Pansori: Korean Opera

Have you ever watched a Korean show whether it be a documentary, movie or a drama where you see a person singing and accompanied only by a drummer? Well, that particular form of Korean music is called the pansori. The pansori is a traditional narrative song type which has been classified as a Natural Cultural Intangible Property by the Korean government in 1964 and has been designated as a UNESCO Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in November 7, 2003. The pansori is also considered as the Korean Opera.

“Pan” meaning a place where many people gather to do something special and “Sori” which is short for “Moksori” means human voice. Thus, pansori is a vocal art form performed in a public place.

There are two performers in a pansori: the gosu or the drummer and the sorrikun or the singer. The singer, usually holding a fan and a handkerchief, tells a folktale with a combination of a sori (singing), aniri (recitation), and pallim (body expressions). The fan is waved to emphasize the singer’s motions and is unfolded to announce changes of scene. While the drummer uses a stick to strike the wooden barrel of the drum with his right hand while pounding the drum head with his left palm, gives the rhythm as well as verbal sounds or chuimsae (this may be simple sounds of encouragement). The audience is also an important part of the pansori as they are expected to respond with their own chuimsae at various points in the performance.

Pansori performances are usually long with a full madang (story) lasting for hours, main reason why modern pansori are often done in sections so as not to get the audiences restless. One such example is that of the “Song of Chunhyang” which is performed for more than eight hours without a break (whew… talk of endurance).

So if you would like to experience a new music genre, why not try the pansori.