Traditional Korean Music: Pansori – 춘 향가

So I have a bit of an unquie ear for traditional music.  One of my interests and pleasures enjoy listening to traditional Korean music, one of the styles being called “Pansori”.   The following pretty much sums it up perfectly.

In a pansori performance, there are two performers: the gosu and the kwangdae. The gosu is a drummer, who accompanies the kwangdae, or singer. In more modernized performances, sometimes several singers perform, voicing different characters in the piece to provide more color. The audience is also an integral part of the pansori, as they are expected to respond with sounds of encouragement and applause at various points in the performance.

Pansori performances are classically quite long, with the music being used to tell a traditional Korean folktale. A full madang or story can take hours to perform, so modern pansori performances are often offered in sections so that audiences do not get restless. During the performance, the audience can hear singing and stylized speech, along with the sounds of the drum and chuimsae, sounds which are made by the gosu as the singer performs. The audience can also respond with chuimsae of its own.

So, the selections below are from one of the few surviving Pansori’s left.  It is called Chunhyangga.  It tells the story of love between Chunhyang, the daughter of a kisaeng entertainer, and Yi Mongryong, the son of a magistrate. After the two are illegally married, Mongryong goes to Seoul and a corrupt local magistrate attempts to force Chunhyang to be his concubine. She refuses and is faced with death, but is rescued at the last minute by Mongryong returning in his new role as a secret royal inspector.

Enjoy and if you like it, I’ll put more up!