Horizontal Movement in Korean Traditional Music: Analysis of Sngkn Kim’s Taegŭm Quartet 2006

Abstract

This paper will analyse a Korean composer who is devoted to new music for Korean traditional music, Sngkn Kim (b.1967). The composer had also studied the taegŭm (Korean transverse flute) and has developed an understanding of the performer’s perspectives on music making. The intimate relationship between musicians and music opened his eyes to the contexts within which performances actually takes place. His composition, Taegŭm Quartet 2006 (2006), draws on elements from the traditional piece, Sujech’ŏn, dating from the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910). The concept of time in the piece, particularly interested him; slow tempos allowed the parallel movement of instrumental clusters which had formed through subtle changes of timbre and pitch. I will compare the Taegum Quartet 2006, with Sujech’ŏn as a historical source and with Isang Yun’s compositions. Isang Yun (1917–1995), was the most famous Korean composer of the post-war generation. Yun, who studied Western art music and settled in Germany, gained an international reputation as a composer who created an Asian ‘tone’. Taegŭm Quartet 2006 uses the philosophical foundation of Sujech’ŏn, as it connects melodic components with the overall structure of the entire piece. The Haupttön (main tones) technique of Isang Yun can also be applied on the larger scale. However, Yun’s perception on the vertical movement of harmonic structures is based on the European avant-garde and this challenges horizontal movements of individual tones. Sngkn Kim is critical of Yun’s ideas on the movement of tones, which he felt were detached from the traditional sounds that form their essence. To Kim, then, the most important factor is a proper understanding of the original context. Korean traditional music must rely on individuals who are willing to accept the tradition as a whole by learning it first-hand, not as fragmented components that assist with some other ideology.