NORTH KOREAN MUSIC

Overview Following Koreas division in 1951, revolutionary song-writing traditions were channeled into support for the state of North Korea, eventually becoming a style of patriotic song called taejung kayo(popular music) in the 1980s, combining classical and Korean traditional musical forms. (Taejung kayo will be further explained later) In North Korea, music is tightly controlled by the government. Listening to South Korean music can be considered crimininal. Foreign music is lumped into one genre the government terms "jazz". Many North Korean pop songs (taejung kayo) are usually performed by a young female singer with an electric ensemble, percussionist and accompanying singers and dancers.* North Korean pop songs are primarily influenced by Russian and Korean pop music and have titles like "Our Life Is Precisely a Song", and "The Dear General Uses Distance-Shrinking Magic." *A DJs account of a North Korean pop music performance: North Korean pop is usually sung by a girl in national dress (pink spangled nightie). Behind her may be fifty or so musicians half a dozen guitarists in green lurex shirts, a couple of divisions of keyboard players and a front line of fifteen female saxophonists. Every movement is perfectly synchronised. The climax comes with the ejaculation of two fountains as the image of the Dear Leader bursts on to the backdrop to wild applause. Foundations/Principles North Korean music follows the principles of Juche (selfreliance) ideology, under Kim Jong-Ils rule. The characteristic marchlike, upbeat music of North Korea is carefully composed, rarely individually performed, and the lyrics and imagery have a clear socialist content. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE09FWeRrWI (Ode To Kim Jong-Il) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6Kmie-yyo&feature=related (Look At Us!) (Uplifting, proclamations of glory and greatness are frequent. One might also notice that the music is rather catchy.)

Genres The most common music genre is taejung kayo (popular songs), developed in the 1980s. The songs are generally sung by female performers or choirs with a large orchestra. The composition and performance is state-controlled, and all lyrics are optimistic, like about farming triumphs, and the glories of industrial production. However, North Korean music also includes genres like sanjo, pansori and nongak. Sanjo is entirely instrumental music that shifts rhythms and melodic modes during the song. It is one of the most popular genres of traditional music, taught in schools and universities, and a staple of performance tours. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFe8nHQottI Pansori is long, vocal and percussive music played by one singer and one drummer. The lyrics tell one of five different stories, but are individualized by each performer, often with updated jokes and audience participation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck1qH1meNCI (characteristics as shown by the video also include dramatic movements and a wide variety of facial expressions being displayed) Nongak (also known as pungmul) is a rural form of percussion music, typically played by twenty to thirty performers. It is steeped in dance, music, theatre and pageantry, and also played at many Korean-American communities across the United States. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elwkuNi0boA&feature=related

Instruments In North Korea, traditional instruments have been adapted in order to allow them to compete with Western instruments, but many older forms also remain. Traditional Korean musical instruments can be divided into wind instruments, strings, and percussion. Wind instruments: Danso (vertical flute) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Danso.jpg Piri (double reed instrument made of bamboo) http://www.worldartswest.org/Assets/Piri.jpg Daegeum (large bamboo transverse flute)

http://user.chollian.net/~hbj1001/images/daegum.bmp Stringed musical instrument: Kayagum (12-stringed zither) http://www.crosssound.com/CS06/cs06musicians/kayagum.jpg Geomungo (zither with both bridges and [frets-raised portions]) http://vimac.com.vn/Images/LabourMarket/KOREA/van%20hoa%20han/nhac%20cu %20truyen%20thong.gif Ajaeng (zither with silk strings) http://i.ebayimg.com/t/ZITHER-HARP-AJAENG-AH-JENG-BOW-STRINGINSTRUMENT-/15/!BzuUrr!!mk~$%28KGrHqIOKjQE%29T+6KBE+BM%28VN %28kOtg~~_35.JPG Percussion instrument: Kkwaenggwari (small flat brass gong) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Kkwaenggwari.jpg Jing (large brass gong struck with hammer) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Bigthumb_RIMG0014.jpg/ 220px-Bigthumb_RIMG0014.jpg Pyeonjong (16 bronze bells hung on a wooden frame) http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2751/4018281521_483d703323_z.jpg Popular songs and tunes of North Korea: Song Of Bean Paste My Country Full of Happiness We Shall Hold Bayonets More Firmly My Country Is Nice To Live In I Like Both Morning and Evening The World Envies Us Pleasant Snack Time Full list may be found here, along with other personal accounts about encounters with North Korean music: http://books.google.com.sg/books? id=QzX8THIgRjUC&pg=PA166&dq=north+korean+music&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Id1 ST-TQGInprAet1cy8DQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=north%20korean %20music&f=false Credits/citations: http://blogcil.com/2011/north-korea-culture.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_North_Korea McConnachie, James (2000). World music: the rough guide, Volume 2 London: Rough Guide Music Guides Publisher.

http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754663621 Various authors. (2008). 1939: World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia Korea Chicago: Marshall Cavendish. http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/26/theme/26T1.html