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Korean court music)
The first evidence of Korean music is ancient, and it has been well-documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Japan's invasion of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief post-war period rewakened folk and patriotic music. By 1951, Korea was split, into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or North and the Republic of Korea or South Korea from which emerged two different approaches to music.
In North Korea, culture, including music, was controlled by an government which encouraged light, state-sponsored music, or music with patriotic worker-driven themes played on radios or in public by large worker's orchestras.
South Korea where the US and its allies maintained large forces initially accepted Western big band, rock and roll, then pop music, most often taking American styles and tunes and translating them into Korean. At the same time classical music that had a long history of performance by Koreans, became an area of great expertise in orchestral performances and created superb soloists who toured the world to great acclaim coming into is own in the 1980s, with great success internationally.
By the 1990s, Korean music that spoke to Koreans in a new vernacular began to be created; the traditional folk songs revived; and less derivative and more original music emerged. The contemporary culture of South Korea now includes world music elements, important new orchestral compositions featuring western orchestras with Korean soloists on traditional Korean instruments, and a new kind of musical nationalism that has emerged with new vitality particularly in scores for non-commercial areas. And in the film industry.
Kor-Pop music
Korean popular music is a highly commercial industry, often controlled by the larger American and Japanese labels, as it is throughout most of Asia. The music is similar to Cantopop and has masterfully created young stars with high style, the latest looks, dance skills, and an ability to imitate the music of the moment of the west whether it is done as Korean rap, Korean soul, Korean rhythm and blues, or Korean middle of the road music. Contemporary Korean music and pop stars are so popular, Asians have designated a word to reflect this fact. Han-ryu or Korean Wave is the word noting how influential Korean culture has become in Asia. (Ironically, "han-ryu" can also mean Cold Wave in Korean.) Karaoke (noraebang) is popular as well.
Among the most important modern stars are: BoA, a teen popstar with powerful vocals and energetic dancing.
- See also: Contemporary culture of South Korea
Teuroteu
Teuroteu (or somewhat derisively ppongjjak) is the oldest form of Korean pop, having developed in the years before and during the Japanese invasions and occupations. It has received criticism from nationalists, who allege that it derives from the Japanese music genre of drinking songs known as enka.
Defenders of teuroteu refute this claim, citing development prior to Japanese invasions and parallel development as the reason for the similarities. The name itself, the Koreanised form of "trot", derives from a shortening of "foxtrot", a ballroom dance which influenced the characteristic simple beat of the genre. The genre has largely fallen out of popularity in today's popular music scene.
Tong guitar
Heavily influenced by American pop music, tong guitar developed in the early 1970s as a Korean version of folk singers like Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. In the 1980s, t'ong became a form of soft rock ballad that earned critical scorn.
Norae Undong
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a form of Korean rock music with politically and socially aware lyrics was invented by pioneers like Kim Min-ki . It soon earned the name Norae Undong (New Song Movement).
Traditional Korean musical styles
These are indicated below.
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 kayagum 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 noteable 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 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.
Tangak
Modern tangak , 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 religious music of Korea
Korean religious 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 .
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.
Modern world music
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.
References
- Provine, Rob, Hwang, Okon and Kershaw, Andy. "Our Life Is Precisely a Song". 2000. 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
See also
External link
