Customer Reviews

Korean Court Music

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Historically in the Far East, China is the superpower and primary cultural center. Chinese ideograms, Chinese administrative practices, and Chinese Buddhism spread to Korea and Japan. So did music and its instruments, beginning during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The royal courts of Japan and Korean emulated the music of the Chinese Emperor. Japanese court music, of which there are a fair number of recordings, is known as gagaku. This particular album is of Korean court music, which sounds similar, being slow and stately with use of the sho (a harmonica-like instrument), drum, and flutes, but with the komungo and kayakeum zithers, rather than the koto. Also, we hear the characteric Korean warble in voice and flute. I find the music somewhat less refined than gagaku, but it is likewise meditative. The sound quality of this old recording is good but not up to modern standards. By sound and musical pieces, a better recording of Korean court music from 1985 was issued by Playasound, France.

The music on this tape was performed by the Orchestra of the National Music Institute of Korea, of which Kim Ki-su was director. A brief summary of the history of Korean Court Music is given on the inside of the cassette liner.

The English names for the pieces on the cassette are as follows:
SIDE ONE: 1. Confucian Music 2. Confucian Music 3. Springtime in Loyang 4. Long Life Immeasurable as the Sky 5. Two Instrumental Preludes for Cross Flute and Long Zither
SIDE TWO: 1. Lyric Song 2. Lyric song 3. Lyric Song 4. Military Music 5. Stone Chimes