Pansori
Encyclopedia
Pansori is a genre of Korean traditional music. It is a vocal and percussional
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

 music performed by one sorikkun and one gosu
Pansori gosu
A gosu is a drummer in performances of pansori, a form of traditional Korean narrative/theater that is usually performed by just two musicians: a solo singer and a drummer. The gosu supports the sorikkun, or singer, by providing rhythms with a soribuk , a shallow barrel drum with a pine body and...

(a drummer playing a barrel drum called buk
Buk (drum)
The buk is a traditional Korean drum. While the term buk is a native Korean word used as a generic term meaning "drum" , it is most often used to refer to a shallow barrel-shaped drum, with a round wooden body that is covered on both ends with animal skin...

). The term pansori is derived from pan , and sori .

Overview

A popular form in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 during the 19th century, pansori featured satires and love stories. A full story, madang , is so long that it usually takes hours to complete. One example is the "Song of Chunhyang" which takes over eight hours to perform, without a break. A madang consists of certain alterations of aniris and changs .

Only five of the original twelve pansori madangs survive today. Those five are Heungbuga
Heungbuga
Heungbuga is one of the five surviving stories of the Korean pansori storytelling tradition. It is also called Baktaryeong . The other stories are Simcheongga, Chunhyangga, Jeokbyeokga and Sugungga. It is about a story of Heungbu who was a poor but good man with many children.Heungbuga depicted...

, Simcheongga
Simcheongga
Simcheongga is one of the five surviving stories of the Korean pansori storytelling tradition. The other stories are Chunhyangga, Heungbuga, Jeokbyeokga, and Sugungga.History=...

, Chunhyangga
Chunhyangga
The Chunhyangga is the most famous Pansori in Korea. The Chunhyangga has delighted all Korean for a century. The Chunhyangga is the best Pansori as musically, literary, and a well-made play....

, Jeokbyeokga
Jeokbyeokga
Jeokbyeokga is one of the five surviving stories of the Korean pansori storytelling tradition. The other stories are Simcheongga, Heungbuga, Chunhyangga and Sugungga.This story is a retelling of the Chinese historical legend of the Battle of Red Cliffs....

 and Sugungga
Sugungga
Sugungga is one of the five surviving stories of the Korean pansori storytelling tradition. The other stories are Simcheongga, Heungbuga, Jeokbyeokga, and Chunhyangga....

.

In a pansori performance, the kwangdae sings, standing with a folding fan
Fan (implement)
A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...

 held in one hand. The fan is waved to emphasize the singer's motions and unfolded to announce changes of scene. The gosu gives rhythm not only by beats but also by chuimsae , verbal sounds. A chuimsae can be a simple meaningless vowel, but short words of encouragement are also given. The audience is also supposed to give chuimsae during the performance, similar to kakegoe
Kakegoe
Kakegoe can be literally translated as "hung voice" or "a voice you hang." The "hanging" part is probably meant to be taken in an abstract sense to mean "ornament" or "decoration," as it is the same Japanese verb used when talk about kakemono. Kakegoe, therefore, refers to an auxiliary pitched or...

 and the shouts of "Olé" during flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....

 performances.

Pansori has been compared in impact to the American Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

. There are various singing styles, such as the more "feminine" sopyonje of south-western Korea (inspiration of the film Sopyonje
Sopyonje
Sopyonje is a South Korean film directed by Im Kwon-taek in 1993. Its story tells of a family of traditional Korean pansori singers trying to make a living in the modern world. The film was originally expected to only draw limited interest, and was released on only one screen in Seoul...

) and the more "masculine" tongp'yonje .

UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 proclaimed the pansori tradition a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness on intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and the local people who sustain these forms of cultural...

 on November 7, 2003.

Famous pansori singers

  • Kim So-hee
  • Song Man-gap
  • Ahn Suk-seon, one of the more important educators in this field.
  • Im Bang-ul
  • Pak Tongjin
    Pak Tongjin (musician)
    Pak Tongjin was a famous South Korean p'ansori musician.-External links: Contains a discography for Pak Tongjin....


See also

  • Changgeuk
    Changgeuk
    Changgeuk or ch'angguk is a traditional Korean opera, performed as a play but in the Korean folk song style known as pansori. It is therefore also called Korean pansori opera in English. Generally, a changgeuk play will include 20 to 30 actors, and 30 to 50 orchestra members.-An example:Suggungga...

  • Sopyonje
    Sopyonje
    Sopyonje is a South Korean film directed by Im Kwon-taek in 1993. Its story tells of a family of traditional Korean pansori singers trying to make a living in the modern world. The film was originally expected to only draw limited interest, and was released on only one screen in Seoul...

    — A critically acclaimed film that was a surprise box-office hit in Korea, telling the story of a family of pansori singers.
  • Culture of Korea
    Culture of Korea
    The current political separation of North and South Korea has resulted in divergence in modern Korean cultures; nevertheless, the traditional culture of Korea is historically shared by both states.-Dance:...

  • Korean music
    Korean music
    Traditional Korean music includes both the folk, vocal, religious and ritual music styles of the Korean people. Korean music, along with arts, painting, and sculpture has been practiced since prehistoric times....

  • List of Korea-related topics

External links

  • Pansori song
  • Two Brothers by Grace Andreacchi
    Grace Andreacchi
    Grace Andreacchi is a U.S.-born author known for her blend of poetic language and modernism with a post-modernist sensibility. Andreacchi is active as a novelist, poet and playwright.-Biography:...

    is a version of the pansori tale 'Heungbu and Nolbu' for English spoken drama.
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