers’ song about azaleas, symbol of spring, is heard, leading to the vigorous and virtuosic percussion cadenza that symbolizes the excited mood at a wrestling match. “Scenes at the Pavilion” is the title for the slow section, which portrays a nobleman’s contemplative mood with “Sae-taryonng”, a traditional ballad about birds. in the distance, a girls’ swing match, depicted by the harp cadenza can barely be observed; warm spring air is blurring the vision. The daydream is abruptly cut off by the raucous crowd that insists on singing all three verses of “Kkot-taryong”, a song about flowers, love, and the spring season. This leads to the last section where the rhythmic fury leads to the final climax when “Sae-taryong” is heard once again before the brilliant conclusion.

Tano was commissioned by maestro Vakhtang Jordania in 1987. Initially, the composer refused to write any music because of his father’s grave illness at that time. When the cheerful subject was chosen, it was a deliberate attempt by the composer to reflect a mood other than the one he was in. The main portion of the composition was completed shortly after the death of the composer’s father.

The first performance of Tano took place under Jordania’s direction in the United States in March 1990. In June 1992, the Korean premiere was givin in Seoul under the composer’s baton in celebration of the Tano Day. The European premiere was at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 1994 by Yu and the Philharmonia Orchestra. In a concert entitled A Korean Rhapsody, an encore performance of Tano was given in 1997, an occasion at the Royal Festival Hall which celebrated two hundred years of relations between the UK and Korea. It has since been recorded with the Philharmonia and is awaiting release.

Tano is scored for a large orchestra, with a variety of percussion instruments including “kkkwanggari” and “jing” which are Korean gongs from the farmers’ band.

May 15, 2009