Half Moon - A Korean Lullaby

for concert band (c. 2:30)
​Grade 2

Half Moon is a lullaby written by Yun Geuk-Young, a Korean writer of children’s stories and songs. The melody is simple and pure, and the lyrics describe a rabbit sailing gently across a sea of stars. The rabbit, the tree, and the moon make reference to the folktale about the rabbit on the moon, who is depicted beneath a tree making rice cakes for the gods. As the melody is passed around the band, it sways and gently rocks like a boat floating in a calm sea. This piece is dedicated to my older sister and her first child.

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​English lyrics
High above the deep blue sky,
down the Milky Way,
Rides a ship without a sail,
with no oars they say.

Ship of white, it's only crew,
is a rabbit white,
Westward it floats along,
silently through the night