Echo from the Land of Morning Calm (Korean Pavilion)
I have been able to find very little information in English about this record. It is a 7” vinyl pressing, 33 1/3 rpm and made in Korea. It contains four songs. Side A contains tracks “Toraji” and “The Moon.” Side B contains tracks “Boat Song (The Hahn River)” and “Arirang.” Each track is introduced by a woman’s voice:
Track 1: After a few bars of the song, a voice-over begins: “녕하십니까 [Formal Korean greeting.] Hello. We’d like to invite you to listen to the sounds of Korea, echoes from the Land of Morning Calm. First, you will hear a traditional, yet popular, folk song called Toraji that has been sung and loved by the Korean people for hundreds of years.” This is a pleasant, upbeat song in waltz time, featuring woodwinds, strings, and piano. It does not include vocals.
Track 2: “Now you will hear another traditional song, Dal-a Dal-a, The Moon.” This song features the children’s choir prominently. They sing the song’s lyrics in Korean to a backing of winds, piano, and strings. After singing the first song in unison, the following verses are more complex and harmonic. At one point, they sing the song in a round.
Track 3: “A traditional boat song, Hahn River.” This track features strings, drums, and a female vocalist singing in Korean. Partway through the song, she is joined by a chorus of voices, presumably the Korean Children’s Choir.
Track 4: “Arirang, perhaps the most popular among all folks songs of Korea.” This track is purely instrumental and features a piano, woodwinds, and strings. As it fades out, the narrator returns: “You can easily feel the emotion of these songs: the joy and the agony of the Korean people. We heartily welcome your visit to the Korean pavilion at Expo ‘74, where you will find many treasures of the Orient. While you are here, please don’t forget to see the festival of traditional dances from the Republic of Korea, the Land of Morning Calm. Goodbye for now. 안녕히 계십시오 [Formal Korean goodbye, used in contexts like news reports and radio shows.]
(All Korean translations here are my own best efforts, but I had to listen closely and do some strategic Googling to get the correct Hangul and meaning of the words. If anybody who speaks Korean has corrections, please let me know.)
The sparse information on the record sleeve leaves it unclear as to whether this album was performed by the well-known (to 1974 audiences) World Vision Korean Children’s Choir, or simply a choir composed of Korean children. It also does not mention Expo ‘74 anywhere on the record or sleeve, which made it difficult to visually confirm that this record was in fact linked to the fair. The closest visual connection was the similarity between the Korean dancers pictured on one Expo ‘74 View-Master slide and the cover art of the album. Fortunately, the narration on the record itself makes the connection clear.
Dancers with the same costume and pose as the cover of this album can be seen in one of the View-Master slides.
A recording of the “Arirang” track can be played below.
