Second Moon challenges pansori 'Chunhyang-ga'
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Fusion band Second Moon will have a concert performing songs from their latest album “Pansori Chunhyangga” at Seoul Namsan Gugakdang in Namsangol Hanok Village, central Seoul, Sunday. From left are bassist Park Jin-woo, guitarist Lee Young-hoon, violinist Jo Yun-jeong, guest vocalist Kim Jun-su, keyboardist Choi Jin-kyoung, guest vocalist Ko Yeong-yeol, drummer Baek Seon-yeol and leader Kim Hyun-bo. / Courtesy of Your Summer
By Kwon Mee-yoo
"Chunhyang-ga" is one of the best-known "pansori," a type of traditional Korean narrative music. It tantalizingly tells the love story of Chunhyang and Mongryong, but the genre is too often considered old and difficult for modern listeners to relate to.
Fusion band Second Moon challenges that notion by adding a modern twist to pansori in their latest 14-track studio album "Pansori Chunhyang-ga."
The music project came out of the nature of Second Moon, said Kim Hyun-bo, the band's leader who can play a variety of musical instruments ranging from acoustic guitar, mandolin and harmonica to uilleann pipes, Irish whistle and bodhran.
"Second Moon interprets folk music in our own way. Our first album dealt with folk music from various countries, mainly Ireland. People asked us why we do not tackle Korean music," Kim said. "We vaguely thought that we would play traditional Korean music someday, but we didn't know much about it back then."
As the band travelled across Europe attending folk music festivals, they were exposed to ways of modernizing traditional music.
"Young Europeans truly enjoy their folk music in contemporary ways,” Kim said. “We began to think of ways to add modernity to traditional Korean music without harming the originality.”
Among the various genres of traditional Korean music, Second Moon took interest in pansori. "Pansori has a narrative within it and we thought we could add a musical explanation in the background as if composing a film score," Kim explained.
Traditional pansori is composed of a sorikkun (singer) and gosu (drummer), but Second Moon infused diversity with various musical instruments, as the band consists of bassist Park Jin-woo, guitarist Lee Young-hoon, keyboardist Choi Jin-kyoung, drummer Baek Seon-yeol and violinist Jo Yun-jeong, in addition to Kim.
For this project, the band joined hands with two aspiring sorikkun Kim Jun-su and Ko Yeong-yeol who lent their voices to the songs. Kim Jun-su is a member of the National Changgeuk Company of Korea and Ko is a member of world music band Easternmost.
Keyboardist Choi said they knew the two were right at first glance.
"Kim and Ko have voices suited for pansori but also light enough for pop music at the same time,” Choi said. “They come from a traditional background, but are open-minded as they have collaborated with musicians from different genres. They were also flexible in singing style to blend better with our music.”
The metamorphosis is entirely novel but still keeps the characteristics of Korean vocal music. The 14 songs of the album are picked from major parts of "Chunhyang-ga" and reborn with the touches of Second Moon.
Love song "Mancheopcheongsan" (Encircled by Mountains) conveys the romance budding between Chunhyang and Mongryong accompanied by piano, while “Sarang-ga” (Love Song) waltzes into the listener’s ears starting with guitar tunes and develops complexity with the sound of violin and accordion.
"Eebyeolga" (Farewell Song) is mixed with Second Moon's hit "Ice Pond," becoming lighter and more sophisticated. "Ssukdaemeori," one of the most famous parts of "Chunhyang-ga" in which Chunhyang laments in prison, is sung in a rather calm manner, rather than becoming too desperate.
The album balances sorrow and liveliness well. "Jwawoodoro" (Left and Right of Jeolla Province) comically describes Mongryong's journey as a royal inspector, getting into the rhythm with stampings of feet and clapping almost like tap dancing. "Eosa Chuldu," which describes Mongryong's triumphant return, is dramatic and dynamic, packed with rhythmic lyrics.
Ko said more power is required for a pansori singer, who takes the stage accompanied only by a drummer. "I have to sing tougher to deliver the message. However, with Second Moon, the energy comes from the band and I had to adapt to the band's sound," Ko said.
Kim Jun-su said it was his first time to collaborate with musicians without any Korean traditional instruments. "I had a fixed idea against matching pansori with totally different Western music. However, I rather found a great synergy working with Second Moon, which was totally new to me, too," he said.
The band will have a concert to celebrate the album release at Seoul Namsan Gugakdang in Namsangol Hanok Village, central Seoul, Sunday. At the concert, the band will perform the entire album as well as some numbers from "Chunhyang-ga" that weren’t recorded.
"This is going to be the only chance to listen to those songs not included in the album. Namsangol Hanok Village is a perfect venue to perform songs of Chunhyang-ga, isn’t it?" Choi said. "We hope to play the music from Chunhyang-ga abroad someday."
Tickets are available at ticket.interpark.com and cost 44,000 won for advance purchase and 55,000 won at door. For more information, call 1544-1555.