Jeongak정악, the music mostly enjoyed by royal court members or gentlemen of Joseon, is a symphony of diverse musical instruments, such as the gayageum, geomungo, daegeum, haegeum, janggu, and many more. But these instruments were not often employed to make orchestral music, because it took a lot of money to hire all the musicians and the size of the venue also determined the size of the orchestra. So, sometimes jeongak pieces were played by only two or three musicians, and sometimes even by a single player. Jeongak pieces sounded different depending on the composition of an orchestra. Even though jeongak is usually a collection of several different pieces, each piece can be played separately, so the pieces can be mixed and matched in varying ways. Today we bring you some pieces that are great as solos. The first one is a piri solo work titled “Sangnyeongsan Puri상령산 풀이,” which means a variation of “Sangnyeongsan,” the first piece in the Yeongsanhoisan영산회산 collection. The term “puri” means a musician’s liberal interpretation of a piece. This piece is often played with a daegeum or a piri, Korea’s traditional wind instrument. Today’s rendition is performed by piri virtuoso Jeong Jae-guk. 

Music 1: Sangnyeongsan Puri/ Piri by Jeong Jae-guk

MC: There are largely three kinds of piri. The hyangpiri향피리 used to play today’s “Sangnyeongsan Puri” is a bamboo instrument about as thick as your finger and 25 centimeters long. Sepiri세피리 is a bit thinner than the hyangpiri and used mainly for playing chamber music. Dangpiri is mostly played in royal court music. The next piece is titled “Cheongseonggok,” shortened from “Cheongseongjajinhanip청성자진한잎.” This shortened title means a music piece with high notes. Today’s version is played with the daegeum, a flute-like bamboo instrument. The daegeum has a distinct timbre caused by a thin membrane from the reed called “cheong청.” “Cheongseonggok” is a perfect piece to highlight this unique vibrating sound. Today’s rendition is performed by daegeum soloist Yun Byong-chon. 

Music 2: Cheongseonggok/ Daegeum by Yun Byong-chon

MC: The buzzing sound from the “cheong” membrane in the daegeum may be perceived as an interfering noise by those more familiar with the clear sounds of western wind instruments like the flute. But once people get used to the daegeum sound, a wind instrument without the cheong vibration sounds somewhat plain and less powerful. The last piece for today’s Sounds of Korea is a geomungo solo piece titled “Dodeuri도드리” or “Mildodeuri밀도드리.” Geomungo does not generate a long reverberating sound, so its sound appears to end abruptly when the instrument plays slow music. The “Dodeuri” played with the geomungo may sound quite monotonous and unsatisfying, but that plainness is what makes playing “Dodeuri” with geomungo so distinctive. In the old days, Confucian scholars considered it cultured to have a geomungo displayed in their quarters, even if they didn’t know how to play it. But if they decided to start learning the instrument, they would have started off with “Dodeuri” since it doesn’t have many notes, making it a perfect piece for novice musicians. Today’s “Dodeuri” piece is titled “Suyeonjangjigok” with geomungo virtuoso Lee O-gyu performing. 

Music 3: Suyeonjangjigok/ Geomungo by Lee O-gyu