Most people can’t tell the difference between gayageum 가야금 and geomungo 거문고 just by their sounds. But most Koreans can tell you who invented each. The conventional wisdom taught in schools is that gayageum was invented by Ureuk우륵, while geomungo by Wang San-ak왕산악. But according to the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, a historical record of ancient Korea, Ureuk was not the one who invented the gayageum, but King Gasil가실 of Gaya. 

Ureuk was just a musician at the royal court. Since Gaya was a country made up of 12 tribes, King Gasil’s biggest concern was the language barrier among those tribes. So, the king made the 12-string instrument and ordered Ureuk to write music pieces for the new instrument and play them. King Gasil believed music worked more effectively than words when it came to bonding people. Ureuk followed the king’s order and wrote 12 music pieces, one for each tribe. This took place around the sixth century, and the gayageum still looks about the same as it did some 1,500 years ago. The first piece we’re going to enjoy today is “Chosudaeyeop 초수대엽” sung by Kim Byeong-oh and Cho Yu-hoe 조유회 on the gayageum.

Music 1: Chosudaeyeop/ Gayageum by Cho Yu-hoe, sung by Kim Byeong-oh

King Gasil wanted to take the country in the right direction by connecting people with music, but Gaya was in a precarious situation by then. As neighboring Silla expanded its reach toward Gaya, the fate of the tribal nation appeared doomed. Seeing no future in Gaya, Ureuk took the gayageum and defected to Silla. There’s no historical account of what drove Ureuk to seek asylum in the enemy state, but as a musician, he must have thought it important to save the music of his fatherland. 

Silla’s King Jinheung진흥 welcomed Ureuk with open arms, but his court officials were not so accommodating. They argued that importing the music of a fallen country would upset the order in Silla. Judging from their fierce opposition to Gaya music, ancient politicians must have placed much importance on the role of music in society. But King Jinheung had greater foresight than his officials. He sent three men to learn music and dance from Ureuk. After their lessons were over, these three students, claiming that Gaya music was confusing and lewd, revised Gaya music pieces into five shorter, supposedly more refined works.

What they did was reinvent Gaya music into their own. Ureuk was furious at first, but after hearing the music, he changed his mind and commented that “the music is joyful yet not ecstatic, sad yet not pathetic, worthy of being called the right music.” The second piece for today’s Sounds of Korea is a Kim Jook-pa-style gayageum sanjo played by Min Mi-ran. 

Music 2: Kim Jook-pa-style gayageum sanjo/ Gayageum by Min Mi-ran

The piece you just heard was five movements from a Kim Jook-pa-style gayageum sanjo with musician Min Mi-ran. Traditionally, there are two kinds of gayageum. One is the jeongak정악 gayageum with more than 1,500 years of history. This is also called beopgeum법금. But the strings in this instrument are placed quite wide apart, making it difficult to play a fast-paced piece. 

By the end of the Joseon period, the instrument was revised to make it easier to play folk music pieces, which typically allowed for lots of improvisations. So, the new sanjo gayageum was made smaller and the strings were placed closer to make free-style playing easier. Decades later, when western music was imported into Korea, gayageum underwent even more changes to allow the instrument to play even more diverse music. The number of strings increased to 13, 15, and 18, and metal strings replaced the traditional silk ones. For modern musical creations, a 25-string gayageum with synthetic fibers for the strings is most often used. 

Also, a gayageum player is allowed to use both hands to pluck the strings, thereby widening the spectrum of music that can be played. But today’s modern gayageum sounds distinctively different from the traditional instrument. Today’s Sounds of Korea will conclude with “Taryeonghyang Jeongdang 타령향 정당” played on 25-string gayageums by the Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra.

Music 3: Taryeonghyang Jeongdang/ Performed by Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra