The Pansori "Sori-chaek" or Lyric Books; which contain Pansori Iyrics and additional markings on rhythm names, are studied in this thesis. Pansori is a traditional Korean music form having a history of some 300 years and has been designated as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO in 2003. Pansori is a format in which the singer chants a story accompanied by a drum. The Pansori singer is called Gwangdae (a feat singer) who tells a story (called Aniri) and sings songs. Sometimes, the singer adds more dramatic effects by acting (called Balim) while telling the story. During the Chosun Dynasty, Pansori singers belonged to a group of professional entertainers, belonging to the lowest tier in the caste system during the time, who performed songs, played instrumental music, and displayed acrobatics. Their status was inherited. Not allowed to perform any other jobs, they were registered through the government and drafted for government functions.
Despite its long history, there is no detailed information on these Pansori epic chants since they were transmitted orally. Furthermore, not much information was recorded on Pansori singers who belonged to the lowest tier in the cast system. Pansori epic chants gained in popularity in the late 19th century, and began to be written into fiction, since they tell interesting stories. These stories were also printed with wood printing blocks and sold. However, these books were merely fiction for entertainment, and did not provide detailed information regarding Pansori music.
Pansori epic chants began to be recorded acoustically with the introduction of SP recording systems into Korea from the west in 1907 SP records are thus the most important and oldest record of Pansori musical heritage. However, Pansori epic chants are long, up to 3-4 or 5-6 hours, so that the early SP records contain only disjointed 3-min splicings which do not give a complete understanding.
After the Chosun Dynasty collapsed with the beginning of the control of Japanese militarism in 1910, Pansori epic chants could not be transmitted easily. A few nationalistic scholars started to examine Korean traditional arts in the 1930-4Os and paid particular attention to the high artistic aspect of Pansori epic chants. They interviewed Pansori epic chant maestros and published books on Pansori to inspire nationalism for Korean people. Nonetheless, this record tells episodic events and does not give an accurate history of Pansori epic chant.
Due to this shortage of historical background, the author examined the Pansori Lyric Books in order to write an accurate history of Pansori epic chants. They are the books written in brush writing by Pansori singers who recorded lyrics to avoid forgetting. Scholars have studied these books as works of fiction from the Chosun Dynasty since they are similar to fiction containing the stories of Pansori epic chant. However, the Pansori Lyric Books are different from these fictional works, in which each line of a chant is marked with rhythm. Furthermore, they are a record by Pansori singers for their own study, rather than for the general public.
It is difficult to tell exactly who and when each book of the Pansori Lyric Books was written. However, evidence suggests a period from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. The Pansori Lyric Books are not music books per se, which contained Lyrics and rhythms but not the melody. The songs that high society people listened to during the Chosun Dynasty had the music containing the rhythm or melody. However, Pansori epic chants are long and the melody is impromptus, making recording difficult so that only their rhythms were marked. The Pansori Lyric Books are very rare with only ten extant books housed in museums and personal collections. They were written during the late 19th to early 20th century and the place of origin is known only for three of them (Suwon in Gyeonggi-do, Jeongeup in Jeollabuk-do, and Sunchang in Jeollabuk-do). Furthermore, few people have paid attention to the musical information that they contain.
In this paper, four types of Chunhyang-ga (Pansori Song of Chunhyang) and four types of Simcheong-ga (Pansori Song of Simcheong) are analyzed, which are typical Pansori epic chants among the extant Pansori Lyric Books. Gramophone recordings (SP Records) of Pansori epic chants made in a similar period were compared with the Pansori Lyric Books. These records contain musical information not contained in the Pansori Lyric Books. The analyses are conducted from literary and music aspects. The Pansori Lyric Books have different plots and the composition of rhythm is different because Pansori epic chant singers sang differently according to time and regions. The author examined the interrelationship between plots and rhythms according to the Pansori Lyric Books and investigated changes in plots and rhythms according to time and regions. This analysis verified the actual history of Pansori epic chants between 1800 and 1945.
The name of each rhythm in Korean folk music did not remain uniform during the Chosun Dynasty. Thus, the rhythm system in each book of the Pansori Lyric Books is described differently. Sometimes, different interpretations are made of the same rhythm, and accurate interpretation is very difficult since some rhythm names are not used currently. Nonetheless, careful investigation reveals temporal variations in the rhythms of Pansori epic chants toward a certain direction.
According to the analysis of this study, Pansori epic chants commenced in the Seoul-Gyeonggi region in the early 18th century and then spread down to the southern region of Korea. During their early evolution in the Seoul-Gyeonggi region, they were called "Taryong". Chunhyang-ga was called Chunhyang- Taryong. Having a triple meter, Taryong is the term originally used to refer to rhythm, in which it would have been dodecameter according to Western music. Taryong is the most commonly used rhythm in Korean music and dance and it has subsequently evolved into Googgeri, Jajinmori, Jungjungmori, etc., according to the speed and rhythm accent. The first Pansori epic chants were formed in "words" and "Lyric-Taryong" so they were called "Taryong."
With time, Pyeong-taryong was derived from the Taryong rhythm of Pansori epic chants. Pyeong-taryong is the old name of Jungmori. The rhythm of Taryong goes '○-○/○-○/○-○/○--//'(triple meter) and is the speed of song or dance. Jungmori came about by delaying the speed of Taryong to '○○○/○--//○○○/○--//'(6+6=dodecameter), which is written as 12/4 in western music. Furthermore, this rhythm has a relationship with the structure of Korean language itself. The Korean words are normally composed of four syllables. Thus, Pyeong-taryong has the rhythm of saying one word (sing) and breathing one time. Despite the fact that one breath comes with 12 beats in Taryong, 12 beats are divided into 2 breaths in Jungmori, which thereby developed into the unique technique of "sing like talking and talk like singing" in Pansori epic chant. This rhythm is favorable for long chants. Once the unique singing technique of Pansori epic chantsis mastered, the singer could sing for a long time without being out of breath.
The tradition of Pansori epic chants migrated further down to the south of Korea in the mid 19th century to the extent that the region of Geumgang River (currently Chungcheongnam-do) became the center of these chants, which developed into the Junggo-jae style (an ancient style), as later named by modern musicians. No modern Pansori singers sing these chants in this Junggo-jae style. During this period, Pyung-taryong developed into Jungmori, which was further differentiated into slow Jungmori, Jungmori, and fast Jungmori. At this time, people started to use the Jinyang rhythm, Junggo-jae style Pansori epic chant more frequently uses Gyeong-jo (Seoul style melody).
In the late 19th century, the center of Pansori epic chants migrated further to the southern and eastern areas of Jeollabuk-do. Pansori epic chants from this area are called Dongpyeon-jae (Eastern style) and they have directly influenced modern Pansori epic chants because their rhythms are the same as those of modern chants. Dongpyeon-jae Pansori epic chants are clearly different from Jungiungmori having 12/8 rhythm so that the Jinyang rhythm was used most extensively. Furthermore, by being distinctive from the melodies such as Gyeong-jo, U-jo, and Gyemyeon-jo, the beauty of the musical form of Pansori epic chants was established this time, Many maestros were active and many excellent theorists were introduced during the period of Dongpyeon-jae Pansori epic chant, enlivening Pansori epic chants and forming great music.
In the late 19th century, Dongpyeon-jae Pansori epic chants migrated again toward the southwestern region of Korea and finally reached the southwestern coast of the Korean peninsula and evolved into Seopyeon-jae (Western style). Seopyeon-jae Pansori epic chants became Gyemyeon-jo (Yukjabaegi style) following the influence of Yukjabaegi Folk Song and the spiritualistic music in this region. Thus, most modern Pansori epic chants are Gyemyeon-jo.
In summary, the author has demonstrated from an analysis of the Pansori Lyric Books that Pansori epic chants originated from the Seoul-Gyeonggi region and migrated down to the southern part of Korea. Contrary to previous theories, Pansori epic chants did not originate from the southern part of Korea such as Jeolla-do and were not modified on the way north to Seoul. During the southern migration, Pansori epic chants changed by absorbing influences from the local music in the areas. Junggo-jae Pansori epic chants in the early 19th century have the characteristics of music from the Seoul-Gyeonggi region, whereas Dongpyeon-jae Pansori epic chants in the late 19th century were largely affected by music from the Jeolla-do region. Pansori epic chants became more descriptive and alive with the introduction of Gyemyeon-jo from the local music of the Jeolla-do region. As Seopyeon-jae became the center of Pansori epic chants in the late 19th century, most Pansori epic chants changed to Gyeomyeon-jo, Pansori epic chant virtuosos gathered to Seoul from all over Korea when the National Theater of Wongaksa, the first Western- style theater, was established in 1902 in Seoul. Hence, when Pansori returned to Seoul after 200 odd years of travel, it was in a form totally different that it had been borne in the original place.