Festivals
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Recently, a round of samulnori performance was carried out at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC, which is the Smithsonian Institution’s museum of East Asian art. Samulnori refers to Korean farmers’ music usually played at a village festivity with the four percussion instruments played by the ensemble - kkwaenggwari (small gong), jing (large gong), janggu (hourglass-shaped drum) and buk (drum). The event was intended to congratulate the inauguration of President Barrack Obama and for Korean-American Day.
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The audience, including many dignitaries like U.S. Senator George Allen, who filled the Myer Auditorium, stood up, dancing joyfully together to the pleasant melody made by samulnori. Senator George Allen said, “It was a great performance…the kind that cheers you up. I could feel the energy and rhythmic melodies. I would like to show it to my own children if there’s an opportunity.”
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Korean traditional music owes much to the samulnori troupe led by Kim Deok-su (Samulnori Hanullim Performing Art Troupe) for its worldwide recognition. In 1970, as a high school senior, he performed in many areas of Japan for 10 months on the occasion of the 1970 Osaka Expo. For since the foundation of the Samulnori troupe more than 30 years ago, he has performed over 4,500 times all around the world, introducing a newly coined word “Samulnorian,” which means people with a love of Samulnori.
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Recently, a young singer named Kim Yong-u has been attracting the attention of the world with attempts to infuse the country’s folk songs with rock, jazz and acapella. Starting from Yokohama in 2001, he has held performances all around Japan in 2003 and in Vietnam in 2009. Commenting on his performances, audiences say that Korean traditional music feels like contemporary music exuding a refined and unique atmosphere. At the climax of his performance, he does not hesitate to make violent gestures like the head-banging seen at rock concerts.
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Kim Yong-u has solid basic skills in Korean traditional music. He has inherited the ability to perform the Korean 12 gasa songs, which were sung by scholars during the Joseon Period (Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 41). Gasa songs are quite different from minyo (folksongs) traditionally sung by common people of a region as an integral part of their culture. He says that he stabilizes his voice by singing gasa songs before singing minyo, meaning that gasa songs are the foundation of his music.
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Kim Yong-u is particularly popular in Japan and has held performances all around the country. He has received great attraction for reinterpreting local folksongs during his overseas performances. While performing in Vietnam recently, he received an enthusiastic response from the audience by singing his own rendition of one of their local folksongs.
Haegeum player Kotbyeol, a member of his band, caught the attention of a Japanese music company and thus came to publish CDs both in Korea and Japan simultaneously with their assistance. She has also held concerts in both Japan and Europe. Her rapid increase in exposure has helped immensely in having the haegeum recognized worldwide as one of the country’s leading instruments distinguished from others with its soul-stirring sound.
