British Forum for Ethnomusicology

P'ansori Performance Style: Audience Responses and Singers' Perspectives

Author(s): Yeonok Jang
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 10, No. 2 (2001), pp. 99-121
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060664
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YEONOK JANG
P'ansori
performance style:
audience
responses
and
singers' perspectives
P'ansori is a Korean narrative
song form performed by
a solo
singer
to the
accompaniment of
a drum. The
style
has received considerable academic atten-
tion
from
both Korean and Western researchers, but
very few
scholars have
focused
on the role
of
the audience and its
impact
on the establishment
of
p'ansori performance style.
This article, therefore,
addresses this issue, paying
special
attention to audience
responses
and their
preferences for
certain moods
and
styles
of
p'ansori song, illustrating
the
effect
and
influence
the audience
has had in the
changes
that have taken
place
in
contemporary p'ansori perfor-
mance and on
singers' perspectives of
their art.
P'ansori is a Korean dramatic art form
through
which an
epic story
is
sung
and
narrated
by
a
singer
to the
accompaniment
of a drum
(puk).
The
performer
applies
moderate
bodily gestures
and movements
(pallim) appropriate
to each
story
line.
Today,
five
pieces
are
normally performed, though
there were about
12
pieces
in the
p'ansori repertory
in the nineteenth
century.
A
full-length
performance
lasts for several
hours, from about two hours
up
to a maximum of
eight
hours. The
singer plays
all the roles in a
story, acting
out characters
young
and
old, good
and
bad,
male and
female, noble and common. The
genre
was
developed by
folk musicians before the
eighteenth century,
and over time
its
performance style
has evolved
according
to
singers'
aesthetic
preferences,
the tastes of
audiences,
social and
performance environments,
and so on.
P'ansori was nominated as the
Intangible
Cultural
Property (Muhyong
Munhwajae)
no. 5
by
the South Korean
government
in 1964. The
policy
was
designed
to
preserve disappearing
traditional cultures. In this
system,
master
singers
are
designated
as "holders"
(poyuja).1
I
There are two
types
of "holder": those nominated at the state level and those nominated at
local level. "Holders" in the former
category
are called
In'gan munhwajae (Human Cultural
Assets or Human
Treasures), whereas "holders" in the latter
category
are named
Chibang
munhwajae (Local Cultural
Assets).
It should be noted that the term "holder" is used in the
official domain. More often, nominated
singers
are called
In'gan munhwajae among
the
general public.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL. 10/ii 2001
pp.
99-121
100 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
Studies of
p'ansori performance style
have been carried out
by
a few
Korean and Western scholars, such as Yi
Pohyong,
Um
Hae-Kyung,
Kim
Chongch'61l,
Andrew Killick and Marshall Pihl.2 This article adds to this
body
of literature
by looking
at recent
changes
in
performance style
within the
genre.
In
particular,
it addresses how
changes
in the
relationship
between
singers
and
their audiences within the
performance
context are
affecting p'ansori perfor-
mance
style today.
I
begin by looking
at the
changes
that have taken
place
in
p'ansori performance
venues and the
impact
this has had
upon singer-
audience relations. I then look at audience
responses during performance
in
relation to the
singers' expectations.
These issues are then viewed
compara-
tively
in four distinct
regional
contexts. I conclude with a discussion of how
changes
in aesthetic tastes are
leading
to shifts in the
repertoire
and
singing
styles
used in
contemporary p
'ansori
performances.
Contemporary performances
Most
contemporary p'ansori performances
take
place indoors, in such venues
as theatres, music halls and cultural centres.
They
include the National Theatre
(Kungnip Kukchang),
the Culture and Arts Hall
(Munye Hoegwan)
and the
Sejong
Cultural Centre
(Sejong
Munhwa
Hoegwan)
and are the successors of
the
early twentieth-century Western-style
theatres and cinemas that were
widely
distributed in Korean towns,
where short
p'ansori performances
(t'omak sori)
and the modem version of the
genre, sung
drama
(ch'anggutk),
used to be
performed.3 Although
most
performances
take
place indoors,
some
are still
given
outdoors. For
example,
some
performances
take
place
in the
Seoul Outdoor Performance
Space (Seoul
Nori
Madang), alongside
other tradi-
tional
performing arts,
such as
tightrope walking (chul t'agi)
and the farmers'
band
(nongak,
p'ungjang
or
p'ungmul).4
2
Yi
Pohy6ng (1995)
discusses
p'ansori performance style
between the nineteenth and mid-
twentieth centuries; Um
Hae-Kyung (1992)
looks into
p'ansori performance
of the 1980s;
Kim
Chongch'61 (1997)
deals with
ch'angguk performance,
a new version of
p'ansori
with
added dramatic elements, developed
in the
early
twentieth
century,
as does Andrew Killick
(1997);
Marshall Pihl
(1994)
discusses
p'ansori performance style
in relation to
perform-
ance
settings
and environments
during
the
early
twentieth
century.
3
Western-style
theatres
appeared
in Seoul around 1900. The first, the
W6n'gaksa,
was
located in the western
part
of Seoul. It was built in 1902 and
belonged
to the
imperial family.
Private theatres, such as
Y6nhmngsa, Tans6ngsa
and
Kwangmudae,
were
opened
around
1908 in Seoul (Yu Miny6ng
1982:
22-3).
The
appearance
of theatres in Seoul became the
motive for the
appearance
of local theatres in smaller cities (Yi Pohy6ng
1995: 303).
4
P'ansori can be
performed
alone or with other music and dance
genres. Programmes
consisting exclusively
of
p'ansori
do take
place, particularly during special
concerts of
p'ansori (p'ansori kamsanghoe),
concerts in which
singers
of various
styles sing excerpts
(p'ansori yup'a palp'yohoe),
and
performances
of whole
pieces (p'ansori wanch'ang
palp'yohoe).
Mixed concerts
normally
celebrate an event, such as the Asian Games in
September
1986.
They may
also be
staged
to
provide
the
general public
with
opportunities
to
experience
traditional music, such as the
regular Saturday
traditional music
performance
(t'oyo sangsol kugak kongyon)
or the
regular performances
of
Intangible
Cultural
Properties
(Muhy6ng munhwajae chonggi kongyon).
JANG P'ansori
performance style:
audience
responses
and
singers' perspectives
Traditionally p'ansori
is
sung
to the
accompaniment
of a barrel drum, or
puk. However,
since the
1980s,
the
genre
has sometimes been
sung
to tradi-
tional orchestral
accompaniment,
with such instruments as the
twelve-stringed
zither
(kayagum),
the
hourglass
drum
(changgo)
and the
two-stringed
fiddle
(haegum).
It can also be
performed
to a Western ensemble of electric
guitars,
violins and
saxophones.
An
example
of this occurred when the "holder"
Song
Ch'angsun (b. 1935) sang
the whole of
Ch'unhyangga (Song of Ch'unhyang),
Ch'unhyangga wanch'ang,
with the Korean
Broadcasting System
Traditional
Orchestra
(KBS Kugak Kwanhyonaktan)
in 1993. The
singer,
who had both
positive
and
negative
reactions to the
experience,
did not consider the
experiment
to be
entirely
successful. In her book, N6n sori
todungnyon iyo
(You
are a
song thief), S6ng
states that she
enjoyed
the
performance,
since it
provided
a rare
opportunity
for a
p'ansori singer
to
perform
in a non-traditional
context
(1995),
but she found it difficult to
perform
to the
accompaniment
of
such a
large
ensemble since she could not
perform
the
gestures
of the
genre
as
freely
as she would have liked, and she found it difficult to
portray
the nar-
ratives. Furthermore, whereas in a traditional
performance
the drum accom-
panist adjusts
his
speed
to that of the
singer, S6ng
had to follow the
tempo
of
the orchestra
(Song
1995: 283).
The conductor's role was thus
very
different
from that of a drummer; for the most
part
he seemed to look at the instrumen-
talists rather than at the
singer.
In a traditional
performance,
the drummer
gives
the
singer
his full attention.
He not
only adapts
to the
tempo
and
dynamics
defined
by
the
singer,
he also
assists her
by offering
calls of
encouragement (ch'uimsae).5 Ideally,
the drum-
mer adds to the
performance by helping
the
singer
sustain her
physical
stamina
and
by enhancing
the mood she is
attempting
to create. The drummer's calls
serve to raise the
singer's strength
when her
energy begins
to
flag.
This would
suggest
that
p'ansori
is not well suited to orchestral
accompaniment,
and that it
would
only
be
possible
if the conductor were to be
repositioned
so that he
could attend to the
singer, allowing
him to lead the orchestra in accordance to
the
singer's
directives and to make the
appropriate
calls of
encouragement
-
a
rather tall order for an orchestra conductor. A conductor who is
facing
the
instrumentalists cannot
give
sufficient attention to the
singer, and,
if he is
trained as a
Western-style
orchestra conductor, he
may
not be able to
provide
the
necessary
calls that
p'ansori singers require
in order to
give
their best
performances.
Part of the
problem
in this instance derived from
S6ng's
unfami-
liarity
with the norms of orchestral
performance;
she revealed that it would be
difficult for her to undertake similar
performances
with
frequency (1995: 283).
The first
performance
of
p'ansori
to be
sung
to the
accompaniment
of a
Western ensemble took
place
in 1987 at the
Sejong
Cultural Centre. This
suggested
that it was
possible
for
p'ansori
to be
performed
to the accom-
paniment
of Western instruments, and it
gave
the
genre
a certain
novelty
value.
5
Whereas most
p'ansori
drummers are male, there are both male and female
singers.
For
the sake of
simplicity,
in this article I use
mainly
feminine
pronouns
to refer to
singers.
101
102 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL. 10/ii 2001
Figure 1
Song Ch'angsun performing
at the
Sejong
Cultural Centre, Seoul, 1994, to the
accompaniment
of an orchestra of traditional and western instruments
However, the
experiment
was not
entirely
successful: because of the
formality
of the
performance setting
the
genre
lost much of its
original
character in that
the
performer
and the audience could no
longer
build a close
rapport
with one
another. In a traditional
performance
the
singer
and the audience create an
intimate
atmosphere,
which makes the
performance
context
lively
and enter-
taining.
In the new context there is much less
scope
for audience
participation.
Indeed, it could be
argued
that such
attempts
at
modernizing p'ansori actually
transform it into a more static art form. Sin
Sugwon,
whose
general response
to
the
performance
was
positive,
wrote: "In the
process
of
pursuing
a new
style,
p'ansori
has lost its
original passion" (1987:82).
JANG P'ansori
performance style:
audience
responses
and
singers' perspectives
There are
contrasting
reactions towards the new
performance style
of the
genre.
On the
positive
side there are critics who claim that new forms breathe
fresh life into what has become a stale and
boring
tradition.
They argue
that
attempts
to
change
the
performance style
of the
genre
should be
encouraged
because traditional music is too limited, and new
styles
of
performance
are the
outcome of natural
developments.
Those
arguing against
such
modernizing
trends claim that the
performance experiments
and Western
stage presentations
lead to a loss in the realism and substance of
p'ansori
and that its
original
character
disappears. Indeed, staged performances
with orchestral
accompani-
ment
discourage improvisation
in the
genre.
In
performances
in the traditional
style,
virtuoso
singers
are able to
improvise by inserting instantly-composed
tunes when
they
were satisfied with their
performances,
and this has been one
of the main attractions of
p'ansori. However,
in the new
settings,
as seen in
Song Ch'angsun's case, singers
feel somewhat uncomfortable and are less
likely
to
engage
in
improvisation.
Such
experimental performances
not
only
eliminate the close
rapport
between the
singer
and the audience, they
also
contribute to
hindering
the
improvisational
character of
p
'ansori.
Audience involvement in
p'ansori performance
Traditionally,
audiences
participate
in
p'ansori performances by displaying
the
mood or emotion
prompted by
the
singer's performance through
shouts and
calls of
encouragement,
which are known as ch'uimsae.6 Audience reactions
differ
according
to the
performance environment, the venue, and the
age
and
intellectual level of the audience members.
Generally speaking,
audiences in a
music hall or theatre tend to be
passive,
because such an environment demar-
cates
space by separating
the
performer
from the audience. In traditional
per-
formances, when
p'ansori
was
performed
in
parks
or
courtyards,
there was no
formal
stage
for the
performer,
nor were there seats for the
general public,
although
in the nineteenth
century
seats were
provided
for members of the
upper class, when the
genre
was
sponsored by
and
arranged
for
high-ranking
government
officials and aristocrats. In an
ordinary
traditional
performance,
the
singer performed
in an informal
atmosphere
surrounded
by
a
standing
audience.
The new
type
of formal environment common to
p'ansori performances
today
limits
people's
freedom to
respond spontaneously
to the
performer. Song
Ch'angsun
claims that when she
performs
on a
big stage
like that of the
Sejong
Cultural Centre,
she
hardly
hears
any
calls of
encouragement,
but there are
6
A similar culture of audience
response
is found in
Japan,
India and the Arab world. In
Japan,
for
example,
members of the audience in a kabuki theatre shout
kakegoe (words
of
praise
or
encouragement calls),
such as the actor's nickname
(yago)
or his
position
in the
generations
of actors who have held the same name when
they
are stimulated
by
a fine
piece
of
acting (Bowers
2000:
139).
In northern India, a male
performer
who
performs Pabuji's
epic,
that
intersperses singing
with a
declamatory spoken
account of the events of the
story,
expects
audience
participation.
A member of the audience
repeats
the final word of each line
recited
(Smith
1991:
15).
103
104 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
Figure
2 Pak
Songhui practices
a
song
at her residence in 1997
spontaneous
calls when she
sings
in small towns and folk festivals
(1995:140).
In 1997, I noted that several
elderly people attending
an outdoor
performance
in front of the National Theatre moved to the front of the
temporary stage
and
danced as An Sukson
(b. 1949) performed
the
piece "Song
of the Flower-
painted
Wardrobe"
(Hwach'ojang
t'aryong)
from
Song of Hungbo (Hung-
boga).
It seems that most audiences in modem
performing
environments take a
passive
stance towards
p'ansori, remaining silent, as
they
would do in a concert
of Western classical music. The
responses
of
contemporary p'ansori
audiences
are limited to
laughter
and
clapping.
According
to Alan Merriam,
the musician is
distinguished by
certain kinds of social behaviour, so is his
audience ... but his behaviour is also
shaped by
the nature of the social
event in which the music occurs ... Thus the listener
responds socially
in
different
ways
to music, depending
both
upon
the situation and his role in it.
(Merriam 1964:144)
As in
Korea, traditional
performances
in
Japan
that involved audience
participation
have also been
moving
towards
greater
audience
passivity.
In the
kabuki theatre,
it was common for audiences to interact with the
performers,
but that
practice
is now
decreasing. According
to Leiter, the audience in
contemporary
kabuki theatres
prefers
to
clap
instead of
shouting encourage-
JANG P'ansori performance style: audience responses and singers' perspectives
ment
(1997:260).
Some
p'ansori
audiences call for an encore
(angk'ol)
after a
performance,
which is another Western
way
of
showing appreciation
for the
music.
Singers say
that it is not
inspiring
to
perform
for an audience that does
not
respond.
The "associate holder"
(chun
poyuja)
Pak
Songhui (b. 1927)
has
stated that if an audience is
silent, singers
lose enthusiasm
(cited
in Son
Kwangju
1986:178).
The drastic decline in audience
response
to
p'ansori performance
has led to
the revision of an old
saying:
"first the drummer, second the
singer" (II
kosu i
myongch'ang)7
has now become "first the
audience,
second the drummer and
third the
singer" (II ch'ongjung
i kosu sam
myongch'ang).
The new
phrase
calls
attention to the
significance
of the audience in
p'ansori performances.
It is not
surprising
that the
importance
of the audiences has been
emphasized
in recent
years,
and needless to
say,
this is due to their
tendency
to remain silent
during
performances,
which leads
singers
to become anxious about their reactions. As
a result, some
singers actively
seek involvement from their
audiences,
and
ultimately
ask them to shout out
encouragement
calls. Some
singers
seem
unable to
ignore
a silent audience. Another "associate holder", Chong
Sunim
(b. 1945),
who was invited to
give
a
performance by
the owner of an
up-market
antique shop
in
Seoul, the
T'ongin kagye, repeatedly
asked her audience to
shout out
encouragement
calls to her.8 However, the audience remained silent,
and
nobody responded
to her
singing,
with the sole
exception
of the
p'ansori
student who had come to the
performance
with her. In the end, she
taught
the
audience how to shout ch 'uimsae, asking
them to
repeat
the calls after her.
Even
though contemporary
audiences
rarely respond
to
p'ansori perform-
ances, singers
are keen to earn their
responses. However, this does not mean
that
any
shout made
by
an individual is
appreciated. Although
audience
response
is essential to a successful
p'ansori performance,
some audience
members can
disrupt
a
performance by delivering inappropriate
calls. The
elderly concert-goer Hong W6np'yo
is well-known
among singers
because he
frequently appears
at their
performances
and
provides
calls of
encouragement
that are difficult to
ignore. Singers
claim that he not
only
shouts out in
inap-
propriate places,
he does so
very loudly. Singers'
reactions towards
Hong vary.
Song Ch'angsun
does not welcome him since he
interrupts
her
performance.
On the other
hand,
An
Sukson,
a
younger singer,
does
appreciate
his
presence
because he is one of the rare individuals who makes
encouraging calls, even
though they
are often unsuitable.
Performing
for
passive
audiences seems to
have led An to tolerate
Hong's inappropriate
shouts.
7
The
phrase emphasizes
the
importance
of a drummer, as his role is
thought
to be
very
significant
in
assisting
a
singer
and
creating
a more
lively
environment in a
p'ansori
performance.
8
I asked the owner of the
shop,
who offers
p
'ansori
performances
twice a
year
in
spring
and
autumn, why
he does so. He said that it was to exhibit
goods
in his
shop
in a
sophisticated
way.
The
purpose
of the event is for
people
to look around the
shop
before or after the
performance.
He thinks that in this
way people
will show more interest in his
goods.
Before
the
performance
he sends invitation cards to well-educated and
upper-middle
class clients
who can afford to
buy
his
costly products (personal interview, 15
May 1997, Seoul).
105
106 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
It seems that
throughout
the
history
of
p'ansori
there have been individuals
who have not been able to adhere to the
proper
norms for
making
calls.
However, disruptive encouragement
has increased in recent times, especially
in
Seoul, where the
general public
has the most access to the
genre
but does not
necessarily
have a
profound understanding
of the art.
Singers
are of the
opinion
that an
ordinary
audience that does not have
specialist knowledge
of the
genre
is
incapable
of
shouting encouragement
at the
right
moments. Once I heard an
individual
repeatedly
call out
"doing
well"
(chal honda)
when the "associate
holder" Kim
Yongja
(b. 1951) sang
a sad
song
at the National Theatre. This call
is not
conventionally
used
during
a sad
song.
There are various
types
of calls, and
they
need to be shouted out in a
timely
manner.
Singers
claim that the
proper
call for a sad
song
could be "of course"
(ammon)
or "that is
right" (kmroch'i),
as these
phrases
show
sympathy
for the
song.
These
encouragement
calls can also be used
during happy songs,
since
they
involve
comparable
situations. It is more the tone and
dynamics
of the call
that make it suitable for use in a sad or
happy song.
For
example,
"of course"
in a sad
song
is
supposed
to be said
quietly,
at a slow
speed
and in a low and
sympathetic tone, and the
pitch
of the voice should be low.
The local "holder"
Hong Chongt'aek (b. 1920)
stated that each call
possesses
a
unique
function.9 He said that,
for
example,
"of course that is
right" (ammon kmroch'i) supports
a
singer
whose emotion has reached its
height. "olssigu",
which is an enthusiastic shout or exclamation with no
meaning,
he
says, compliments
a
singer's
vocal skill. This
particular
call is
normally
used
by
an audience member or a drummer who is immersed in the
performance;
it is uttered when the listener has reached a musical climax or
state of
ecstasy
due to the enthusiasm
(hung) generated by
the
singer's
excellent
performance. Hong
adds that some
encouragement calls, such as
"u"
(which
has no
meaning
but aims to build a
singer's strength)
or
"good!"
(chot'a!),
are new, but that
"olssigu"
has a
longer
tradition.
According
to
him, "u" and
"good"
did not exist in his teacher's time, but are heard most
frequently today.
The call "ua" is
normally
uttered
by
a drummer in order to
assist the
singer
in
maintaining strength,
and
"good!"
is
commonly
an
audience call.
Hong
told me that it is not wise to shout "u" too often,
because, although
it tends to raise and assist a
singer,
it can
sap
her
energy
if
called out
repeatedly.
Offering
ch'uimsae in the correct
places
is difficult.
According
to
Chong
Pyonguk,
a call not
only supports
a
performer
but also
helps
enhance the atmo-
sphere
of the
performance:
Making
ch'uimsae is never
easy;
it cannot be learned in one
morning.
It is
not
possible
until one has
acquired experience, profound understanding
and
high
discernment. There is no
formality
or rule, but one cannot
just
shout
carelessly.
First of
all,
ch'uimsae is to shout ui, olssigu, chot'a, choch'i,
chal honda, h6i, olssu,
odi at
appropriate moments,
so that the calls
9
Personal interview with
Hong,
23
April 1997, Ch6nju.
JANG P'ansori
performance style:
audience
responses
and
singers' perspectives
stimulate the
singer's
mood and at the same time animate the
spirit
of the
audience, thereby enhancing
the
performance space.
(Ch6ng
1981:
84)
It should be noted that
Chong
did not mention that one of the most
important
functions of an
encouragement
call is to
put
the
singers
in the
right
mood to
perform
at their best. The
encouragement
calls "ui", "olssu", "hoi"
and
"odi",
mentioned
by Chong,
are heard less
frequently
in
contemporary
performances than, for
example, "good!",
or
"doing
well". The call olssu is, to
my knowledge, only
used in mask dance
performances (t'alch'um).
Shouting encouragement requires
not
only
the
appropriate
choice of call and
timing
but also
proper
voice
quality. According
to the "associate holder" Kim
Yongja,
an
encouragement
call must come from the abdomen, and should not
be made with a
light, "flying"
voice. This is
why
an
encouragement
call from a
drummer who has
previously
learned
p
'ansori is considered to be the best. 0
Without doubt, shouting satisfactory encouragement
calls is a difficult
task,
and this is
why very
few of them are heard
during performances today.
Interestingly,
some
singers
believe that
appropriate
calls of
encouragement
depend
on the
quality
of their
performances. Hong Chongt'aek argues
that a
good performance produces corresponding
calls. He claims that excellent
singers
make their audiences call out
"oolssigu",
instead of
"olssigu",
if
they
are
truly impressed by
the
performance,
and the call reflects their enthusiasm
by extending
the initial vowel of the word. The
p
'ansori aficionado and scholar
Yu
Yongdae supports Hong's view, saying
that audiences utter shouts of
admiration without even
noticing they
have done so, when a
singer
draws them
into the drama
through
the
quality
of the
performance (1994:191).
But not all
singers
believe that the volume and
quality
of the calls
they
receive
depend
on the
quality
of their
performances.
Unlike
Hong,
Pak
Songhui
told me that she cannot
perform very
well if there are no calls of
encourage-
ment.
l
l Pak
says
that calls of
encouragement
stimulate a
singer's mood,
and she
openly
criticises her audiences for not
making
them. One of the factors that
could account for the differences in the
perspectives
of these two
singers
is their
age
differential.
Hiong,
who is an older, local
singer
with a more traditional
attitude,
believes that it is his
responsibility
to
generate good, encouraging
calls
from the audience; Pak, on the other hand, a
young singer
who has been
nationally appointed
and
usually performs
for audiences in Seoul, does not
consider the lack of calls to be her
responsibility,
even
though
their absence
affects her
performances. Changing
trends in audience
participation are,
therefore, affecting singers' perspectives
on the
genre's
conventions.
10
Personal interview with Kim, 23
April 1997, Seoul. It has been a common
phenomenon
that a drummer
initially
learns
p'ansori
before he becomes a
percussionist,
since a
singer
receives not
only
more attention and
respect
but also a better fee. A drummer
usually drops
his ambition to be a
singer
and shifts to
percussion
when he fails to be a successful
singer,
though recently
there are
young
students who devote themselves to
being
drummers from
the
beginning
without
aspiring
to be
singers.
l
l Personal interview with Pak, 25
July 1997, Seoul.
107
108 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
Contemporary
audiences
I have
already suggested
that modem venues are
contributing
to the absence of
encouraging
calls. However, they
are not the
only
reason
why
such calls are
becoming
rare in
contemporary performances.
The
concert-goer Hong,
who
makes intrusive calls, has his own view on
why
audiences do not call out to the
singers.
He
suggests
that
many people
do not shout out because
they
are
shy
(cited
in Yi
Hiuijong 1997:54).
I share his view. I have often noted that contem-
porary audiences, particularly
in Seoul, shy away
from
making
calls in the fear
that
they may
be the
only
ones to do so. Others are afraid that
they may
shout
in the
wrong places, publicly displaying
their limited
knowledge
of
p'ansori.
Some
singers
believe that there are
people
who do not call out because
they
believe that to do so would be
demeaning.
Another fundamental reason for the absence of calls at
contemporary
performances
is that, as indicated earlier, contemporary
audiences are not suffi-
ciently
familiar with
p'ansori
to be able to make them with confidence.
Consequently, they enjoy p'ansori silently, adopting
the Western
practice
of
showing appreciation by clapping
after the
performance. Contemporary
urban
audiences have more
opportunities
to listen to other
genres
of music, such as
Korean
lyric songs (kagok)
and Western classical music, than
p'ansori,
and this
has distanced them from the
genre.
This is
particularly
the case with
young
and
middle-aged concert-goers,
who constitute the
greater part
of
p'ansori
audiences in Seoul
today.
A statement
by
the "holder" 0
Chongsuk
demon-
strates this well:
Young
audiences in Seoul come to
performances
in order to find out what
p'ansori
is like.
They
come out of
curiosity.
Audiences in Seoul and the
Kyonggi
area
[the province surrounding Seoul]
do not like
p'ansori; they
prefer minyo [folk songs]. They
do not know how to
appreciate
the music.12
For
some, encountering
a silent and unmoved audience is a
frustrating
experience.
The
p'ansori
scholar
Kang Hanyong
made the
following
comments
after the audience had been silent
during
a
performance by graduate
students of
Song Ch'angsun
at an examination concert
(Isuja p'yongga kongyon),
held
December 1996 in Seoul:
A
p'ansori performance definitely
should form a
sorip'an [p'ansori perfor-
mance
place],
in which the audience
participates. Here, the audience
kept
quiet.
I believe that
people
do not know where to make ch'uimsae,
but it
should be learnt that a
p'ansori performance
is different from a Western
music
performance,
and audiences should
participate.
Despite
comments like this
one,
it is
unlikely
that
contemporary
audiences will
be
persuaded
to
engage
more
actively
in
p'ansori performances by making
12
Personal interview with
0,
20 June
1997, Ch6nju.
109 JANG P'ansori
performance style:
audience
responses
and
singers' perspectives
encouraging
calls.
Young
audiences even have difficulties
comprehending
the
words of the
singers,
because
p'ansori
is
sung using
a mixture of old
terms,
such as unfamiliar
Choson-period (1392-1910)
names for
government
ranks
and costume accessories in Sino-Korean. For
example,
most
young
concert-
goers, except
those who are well versed in
Chinese,
would not even know the
meaning
of the word
sinyon
in the
song
"The
Sinyon
Procession is
Coming
Down"
(Sinyon maja naeryo onda)
from the
piece Ch'unhyangga (Song of
Ch'unhyang).13
In addition to this
problem, p'ansori songs
are
sung
with so
much melisma that a
syllable
often lasts for a
long
time.
Consequently, singers
are concerned about whether their audiences are able.to follow the words. To
ensure that the texts are
understood,
a screen on which the text is
displayed
is
sometimes installed next to the
stage
in
contemporary performances, parti-
cularly
for those
by sung
drama
(ch'angguk) troupes.
This
happened
at a
song
and dance drama
performance
of the
Story of Ch'unhyang (Ch'angmuguk
Ch'unhyangjon) by
the
Sung
Drama
Troupe
of the Traditional Music Institute
of North Cholla Province
(Chonbuk Torip Kugagwon Ch'angguktan)
for the
commemoration of the Winter Universiade at the National Theatre in Seoul in
January
1997.
Regional
differences in audience
response
and the effects
of different audience
responses
on
performances
As discussed
earlier,
audience
responses
differ for various reasons. In this
section,
I will examine how
responses
differ
geographically by considering
the
differences in the
provinces
of
Cholla,
Kyongsang
and
Kyonggi
and in Seoul.
Audience
responses
in
Chonju,
North Cholla
province,
located in the south of
the
country,
are
very
different from those found elsewhere in Korea. Audiences
in this area show
great
enthusiasm for
p'ansori performances.
The
unique
response
of audiences in this
region
can be seen at the
Chonju
Traditional
Music
Competition (Chonju
Taesasup Nori).14
The
competition
is held over
two
days
and,
despite
the other
genres
involved in the
event,
in the
past
a
professional p'ansori singer
has
always
won the first
prize
-
the President's
Prize of ten million won
(about ?6,500
in
1999)
-
and the title of renowned
singer (myongch'ang),
and this continues to be the case
today. Many
estab-
lished
contemporary singers, including Song Ch'angsun,
Cho
Sanghyon
13
A
sinyon
is a
ceremony
in which a local
provincial government
officer escorts a new
governor
out of his house for an official
procession.
14
The
competition began
in 1975 as a successor to the
Chonju T'onginch'ong Ttaesasutp.
This is the first known
p'ansori competition
and was held in a
t'ongin's
residence in
Chonju
between 1864 and 1905.
(A t'ongin
was an errand man who worked for a local
magistrate
or
mayor during
the Choson
period.) However,
unlike the earlier
competition
where
only
p'ansori
had been
involved,
the new event includes other traditional
genres,
such as folk
song (minyo), long-versed song (sijo), songs accompanied by
the zither
(kayagum
pyongch'ang),
instrumental music
(kiak),
dance
(muyong)
and
archery (kungdo).
110 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
Figure
3
Map
of South Korea with its
eight provinces
(b. 1939)
and 0
Chongsuk (b. 1935),
have won this
prize.
The
competition
itself is followed
by p'ansori performances by
renowned
singers,
where
virtually
all the audience are
elderly,
about 90
per
cent men and 10
per
cent
women. The
composition
of the audience is
very
different from that found in
Seoul and the
performance
environment is more casual because it takes
place
in a
gymnasium
rather than a theatre or music hall. The venue is filled to
JANG P'ansori
performance style:
audience
responses
and
singers' perspectives
capacity every
time the
competition
is held.
According
to the
monthly
staff
newspaper
of the local media
station, Munhwa Broadcast
Corporation (which
sponsors
the
competition),
the audience can reach
10,000
(Chonju
MBC staff
newspaper, July 1986).
I have attended the
competition
several times since
1983, being
a rare
young spectator,
and I have witnessed
people sitting
on
newspapers
on the
ground
in the central
performance venue, because there
were not
enough
seats. The audience comes not
only
from
Ch6nju,
but also
from
adjacent towns, such as Namwon and Imsil.
Here the audience involvement is
very
different from that in other
areas,
such as
Kyongsang
and
Kyonggi provinces
and Seoul.
Responses
are
very
active and
spontaneous compared
with those found in Seoul or in the
Kyonggi
area.
People
talk
among
themselves about the
quality
of the
singers' perfor-
mances. There are
many
connoisseurs
present,
and their
judgements
tend to be
critical.
They
do no limit their
commentary
to the
competitors, evaluating
also
the renowned
singers
who
perform
after the
competition
in
ways
that are
unbiased and often harsh. Their
expectations
are
high.
One
elderly man, Han
Sanghun (b. 1925),
for
example,
made the
following
comment about the
"holder" Pak
Tongjin (b.
1916):
"We do not
acknowledge
his skill. Pak does
not know how to
sing;
he
only
knows how to make
people laugh.
He is a
joke
singer (chaedam kwangdae)."15
In
Seoul, Pak is a
very popular singer,
since he
is a
particularly good
entertainer. His
popularity
comes
largely
from his
witty
remarks at the
beginning
of his
performances
or
during them, which are
generally
directed at his
accompanist.
He
has, for
example,
made the
following
joke:
"That frivolous fellow
laughed
at me"
(Cho6 siro6bae adullom i nal
pogo
unne
kauryu);
this was said as he looked at his
accompanist,
who smiled back at
him, already expecting
Pak to make a
joke
about him sooner or later. When he
is satisfied with his drummer's enthusiastic
accompaniment,
he has been
known to
say: "Ah, how
extravagant" (Ah, iron osalhal
chamnomi...)."
These
contrasting
reactions indicate differences in audience
expectations
in different
regions. Concerning
0
Chongsuk,
Han said: "She does not have
good
vocal
technique.
She shouts because her voice has not
developed properly."
In
fact,
she is considered to be short on vocal skills
among p'ansori
aficionados. The
p'ansori scholar Yi
Pohy6ng
commented
that,
as with her
teacher, Kim Yonsu
(1907-74), O's
p'ansori
has clear diction and excellent dramatic
gestures,
but
she has a limited command of vocal
techniques (1986:150). 0 seems to
accept
this criticism. In an
interview, she told me that she had not
yet
reached the state
of
"obtaining
sound"
(tugum)
and still has a
long way
to
go
to achieve this
height.16
It should be noted that O's attitude
may
be a deliberate
display
of
modesty,
because such an attitude is evaluated
positively by government
officials and
scholars; since master
singers
are nominated as "holders"
by
p'ansori
scholars under the
auspices
of the
government, singers
are aware that
having
a
proper
attitude
may
influence those involved in
assessing
and
determining
their status.
15
Personal interview with the audience member, Han, 8 October 1996, Ch6nju.
16
Personal interview with 0, 25 December 1996, Seoul.
111
112 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
In Seoul, audiences do not
judge singers
who have achieved "holder" status,
but
accept
the fact that
they
are
officially recognized. However, formal status
does not
prevent
audiences in
Chonju
from
judging
these same
singers nega-
tively,
and so some
singers
are even afraid of
performing
in
Chonju.
I heard
Pak
Tongjin
saying,
"I am
very
careful when I
sing
in
Chonju"
after his celeb-
ration
performance
for the first
anniversary
of the foundation of the Korea
Drum Association (Taehan Kouhoe),
which was held in the North Cholla Art
Centre
(Chonbuk
Yesul
Hoegwan)
in
Chonju
in
April,
1988. Kim
Yongja
said
she is afraid of
singing
in Cholla
province,
where
people
are all
p'ansori
connoisseurs (kwi myongch'ang
-
literally,
"ear renowned
singers")
and under-
stand the "inside of
p'ansori" (sorisok)
and have
highly-trained
ears.17 The
concerns of these renowned
singers
derive from their awareness that audiences
in the
province
are
traditionally
known to be
profoundly knowledgeable
about
p
'ansori.
It is not
surprising
that audiences in the
region
are
lively judges
of
singers'
singing ability, given
that in the
past
it was their
responsibility
to select the
winner of the first
prize
in the
competition, Chonju
T'onginch'ong
Taesasup.
Unlike
today
-
where the
judging panels
are made
up
of former winners
-
there
wasn't a
panel
of
judges
and it was the audience that chose the winners. The
new
arrangement
has weakened the influence of the audience, and
they
are
unhappy
with the current situation. This is
perhaps why
their criticisms have
become
particularly
harsh towards
performances given by
renowned
singers
who are also nominated to the
panel
of
judges.
People
in North and South
Kyongsang provinces
are also
highly appre-
ciative of
p'ansori and, according
to
many singers,
their
appreciation
is second
only
to that of the
people
in North and South Cholla
province.
Kim
Yongja
says
the
Kyongsang province
is her favourite
region:
People
in North and South
Kyongsang provinces generally
have
positive
reactions to
p'ansori, although they
do not make as
many
ch'uimsae as the
people
of Cholla. Yet, there are
always
some
spectators
who know a
great
deal about
p'ansori.
(Interview,
23
April 1997)
In fact, p'ansori
has had
strong support
in these
provinces
since the
early
twentieth
century.
More than half of the female
singers
at that time came from
this area, including
one of the first "holders",
Pak Nokchu
(1904-79), owing
to
the financial
support
of some influential officials in the
province.
In the 1950s
the
mayor
of Pusan,
the
provincial capital
of South
Kyongsang, supported
Song Ch'angsun
and Kim
Songsu (1892-1955);
the founder of the East Asia
daily
news
(Tonga ilbo)
backed Pak Nokchu.
S6ng,
who
performed
in the
province regularly
in the 1980s,
still considers
appreciation
of
p'ansori
in the
province
to be
high.
One characteristic of the
concert-goers
in the
province
is
that
they
like
bright
and
happy songs
in fast
tempi.
This has been
highlighted
17
Personal interview with
Kim,
23 and
April
1997,
Seoul.
JANG P'ansori
performance style: audience responses and
singers' perspectives
by many singers, including
Kim
Yongja,
S6ng Ch'angsun
and 0
Ch6ngsuk.
These
singers
told me that
they
choose to
sing happy songs
in the
region,
to
cater for the audiences' tastes.18
According
to
p'ansori singers, Kyonggi
audiences also
prefer happy songs.
But it is in this
province
that
p'ansori
is least
appreciated.
Kim
Myonghwan
(1913-89),
the late "holder" of
proper drumming
(P'ansori Kobop, Intangible
Cultural
Properties
no.
59),
described audiences'
preference
for
happy songs
as
a "peculiar and
strange thing" (cited
in Yun
Kubyong 1977:121).19 Perhaps
this
is common in the
contemporary world, and I note that Brita Heimarck, who
studies Balinese shadow
plays,
has said that
"people
in
today's society
seek
light
entertainment because
they
are stressed"
(1998).
This
may
be the reason
why
Pak
Tongjin,
whose
performances
are
witty
and humorous, is so
popular
in
Seoul, where the
lifestyle
is
thought
to be most stressful.
Other reasons have also been
suggested
to
explain why
some audiences
prefer happy songs. First, it could be the result of the economic
prosperity
of
the 1980s and 1990s. Others have
suggested
that it could be that
people
are
better able to understand the texts
sung
in fast
tempi
than those in slow
songs.
Generally speaking, happy songs,
such as the
"Song
of the
Flower-painted
Wardrobe" and "Blind Sim
Regains
his
Eyesight" (Simbongsa
nun ttunmn
taemok)
in
Song of Simch'ong (Simch'ongga),
are
sung
in a fast
tempo;
the
former is in the fast
chungjungmori rhythmic cycle (changdan) (12/8)
and the
latter is in the fast
chajinmori rhythmic cycle (12/8). According
to
singers,
these are
among
the favourite
songs
of audiences
today. Understanding songs
sung
in a slow
tempo
is more
difficult, due to the use of melisma and
complex
vocal
techniques, shifting dynamics
and shaded
pitches.
These musical charac-
teristics are
presented
in
Song Ch'angsun's song,
which will be introduced
below.
Current
singing styles
Generally speaking, contemporary p'ansori
is
sung
in the Western
style
(sop'yonje),
which is known to have evolved in the nineteenth
century. Songs
in this
style
are
sung emotionally
and
elaborately, using heavy
vibrato and
t'aru,
an ornament whose
typical
structure is similar to an
upper
mordant.
Well-known
singers,
such as
Song Ch'angsun
and An
Sukson, sing
in this
style, although
there are some
singers,
such as Pak
Songhui
and Han
Nongson
(b. 1933),
who
sing
in the Eastern
style (tongp'yonje),
which is
thought
to have
developed
earlier than the Western
style. Songs
in the Eastern
style
are
sung
with controlled emotion and use a less elaborate vocal
style.
The
singer
Pak
Songhii,
who
performs
in the Eastern
style,
is said to
sing plainly, using
a
"whole sound"
(t'ongsong) (Yi Kyuwon 1995:218),
which stems from the
singer's
abdomen and does not
rely
on sound decorations which are
artificially
18
Personal interview with Kim, 25
April 1997, Seoul. Personal interview with
S6ng,
15
January 1997, Seoul.
19
It is a
general perception
of
p'ansori
artists that most
p
'ansori
songs
are sad.
113
114 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
created in the throat. She was
taught by
Pak Nokchu
(1904-79),
who was one
of the first Human Cultural Assets, nominated in 1964, and who
sang
in the
Eastern
style. According
to Han
Nongson,
who also studied with Pak, Pak's
version of
Song of Hiingbo (Hmngboga)
was faster than that of other
singers
because her
songs
were
sung lightly,
without
elaborating
the sound (Han 1995).
However, Pak
Songhuii
and Han
Nongson
are not heard as often and therefore
they
are not as well known to the
public
as
performers
like
S6ng Ch'angsun
or
An Sukson. It should be noted that the Eastern and Western
singing styles
are
not as distinct
today
as
they
were in the
past.
This is because, since the
early
twentieth
century, singers
have learned both
styles
and have often
performed
them
together
in the same venues.
The musical
examples
in
Figures
4 and 5 demonstrate the differences bet-
ween the Eastern and Western
singing styles,
as
performed by
0
Chongsuk
and
Song Ch'angsun.
The
song
kalkkabuda
("Shall
I
go?")
in
Ch'unhyangga
is
sung
in the
tongch'o style (tongch'o-je) by 0, who
sings
in the Eastern
style,
and in the
posong style (posong-je) by S6ng,
who
sings
in the Western
style.20
By comparing
the first four
phrases
of the
song
in the two
transcriptions,
one
notes that O's rendition is less melismatic and therefore less
complex
in terms
of vocal
technique, melody
line and
dynamics
in relation to
S6ng's
version.
Furthermore, O's version
employs
more words, so she has less time than
Song
to
play
with the
melody
and to use elaborate vocal
techniques. Song,
in
turn,
can afford to
apply
various vocalization
techniques
and to
play
with the
melody,
which makes her version more decorative.
Changing
tastes in
singing styles
Although songs
in the Western
style
are heard more
commonly nowadays,
nostalgia
for the Eastern
style
is
growing.
This
nostalgia
is
responsible
for the
phrase:
"A friend is an old friend, and
p'ansori
is the Eastern
style"
(Ch'in'gunun yet ch'in'gu,
sorinun
tongp'yonje).
It is
thought
that
p'ansori
was
originally sung
in the Eastern
style,
so aficionados and scholars tend to
regard
it as the more
"genuine"
and "traditional" of the two
styles.
I
suspect
that this sentiment has
grown
because the
singing styles
have
changed
consid-
erably
since the end of the nineteenth
century,
and
people
who know about
p'ansori,
such as
scholars,
aficionados and some
singers,
are tired of
listening
to
elaborately sung songs
and miss the charm of
songs sung
more
simply.
Contemporary singers,
influenced
by
this view,
therefore claim to
sing
in the
Eastern
style.
20
Oddly,
the
pos6ng style
of
Ch'unhyangga
is classified as the Eastern
style
and the
tongch'o style
of
Ch'unhyangga
as the Western
style
in the
study
P'ansori
Yup'a,
where
each
singer
is
categorized
in one or other
style.
In fact, S6ng
claims that she
sings
in the
Eastern
style.
It is understood that the reason for
S6ng's argument
is
grounded
in the idea of
respecting
"tradition" and
"genuineness".
In fact, it is
something
of a
simplification
to
say
that
S6ng performs
in the Western
style
and 0
sings
in the Eastern
style,
since
characteristics of both
styles
are found in each of their
performances (see
Yeonok
Jang
2000:
194-97, for the
complete transcription
of the
song).
JANG P'ansori performance style: audience responses
and singers' perspectives
"
j=
76
4~~~4r
Kal kka -bu da kal kka -bu da
to
ryon-
n im ch'ajo
kal kka - bu da
a i ho
yo
mo do sin go pa ram do swi yo nom go
kurum do swiyo nomgo
hae dongch'ong proramaedo ta swiyo
nom nun
Figure 4 The
song
kalkkabuda ("Shall
I
go?")
in
Ch'unhyangga, sung by
0
Ch6ngsuk
in
the Eastern style
= 80
#4
12~~4~.
Kalkka bu da Kal kka pu da
mtfta ra so kal- kka u~
F7
17~~~~~~~
pa
ra - am do swi yo nom go
ku ru
I K
W-4~
um do swi
yo
mom nun
Figure 5 The
song
kalkkabuda
("Shall
I
go?")
in
Ch'unhyangga, sung by S6ng
Ch'angsun
in the Western style
Changes
in
singing styles
can be detected
by comparing
recent
perform-
ances with those of
singers
from the
early
twentieth
century,
such as
Song
Man'gap (1865-1939)
and
Ch6ong Ch6ongny6ol (1876-1938),
whose
recordings
from the
early
and mid-twentieth
century
have been
reproduced
and are
available on CD. The
Eastemn-style singer,
Pak
Songhiii,
stated:
I
IT 11-
115
116 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/i 2001
Some audiences recall
p
'ansori which is
sung
in an unaffected
way.
It is like
the
way people
come to miss a conventional dish which is cooked in a
traditional
way,
because
they
have been
eating
rather too much food
seasoned with
synthetic flavouring.21
The trend towards
favouring
more traditional
p'ansori sung
in an unaffected
style
has led to criticism of
singers
who use excessive vocal
techniques.22
The
critic of traditional
arts, Yun
Chunggang,
comments: "Recent
singers
focus too
much on vocal
technique (1987:62)".
Pak
Songhui,
who
sings
in the Eastern
style,
criticises
singers
who
rely
on artificial vocal
techniques
to
please
their
audiences:
It is
very easy
for a
singer
to elaborate on
p'ansori songs.
A
singer
who
performs
a lot is well able to command vocal
technique
as he or she
pleases.
However, a
singer
should
try
to restrain herself from
using
too
many
vocal
techniques. Unfortunately, singers
do not control that. It is because
people
who do not know about the
original p'ansori compliment
those who
sing
using
a lot of shallow vocal
techniques.
As a
result, singers
tend to embel-
lish their
songs continuously.
For
example,
a certain word can be
sung using
only
one
t'aru, but a
singer
who tries to
please
the audience uses it several
times while
singing
a word, knowing
that the audience will show more
response
when she uses this vocal
techniques
more
frequently.
That is
why
some
say
that well-known
singers
are all
spoiling p'ansori.23
Singers
themselves are often critical of
singing
that makes excessive use of
ornamentation, echoing
the evaluations of
p'ansori
scholars and aficionados.
This is because the use of such "shallow resources" is seen as a
technique
to
appeal
to the audience. Sin
Sugwon,
for
example,
has called An
Sukson, who
sings
in the Western
style
and is
arguably
the most
popular contemporary
singer,
a
prima
donna of the traditional music world
(1987:82),
and Yi Ilchu
(b. 1936),
a local
"holder",
has criticised An for
using
too much t'aru.24
Some
singers
seem to be
sceptical
about the
contemporary singing style.
The
aged
local
singer Hong Chongt'aek
states:
P'ansori
singing style
has now
developed
to its fullest extent. It should not
be
developed
further. If it
develops any
more from
here, it will become like
21
Personal interview with
Pak, 24
July 1997, Seoul.
22
In fact, singers
of the
early
and mid-twentieth
century,
such as
Song Man'gap
and Im
Pangul (1905-61),
used to be
similarly
criticised
by
their audiences because of their
decorative vocal
styles.
23
Personal interview with Pak, 24
July 1997, Seoul. Pak's comment on "well-known
singers" may
have been directed at An
Suks6n, who works with her in the same
organi-
zation, Kungnip ch'angguktan (National Opera Troupe).
24
Personal interview with Yi, 24 June 1997, Ch6nju.
JANG P'ansori performance style: audience responses
and
singers' perspectives
pop songs.
I
suspect
that
p'ansori may
soon return to its earlier
style.
The
development
of the current
style
was
designed
to show off the
singers'
vocal
skills.
Maybe
this is a fashion.25
It is hard to foresee whether or not
p'ansori
will be
sung
in its earlier,
simpler style
in the future, but there is
certainly
a
yearning
for the less
elaborate
style.
It has been claimed that this influenced the late
singer, Kang
Toguin (1918-95),
to return to the older
style
towards the end of his career
(Yi
Pohyong 1995:317).
This
argument, however, is difficult to
support,
since it
would be difficult for a
performer
to
change
a mature
style
that had taken
years
to establish. Most
singers
and aficionados claim that
Kang performed
in the
Western
style, although Kang
himself maintained that he used the Eastern
style.
His claim seems to have been
politically motivated, springing
from his
judgement
that his
songs
would be more
favourably
received if
they
were in the
Eastern
style.
I observed
singers
and folklorists, such as Yi Ilchu and
Hong
Hyonsik (b. 1924)
in
Chonju
-
which is close to Namwon, where
Kang
used to
live
-
laugh
at the notion that
Kang sang
in the Eastern
style.
Yi Ilchu com-
mented:
"Kang Toguin sang
in the Western
style.
His
style
became an Eastern
style only
because he said so."26 The local folklorist
Hong Hyonsik
commented:
Newspapers repeated
that "the
Eastern-style singer Kang Toguin
is dead"
after he died. This is nonsense. His
songs
were not
sung
in the Eastern
style.
Listen to them:
they
are all in the Western
style.
Scholars and
people
in the
press
do not know.
They
are confused because he lived in
Namwon, which
is
regionally
associated with the Eastern
style.27
This comment reflected the
system
of
categorization
that was introduced
by
Chong
Nosik in his
History of
Korean Vocal Theatre
(Choson Ch'angguksa,
1940),
which scholars relied
upon
until the
1990s,
when criticisms of
Chong's
work
began
to
appear. According
to
Chong,
a
singer's style
was determined on
the basis of where he or she lived. If a
singer
lived on the eastern side of the
Somjin
River in Cholla
province,
where p'ansori is believed to have first
developed,
he or she was considered an
Eastern-style singer,
while those who
lived on the western bank were classified as
Western-style singers. However,
such
regional
distinctions are no
longer applicable, since, as mentioned earlier,
singers
learned from their
teachers, who, for the most
part, performed
in a
mixed
style. Furthermore, singers
of different
styles
often
taught
in the same
places.
This was the case, for
example,
at the Choson
Songak Y6nguhoe
(Research Society
for the
Study
of Korean Vocal
Music),
which
operated
during
the 1930s. Since the
early
twentieth
century,
when
public transportation
developed,
it was fashionable
amongst singers
to learn from a
popular singer,
25
Personal interview with
Hong,
14 June 1996, Ch6nju.
26
Personal interview with Yi, 24 June 1997, Ch6nju.
27
Personal interview with the folklorist
Hong,
25 June,
Ch6nju.
117
118 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
regardless
of the
style
in which the
singer performed.
For
example,
An Sukson
is from Namwon, which
according Chong's classification, would make her an
Eastern-style singer;
but she has lived in Seoul since she was a
teenager,
and
she has learned to
sing
in both
styles, though currently
her
singing
is closer to
that of the Western
style.
No one would claim she
sings
in the Eastern
style
because she is from Namwon.
It is notable that, since the late twentieth
century p'ansori songs
in the
Eastern
style
have once
again
become
respected
and
sought
after. This
develop-
ment will
probably
lead
singers
in the Eastern
style
to maintain their
style,
rather than to
change
to the
popular
Western
style,
as
many Eastern-style
singers
were inclined to do in the
early
and mid-twentieth
century,
when the
Western
style
became dominant. The Eastern
style,
which was once in
danger
of
disappearing,
is no
longer
on the
verge
of extinction, and is
being
encou-
raged by changing
aesthetic trends.
Conclusion
During
the late twentieth
century,
various
experiments involving performances
with Western orchestras and with Western
jazz
musicians have been made to
adapt p'ansori
to modem environments and tastes as a means of
attracting
audiences that have little interest in traditional music. These
experiments
have
had some
impact,
and have demonstrated that the
genre
can be modernized and
accommodated to
contemporary society. However, they
have also created some
concern
among
traditionalists because these
developments
have altered the
original
character of the
genre
and led to a loss of the vivacious
performance
atmosphere
that
performers
and audiences used to create
together.
These
modem
developments
are
thought
to be
responsible
for
limiting
the audience's
participation, though
there still are a few audience members
striving
to
pre-
serve their
participatory
role in
performance,
however awkward their calls of
encouragement may
at times be.
The art of
p'ansori
seems to be
losing
its
original
function as a means of
entertainment, as it used to be in traditional
society. Contemporary p'ansori
performances
are
usually organized
and
arranged by government agencies,
such as
Muhyong Munhwajae-gwa (Intangible
Cultural
Property Department)
and
Kungnip Kugagwon (National
Centre for Traditional
Performing Arts),
whose
objectives
are to
promote
traditional culture both
nationally
and inter-
nationally. Contemporary p'ansori performances, therefore, have a more
political function, serving
as
symbols
of national
heritage
and/or
identity,
although they
still
provide
entertainment. The
genre
is
culturally
valued but is
isolated from the
general public.
With the
exception
of the
elderly
audiences in
Cholla, contemporary p'ansori
audiences are not familiar with the
genre. They
do not know how to
appreciate
it and how to react to
performances. People
attend
p'ansori performances
with the same attitude that
they
have towards
other musical
genres,
such as Western
opera
and Korean
kagok performances.
The traditional
p'ansori culture,
in which
performers
and audiences interacted
with one another, is
rapidly disappearing.
Calls of
encouragement (ch'uimsae),
JANG P'ansori performance style: audience responses
and
singers' perspectives
which used to be shouted
by
enthusiastic audiences in traditional
performances,
have almost
disappeared, except
in Cholla
province.
The
majority
of audiences
listen to the music
silently.
The
following
statement of Nettl seems to reflect
the state of Korean
p
'ansori.
The music that a
people regard specifically
as their own traditional
heritage
is
preserved
in isolated
pockets
of existence, often under the
protection
and
patronage
of
government agencies.
The
population recognizes
this music
but
regards
it as
something belonging
to the
past
or as a musical ideal
rarely
experienced
and reserved for
special purposes, events, social classes.
(Nettl 1983:351)
Both
continuity
and
change
are seen in the
contemporary p'ansori singing
style. Today,
the
genre
is
sung mainly
in the Western
style (sop'yonje),
but
there is clear interest in
keeping
and
reviving
the Eastern
style (tongp'yonje).
Songs sung
in the latter
style
receive
high praise
from scholars and aficionados
and from
singers
themselves. Moreover, many
audiences
-
except
those in
Cholla
province,
where the Western
style
is still favoured
-
prefer happy songs
sung
in the Eastern
style.
This is a new trend which has led to a revival of the
Eastern
style,
and it will be
interesting
to observe how the tastes of contem-
porary
audiences will
change
the
singing style
in the
twenty-first century.
Throughout
its
history,
the
performance styles
of
p'ansori
have
adapted
to the
changing
tastes of their audiences. In the nineteenth
century,
it was
primarily
sung
in the Eastern
style,
because
people
of the
upper classes, who
enjoyed
and
sponsored
the
genre, preferred songs sung plainly,
with restrained
expressions
of
feeling.
In the
early
and mid-twentieth
century,
the
general public preferred
the Western
style,
which tended towards
sentimentality
and
passion. Today,
audience
preferences
seem to be
shifting yet again,
this time towards
songs
of a
more cheerful and less sentimental ethos.
Principal performers
and interviewees
Hong Chongt'aek
Born in 1921 in Puan, North Cholla
province.
He became a
member of a
travelling performance group (Hyomnyulsa),
when he was 14
years
old. At the
age
of 18 he started to learn
p'ansori
in earnest from Yi
Kigwon
and Kim Yonsu. He
taught
the
genre
in traditional institutes
through-
out Cholla and
Ch'ungch'ong provinces
in his thirties and forties. He was
nominated as a Local Human Cultural
Property
in 1984 for his
specialty
in
Song of
the Underwater Palace
(Sugungga).
Yi Ilchu Born in 1936 in
Puy6,
South
Ch'ungch'6ng province.
She is a
descendant of the renowned
nineteenth-century singer,
Yi Nalch'i. She learned
p'ansori
from Yi
Kigwon,
Pak Ch'owol, Pak Nokchu, Kim Sohui, and 0
Chongsuk.
Since 1974,
she has been
teaching p
'ansori in the Traditional Music
Institute in North Cholla Province. In 1984, she was nominated as a Local
Human Cultural
Property
for her
specialty
in
Song of
the Underwater Palace.
119
120 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
She is now the inheritor of the
tongch'o style, along
with 0
Chongsuk,
although
she learned the diverse
styles
from several
singers.
0
Chongsuk
Born in 1935 in
Chinju,
South
Kyongsang province.
Her career
began
with
performances
of
sung
drama
(ch'angguk)
at the
age
of ten. She
joined
Kim Yonsu's
sung
drama
troupe
when she was 15
years
old. Since then,
she studied with Kim, the creator of the
tongch'o style
and became its
successor. She was
appointed
as a Human Cultural
Property
in 1991 with her
specialty
in
Song of Ch'unhyang (Ch'unhyangga)
in the
tongch'o style.
She is
well known for her excellent
bodily gestures (pallim)
and narrative
(aniri)
performance.
Pak
Songhiii
Born in 1927 in Hwasun, South Cholla
province.
She learned
p'ansori
in an institute for female entertainers
during
the
Japanese
colonization
(kwonbon)
from the
age
of 13. She was devoted to
sung
drama
performances
for about ten
years,
from the
age
of
eighteen.
She studied with Pak
Kihong,
Pak
Tongsil,
An Kison, and Pak Nokchu. She
currently sings
in Pak Nokchu's
style
in the Eastern
style (tongp'yonje).
She was
appointed
as an Associate
Human Cultural
Property (Chun in'gan munhwajae)
for this
style
in 1988.
Song Ch'angsun
Born in 1934 in
Kwangju,
South Cholla
province.
She
entered Kim Yonsu's
sung
drama
troupe
when she was 16. Her serious
p'ansori
studies
began
at the
age
of 21. She studied with
Kong Kinam, Kim Sohui, Pak
Nokchu and
Chong Ungmin.-She
became a follower of
Chong ungmin
at the
age
of 28, though
she studied
intensively
with Pak Nokchu before this. She was
nominated as a Human Cultural
Property
in 1991 with her
speciality
in
Song of
Simch'ong (Simch'ongga)
in the "mountain and river
style" (kangsanje).
Her
singing style
is more elaborate than that of her teacher
Chong Ungmin.
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Frederica
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Note on the author
Yeonok
Jang
obtained a Ph.D. in
ethnomusicology
from the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University
of London
(2000).
Until March 2002 she was
working
as a
visiting
tutor at Goldsmiths
College,
London. She is a
kayagum
(Korean zither) player
and has
given
lectures and
performances
in several
universities, including
Oxford
University
and
University
of Sheffield. Her
research interests include
popular music, oral tradition and aesthetics in music.
E-mail:
jangyeonok@hotmail.com.
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