Music of Asia

Despite its longstanding position as a distinct cultural force in East Asia, Korea continues to be underrepresented in world music texts. Music in Korea is the first brief, single-volume text to provide a thematic, succinct introduction to the music of Korea - a region whose volatile political climate has often overshadowed its rich cultural and musical traditions. Based on author Donna Lee Kwon's extensive fieldwork, the text features interviews with performers, eyewitness accounts of performances, and vivid illustrations. Kwon uses three themes - Korea as a transnational player in East Asia, the intersection of Korean music and cultural politics, and Korea'smaintenance of its strong cultural identity through both musical and aesthetic continuity - to survey the region and draw parallels and contrasts between its various traditions. Each theme lends itself to a discussion of Korea's classical musical customs and its contemporary developments. Packagedwith an 80-minute audio CD containing musical examples, the text features numerous listening activities that engage students with the music. The companion website (www.oup.com/us/globalmusic) includes supplementary materials for instructors.

Music in Korea: pp. 839-1034
Bibliography: pp. 1110-1116

Volume 2 also available. Search in QuickSearch

Koreans of the fifteenth century recorded for posterity a large body of music which has been preserved to the present day. This book presents that music in transcription, with an introductory section providing detailed background on the music itself and on the sources, the song texts, court dances, musical instruments and possibilities for performance on western instruments. The fact that the song texts are translated makes this the largest published anthology of early Korean verse in translation. The book concludes with a detailed bibliography and glossaries including the original Chinese for the titles of the pieces, names of the instruments, etc. Though its origins are distant from us in both time and place, the fifteenth-century Korean repertoire is immediately appealing to the occidental ear: hence this collection will be of interest not only to the student of Asian music but also to any musician with a taste for the unusual.

The music of Korea is an intriguing blend of earthy, percussive folk rhythms and contemplative court styles. While showing influences as diverse as Chinese court culture and the traditions of merchants travelling east on the Silk Road, the Korean peninsula has had a distinct and vibrantmusical identity for more than 1,000 years.Korean Musical Instruments is a comprehensive guide to Korea's music and musical instruments. Keith Howard first provides a background for understanding the cultural and musical history of the peninsula, addressing both indigenous and Chinese-derived court genres, local folk music, and the recentmovement in North Korea to `improve' traditional instruments. He then turns to the instruments themselves, devoting chapters to string, wind, and percussion instruments, respectively. The full catalogue of instruments currently in use and preserved in Korea is discussed, with full descriptions,details of their repertory, construction notes, and brief consideration of playing techniques.Written by a musician and scholar and illustrated with 24 colour and 15 black-and-white images, Korean Musical Instruments is directed equally to practising musicians and to students of Korean culture and society, and is the only complete discussion of the topic available in English today.