Pansori is a Korean musical tradition that was characterized by expressive singing, storytelling, and performing. It was generally performed by a vocalist and a single drummer. The performer will combine singing (sori) with gestures (ballim) and narrative (aniri) to present a story from popular folk tales and well-known historic events. A traditional Pansori performance consists of five elements: jo (melody), jangdan (rhythm); buchimsae (a combination of a story with music), je (Pansori school), and vocal production. The term Pansori is derived from the Korean words pan, meaning “a place where many people gather”, and sori meaning “song”. The performances may last up to eight hours, where a male or female singer performs with a single barrel drum.
I first learned about Pansori from the Korean film The Sound of a Flower. The film tells the story about Jin Chae-seon, the first female Pansori singer in Joseon Dynasty. She dressed as a man to get the chance to sing and perform on stage because women were forbidden to perform in public at the time. Afterward, I watched several videos and researched about Pansori's history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt7YdXsWzg
Pansori first emerged in the 17th century and reached its peak in the 19th century. For two hundred years, Pansori was mainly used by shamans to pass on rituals and spells from generation to generation. By the 19th century, it was especially popular among the nobles as a form of entertainment. However, Pansori was soon spread to the ordinary population and performed to lower class people. This change was particularly contributed to Shin Jae-Hyo, who took upper-class melodies and lyrics and customized them to suit the tastes of the wider population. Shin Jae-Hyo also trained a group of women, including Jin Chae-seon, in the art of Pansori and went on to make it to Korea’s national music.
The Japanese invasion in the 20th century led to a decrease in Pansori performance. The westernization of Korea and modern sound reproduction technologies changed the habits of the population, who now prefer to listen to modern music. After the Japanese invasion, the South Korean government realized the loss of Pansori heritage and declared the musical art form a National Intangible Cultural Property in 1964. Since the 1960s, Pansori has regained popularity and the efforts to keep it alive have never been stronger under institutional support.
Originally, there were 12 sets of Pansori stories from the Joseon Dynasty, known as madang, or garden stories. Today, only five of the original 12 are being performed. On top of that, the versions of the stories have greatly changed over the centuries. Although Pansori remains one of the most prominent genres among traditional stage arts, it has lost much of its original spontaneous character. Nowadays, improvisation tends to be stifled by the increasing number of written texts. And fewer singers can successfully improvise as the modern audiences are less receptive to the impromptu creativity and language of traditional Pansori.
Replies
Hi Hayley! It was truly fun to read about the history of pansori (판소리)! Growing up with my grandma, she would sing in a 판소리-like style. There is a trot (트로트) singer that comes from a 판소리 background. You should listen to her if you get the chance! Her name is 송가인!
Hi Haley,
Great post! I have never heard of Pansori yet in my exploration of the Korean culture. I was immediately shocked at how it can go on for 8 hours. Now that's a long time! I like the simplicity of it where the singer preforms with a single barrel drum. From the video, even with the simplicity, the perform is overwhelmingly able to capture my attention with all the emotions in her facial expressions. It is truly beautiful and mesmerizing. Thank you so much for sharing this!