Ryonggang Ginari is “ginari” of Ryonggang, Pyeongan Province, North Korea. Ginari is a song in Pyeongan Province, sung when women were working in the field or on the beach picking up the clams. Unlike most worker’s songs or folk songs from Joseon, ginari was sung without fixed beats. A singer could sing with a long, carefree breath, unrestrained to the beats.

In our rearrangement of “Ryonggang Ginari,” we layered the singing over the rushing, almost mechanical rhythm and beats of the instruments. The song and the rhythm go their own ways; even we don’t know when they shall cross path every time we perform. Of course, the song can continue as much as a singer wants, but it should stop sharply and unexpectedly, if the rhythm stops.

A woman bends her body and picks clams, singing. Even in such a tender movement, there lies her heart beating rhythmically and violently. Her ginari does not have the beating sound of her heart, but we are listening to it. As we listen, we hear the sound of life: Life has to greet its end even when we have unfinished words or works. So is the song, as it is cut off mercilessly by the rhythm.

The world can go on without people. But people hang on to the world. They drift by its wave and shift their faces when its nails scratch them. But, here is a person continuing her life without succumbing to its claws and storms. She is not a warrior with a sword. Her whole life has relied on her soft small hands.

— Composer’s Note