ABSTRACT
The characteristics of the samulnori canon can be summed up as efficiency, tightness and a shared aesthetic. The canon is a set of fixed pieces celebrated by musicians, audiences and teachers alike. Performances are measured against key recordings of the canon (particularly, Kim Duk Soo SamulNori , King SYNCD-114–115, 1995). In this chapter, I explore what this means in the present and future, starting by quoting interviews with samulnori musicians and administrators. The first refers to one of the early members of SamulNori, Yi Kwangsu:
Yi once said that diamonds are beautiful because they never change. I think that the samulnori pieces are, to some extent, complete (Im Subin, Academy of Korean Music (Minjok Ŭmakwŏn) member, 25 November 2010).
The original SamulNori members collected and compressed local rhythmic patterns into single pieces, and musicians today still play these same pieces. But the second generation can't play these pieces at the same level as the first generation did. There have been many attempts to change the structure of pieces, but none of these have left as strong an impression on audiences as the original pieces do (Chu Chaeyŏn, former Nanjang Cultures president, 4 January 2011).
From 1978 to the late 1990s, all groups performed the same samulnori pieces. They did make attempts to change the repertory a little, but today the situation has returned to what it was in the early days, and the tendency to study the original pieces thoroughly is growing stronger. I think the repertory was created too perfectly in the first place, and this makes it meaningless to change anything (Pak Ch'angbae, Yongin Traditional Arts Centre president, 17 November 2010).
Kim Duk Soo made the samulnori pieces well. It is appropriate to consider each piece a masterpiece of creative music … Musicians today should polish and complement the existing rhythmic patterns, enriching each piece. But it is not good to transform the pieces since they have become our tradition (Yi Chunu and Han Chaesuk, Namdo Gugak Centre SamulNori members, 29 October 2010).
The samulnori repertoire was created around 1980 and has since been popularised. But it has now entered a period of stagnation. Of course, you could add new music to the frame of the existing pieces, but this would create music that is less satisfactory than the existing pieces (O Wŏnsuk, Cheongbae Traditional Art Troupe (Chŏngbae Chŏnt'ong Yesultan), 8 November 2010).
There should be more pieces, but players of samulnori have a tendency to shut out other music … And, schools only teach the standard pieces, thinking that this will allow students to learn all the basics of samulnori (Yi Yŏngt'ae, National Gugak Centre Samulnori member, 29 October 2010).
