Thursday 31 December 2015

korea's folk music

          Korea's folk music tradition, with its generous use of bright rhythms and melodies, offers a more energetic and capricious contrast to the nation's collection of classical music works. Folk music represents the soul and sound of traditional Korean villages with an eclectic array of music forms including numerous folk songs, various forms of instrumental pieces, pansori, and shaman ritual music. Some of the most prominent pieces and folk music forms are as follows:
  1. Sanjo
  2. Sinawi
  3. Pansori
  4. Chapga
  5. Folk Songs
  6. Pungmulnori & Samullori
  7. Shaman Ritual Music
Featured Folk Music Piece:
Song of Chunhyang  
           Song of Chunhyang is the most popular of the five remaining works of pansori, Korea's unique epic narrative vocal form. There is an ancient legend associated with this pansori work which tells of a small southern village called Namwon and a village girl called Chunhyang. Apparently Chunhyang was quite ugly and unpopular, often finding herself the object of scorn and menace. She is eventually imprisoned and then executed under false charges. Soon after, the village of Namwon falls into disarray. A number of magistrates die under mysterious circumstances and the village suffers several years of poor harvests. One village magistrate suspects that a curse has been placed on the village by Chunhyang's angry spirit. To appease her, the magistrate writes a tale of deceit and treachery, but also of love. Chunhyang is described in beautiful terms and in the end marries the most handsome lad of the village. This seemed to satisfy Chunhyang's angry soul as Namwon then enjoyed great prosperity. The text used in this pansori work "Song of Chunhyang" is this very text penned by the village magistrate centuries ago. That's what the legend tells us.

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