Indonesian Music and Korean Music - Case Study Example

PROF Indonesian Music and Korean Music: Comparative Analysis Music has played a great part in people’s life through the years. It plays an important part in cultures, religious rituals, entertainment and day to day lives. It has evolve through the years with constant interaction with other influences and races and changes constantly to adapt to the changing world and societies Korean music and Indonesian music have evolved through the years. Both music existed in ancient times and have been used in religious rituals, festivities, classes and competitions. However, as time flies a series of changes took place to respond to changing time, needs and circumstances. Gamelan sekaten is a form of art that existed before Islam, considered as a non Islamic art and can be found in Java Indonesia. It is said to have originated in 16th century before the arrival or introduction of Islam in Indonesia, because of this, it is slightly modified, had change in new ways and absorbed new contexts (Harnish and Rasmsmusen). According to Harnish and Rasmussen, it is a large ensemble consisting of predominantly tuned, percussion instruments such as metallophones, hanging gongs and kettle gongs. It consists of two basic categories, pencon which are knobbed gong instruments and wilahan or slabbed key instruments (Spiller 60). It is composed of several gongs with different pitches based on the differences in thickness of surfaces, sizes, shapes and weights. It can be arranged vertically or suspended horizontally and struck with a use of a mallet. Slab key instruments compose of ten to fifteen rectangular metal bars arranged from left to right, from smallest to largest. The timbre of the metal bars depends on the softness or hardness of mallet use when playing the instrument. Gamelan Sekaten is a gamelan piece. It has a cyclical pattern and can be played repeatedly many times (Spiller 69-71). It is associated with the Muslim festival Garebeg Maulud, birth of the prophet Mohammed during Muslim holy week. No drastic changes have been done in gamelan sekaten because of its historical values. Javanese treats the instrument not as an ordinary instrument but a symbol associated with history, royal legitimacy and link to the past. No new pieces have been composed and the instruments have not been tuned ever since to preserve its originality, prevent distracting its venerability and diminishing symbolic potency (Spiller 70-72). Due to its status symbol and importance in history that can be traced many centuries ago, gamelan sekaten has. Banquet music is played to entertain. Korean banquet music is divided into three categories, the aak or Chinese ritual music, tangak, Koreanized Chinese ritual music and the hyangak or the Korean ritual music. According to Broughton et al. (p. 161) aak was the first to be introduced to Korea by Chinese in 1116 and has been modified and changed through the years. Contemporary aak originated from the reconstruction in 1430 with the use of written melodies dated back to twelfth century. Only two melodies have survived though the years and played only in Sacrifice to Confucius using Chinese originated ritual instruments. May states that (p.32) Tangak means music from the T’ang dynasty China, ak means Korean term for music. Tangak has only two orchestral pieces and hyangak pieces are originally created on fifteenth century to suit Korean royal ancestors. To this day hyangak pieces still exist that is still closely related to fifteenth century notations. Its purpose was to entertain the royal ruling class in informal form and subdivided into two, the chong-ak and sog-ak. Chong-ak is for the royal ruling class while sog-ak is for ordinary people. Court music includes ritual, banquet and military music. It consists of voice, musical and instrumental components. It usually starts in a slow pace and progresses into a cheerful dance pace until the end. Court music should be approved and accepted by the ruling class. In addition, the circumstance of its performance should also then be approved by the said group prior to presentation. According to May (pp. 22-32) music for the upper class consist of the following: ensemble called pungnyu, an archaic word which means music; kagok, the most sophisticated Korean song genre; and sijo, the indigenous Korean popular song. Instruments used for this kind of music consist of string instruments, wind instruments and a combination of the two. Korean music has evolved through the years originating from Chinese music. However to suit the needs of the ruling class, modifications from the original ones have been done to incorporate the Korean features into existing ones. Gamelan sekaten is preserved from its original composition due to its great historical value. Javanese people have been very careful in not changing or altering the pieces due to its historical value and the belief of alternating the pieces would discontinue their link to the past. The do not exert any effort in changing nor modifying it to suit the needs of changing time and society. Even the original instruments used in playing have not been touched and not retuned in order to preserve the originality of the pieces. Original instruments have been preserved by storing in a white clean cloth and cleaning annually to slow down the process of decaying. Replacement instruments are now used in present times when playing the gamelan sekaten but the original composition of the piece still exists. Unlike Indonesian music, Korean music has undergone series of changes to adapt to the changing times and societies. Series of changing the pieces has been noted to suit the Korean royalties because it was originally derived from Chinese music. Changes in translation of the texts have been recorded in different documents to meet the preferences of the ruler. Work Cited Broughton S., Ellingham M., Trillo R. World Music: Latin and Norht America, Caribbean, India. , Asia and Pacific. Rough Guides (2000): 162-180. Print May E. Music of Many Cultures: An Introduction. University of California Press (1983): 30-35. Print. Harnish D., Rasmussen A. Divine Inspiration: Music in Islam and Indonesia. Oxford University Press. (2011). Print Spiller H. Gamelan: The Traditional Sounds of Indonesia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO (2004): 49-72. Print. Read More