정악 · 아악
Korean court and ritual music
Korean court music is the music of the royal court and its rites, above all those of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910). Today it is kept by the National Gugak Center (국립국악원) in Seoul, which plays it in concert and at the rites that survive.
- 종묘제례악 宗廟祭禮樂Jongmyo jeryeak — Music for the Royal Ancestral Shrine22:49
- 수제천 壽齊天Sujecheon — Long Life, Immeasurable as the Heavens11:57
- 여민락 與民樂Yeominrak — Enjoyment with the People7:05
Liner notes
It is usually divided into aak, "elegant music", the ritual music that came from China; hyangak, native court music; and dangak, court music of Chinese origin. The wider name jeongak, "proper music", takes in court music and the refined chamber music of the upper classes, as opposed to folk music.
How to listen
First notice the pace. In Sujecheon the pulse is so slow and irregular that it is hard to count; the players move together by breath, guided by the patterns of the janggu hourglass drum. The double-reed piri leads, and after each of its phrases the flutes, fiddles and bowed zither carry the line on, a linking passage called yeoneum.
Jongmyo jeryeak, the music of the royal ancestral rite, is grander: bronze bells and stone chimes beside winds, strings and drums, and a singer intoning verses in Classical Chinese. It has two cycles of eleven pieces each. Botaepyeong praises the civil virtues of the early kings and is danced with a short flute and a staff tasselled with pheasant feathers. Jeongdaeeop honours their military deeds and is danced with wooden swords and spears.
Yeominrak shows the orchestra at its fullest, with gayageum and geomungo zithers joining the winds and fiddles.
A short history
Chinese ritual music came to Korea in 1116, when the Song emperor Huizong sent the Goryeo king 428 instruments with costumes and ritual objects. Much of this was later lost, and in the fifteenth century King Sejong rebuilt the ritual music from Chinese treatises. Botaepyeong and Jeongdaeeop were made for court banquets in his time and have served the Jongmyo shrine since the reign of King Sejo. Yeominrak, "enjoyment with the people", also comes from Sejong's reign; the orchestral version heard today grew out of the old song in the late Joseon period.
Sujecheon is older. Its earlier name is Jeongeup, a song about a woman waiting on a mountain for her husband to come home. In the nineteenth century it was played when the king left the palace; today it is heard on its own or with Cheoyongmu, a court dance.
After Japan annexed Korea in 1910, most court music fell out of use. The court's music department survived under several names and in 1951 became part of the National Gugak Center, the direct successor of the Joseon music office. Jongmyo jeryeak was designated Korea's Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 1, and UNESCO proclaimed the rite and its music a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001. The rite is still held each May.
Japanese gagaku took in music from the Korean kingdoms as its "music of the right"; the journey step One court music, four countries hears them side by side.
Start with
Begin with Sujecheon, then turn to Jongmyo jeryeak for the rite itself. All three court pieces, with a gayageum sanjo, are in the collection Court and chamber music of Korea.
Questions
- What is Jongmyo jeryeak?
- The music and dance of the rite for the deceased Joseon kings at the Jongmyo shrine in Seoul. Bells, stone chimes, winds, strings, drums and a singer perform two cycles, Botaepyeong and Jeongdaeeop, each with its own dance. UNESCO lists the rite and its music as intangible heritage of humanity.
- What is the difference between aak and jeongak?
- Aak is ritual music of Chinese origin, now heard mainly in the Confucian rites. Jeongak is a wider name for the refined music of the court and the upper classes, set against folk music.
- Who plays Korean court music today?
- The National Gugak Center in Seoul, heir of the old royal music office, in concert and at the Jongmyo and Confucian rites.