Seni Musik Samulnori

 

Samulnori ( 사무노리 ) 

Samulnori is a genre of traditional music performed with four percussion instruments referred to as “pungmul풍물” – a small gong called kkwanggwari꽹과리, a drum, a larger gong called jing징, and a double-ended drum called janggu장구. 

This folk music is well-known around the world as traditional music that originated in Korea. But it is not as traditional as is conventionally believed. Indeed, the history of samulnori is rather short. It was first introduced to the public just about four decades ago, in 1978. 

Young students of namsadang남사당, or a traveling music troupe, began to learn how to play pungmul pieces and adapted them into songs suitable for stage performances. 

Pungmul instruments used to be played by several musicians in large spaces, so it was initially perplexing to see just four percussionists playing together on a small stage. It was not unlike compressing an epic novel into a short poem.