I Reap a Long December Night SATB
- Catalog ID: S-493
- First Line: I reap a long December night
- Composer: Benjamin Keast
- Voicing: ssatb
- Accompaniment: a cappella
- Language: English / Korean, New 2024
- Country: South Korea
- Score: View Score
- Sound: Listen
Description
Cultural Context
Hwang Jini is a legendary female poet and performer from the Joseon Dynasty of 16th Century Korea—a time when women
were generally relegated to a lower social status and had limited opportunities for education and self-expression. Despite
these constraints, she rose to prominence, showcasing her mastery of the sijo form—a Korean verse form consisting of
three lines and totalling between 44 and 46 syllables—and earning widespread respect and admiration for her elegant,
expressive, and musical works which often dealt with themes of love and longing.
Her I Reap A Long December Night is one of her most famous sijos, known for its themes of love and separation. The poem
expresses the longing for a loved one during a lonely night, an uncommon topic for a woman in this strict Confucian
societal era. Hwang Jini is considered to be one of the greatest poets in Korean literary history and her works continue to be
widely read and appreciated today. Despite her humble background as a gisaeng—a woman trained to entertain in poetry
and music—she is remembered as a trailblazer who paved the way for women in the arts and remains an important figure
in Korean cultural heritage.
Benjamin Keast
This piece has a singable English translation.