Korean music
Korean music includes both the
folk and
classical music styles of the
Korean people.
See
Music of South Korea and
Music of North Korea for contemporary Korean music.
Folk Music
Korean
folk music is varied and complex, but all forms maintain a set of rhythms and a loosely defined set of melodic modes.
Pansori
Pansori is long vocal and percussive music played by one singer and one drummer. The lyrics tell one of five different stories, but is individualized by each performer, often with updated jokes and audience participation. One of the most famous p'ansori singers is
Pak Tongjin.
Nongak
Nongak is a rural form of
percussion music, typically played by twenty to thirty performers. A smaller band version of nongak became very popular in Korea in the late
1970s, and some bands, like
Samul Nori, even found some international success.
Sanjo
Sanjo is entirely instrumental that shifts rhythms and melodic modes during the song. Instruments include the
changgo drum set against a melodic instrument, such as the
gayageum or
ajaeng. Famous practitioners include
Kim Chukp'a,
Yi Saenggang and
Hwang Byungki.
Classical music
The fine range of Korean symphonic orchestras have been bolstered by notable performers, and soloists, as well as highly skilled orchestra directors.
Internationally known Korean composers of classical music include such notables as:
Lee Soo-in, who specializes in music for children, and his famous ""Song of My Homeland".
Korean classical music can be divided into at least four types: courtly, aristocratic, scholarly, and religious.
Court music
Modern orchestral
Korean court music began its development with the beginning of the Choson Dynasty in
1392. It is now rare, except for government sponsored organizations like the
National Center for the Korean Traditional Performing Arts.
There are three types of court music.
One is called aak, and is an imported form of Chinese ritual music, and another is a pure Korean form called hyangak; the last is a combination of Chinese and Korean influences, and is called tangak.
=Aak
=
Aak was brought to Korea in
1116, and very popular for a time before dying out. It was revived in
1430, based on a reconstruction of older melodies. The music is now highly specialized, and uses just two different surviving melodies, and is played only at certain very rare concerts, such as the
Sacrifice to Confucius in
Seoul.
=Dangak
=Modern
dangak, like
aak, is rarely practiced. Only two short pieces are known; they are
Springtime in Luoyang and
Pacing the Void.
=Hyangak
=By far the most extant form of Korean court music today,
hyangak includes a sort of
oboe called a
piri and various kinds of
stringed instruments.
Aristocratic chamber music
Originally designed for upper-class rulers, to be enjoyed informally,
chongak is often entirely instrumental, usually an ensemble playing one of nine suites that are collectively called
Yongsan hoesang. Vocals are mainly sung in a style called
kagok, which is for mixed male and female singers and is accompanied by a variety of instruments.
Traditional music of Korea
Korean music is based on
Buddhist and
native shamanistic beliefs. Buddhist and shamanistic dancing, and shamanistic drum music, are extant, as is a
melodic,
jazzy
dance music called
sinawi. Traditional Korean instruments can be broadly divided into three groups: string, wind and percussion instruments. The 12-string zither (
gayageum) and
geomungo (six-string plucked zither) are part of the string fold instruments. The
haegum (two-string vertical fiddle) and the seven-string zither is part of the string T'ang. String court include seven-string zither and the 25-string zither. The
daegeum (large transverse flute), small flute,
piri (cylindrical oboe) and grass flute are all called wind folk. Wind T'ang includes the Chinese oboe, vertical flute and
hojok or
taepyongso (conical oboe). The
saenghwang (mouth organ), panpipes,
hun (globular flute), flute with mouthpiece,
danso (small-notch vertical flute), and flute are wind court instruments. Percussion folk instruments include large gong, small gong, folk drum, sound drum and folk hourglass drum. The clapper and the
janggu (hourglass drum) are the percussion T'ang instruments. Percussion court includes the bronze bells,
pyeongyeong (stone chimes), square wooden box with mallet and tiger-shaped wooden instrument.
Western Christian imported music
With the importation of Christianity, the evangelical use of music for prosletizying has led to many choirs, both within and without churches, and the importation of many traditional American styles of Christian folksongs sung in Korean.
Korean traditional instruments have been integrated into western percussion, and are beginning a new wave of Korean
world music since 1998. Traditional instruments are amplified, and sampled, with traditional songs rescored for
new age audiences.
*Provine, Rob, Okon Hwang, and Andy Kershaw (2000). "Our Life Is Precisely a Song". In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.),
World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 160-169. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0.
*
Music of South Korea*
Music of North Korea*
List of Korea-related topics *
Culture of Korea*
Cuisine of Korea*
Traditional Korean thought*
List of Korean musicians*
The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts*
Kee Man Chang - Korean Art and Folk Songs Information and Downloadable MP3 Music*
A Study of Musical Instruments in Korean Traditional Music (The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Korea, 1998]
* http://www.indiana.edu/~easc/resources/korea_slides/dance_and_music/7-1.htm
*
Culture & Arts in Korea: Trends in Music*
England based Korean music community site
