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Translation of Shin Eun-Joo’s “Two Theories of Ujo and Pyeongjo in Pansori: Comparing Baek Daewoong’s and Lee Bohyeong’s Theories of Pansori Modes” (2018)

Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This article presents a translation of Shin Eun-Joo's "Two Theories of Ujo and Pyeongjo in Pansori: Comparing Baek Daewoong's and Lee Bohyeong's Theories of Pansori Modes," an article published in Studies in Korean Music in 2018.Pansori and sanjo are small-ensemble genres of Korean folk music with many shared characteristics, such as modes, rhythmic patterns, and decorative notes.Shin offers a critical examination of modal theories in traditional Korean music by juxtaposing the analytical frameworks proposed by Baek Daewoong (1974-2011) and Lee Bohyeong (1937-2024), particularly focusing on the Ujo 우조 and Pyeongjo 평조 modes in pansori.The complexity of pansori modal theory is largely due to two features of the jo 조 (mode), particularly Ujo and Pyeongjo, in Korean folk music.First, a jo is not merely a collection of notes but involves a certain effect produced by each; for instance, Ujo is often described as "majestic" and "benevolent," while Pyeongjo is less so.Second, certain notes of a given jo frequently incorporate ornamentations such as vibrato, glissando, and slides, which play a crucial role in constructing the mood of the jo.It is, therefore, difficult to distill the notes of a jo into a limited cardinality without an analyst's input.For these reasons, scholarly discussions of the two melodic modes have not reached a consensus.In this context, Shin's study is significant for emphasizing the embellishments and seongeum 성음 (vocal timbre) that enhance emotional expression (regarding Lee's theory) beyond the constituent notes (regarding Baek's theory) when constructing modal theories of pansori, which are then applied to sanjo.
DOI: 10.30535/mto.30.4.10
Author: Seokyoung Kim
Language: English
Subfield: Music
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409016970
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