Kim Woo-young Gwanggyo Column Hwaseong Research Institute Lecture "The Essence of Our Sound"... I Realize I Am 'Classical Korean Music Illiterate'

I am not a member of many organizations. I belong to only a few literary groups and the Hwaseong Research Institute, plus a handful of social organizations where I simply pay membership dues.

Among them, the organization I love most is the Hwaseong Research Institute, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. The Hwaseong Research Institute has been continuously conducting research, promotion, and education on Hwaseong Fortress and its walls.

I am a founding member of the Hwaseong Research Institute, which started in 1997 under the name 'Hwaseong Love Group.' In other words, I have been involved with this group for nearly 30 years.

In December 1997, the year Suwon Hwaseong was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, people with deep interests in Hwaseong gathered to discuss its preservation and utilization. As people increased their participation in response to their passion, the organization was registered as a corporate foundation in May 2001.

The Hwaseong Research Institute currently consists of approximately 190 experts and citizens from various fields. They honor King Jeongjo, who built Hwaseong, along with Chae Je-gong, Jo Sim-tae, Jung Yak-yong, and the craftsmen and people who participated in the construction, while preserving and researching Hwaseong.

To properly inform and promote Hwaseong, the Hwaseong Research Institute regularly holds special lectures such as 'People of the Jeongjo Era,' 'Rereading Joseon's True Scenery,' and 'Suwon Studies Lectures,' which help people understand Hwaseong correctly.

Currently, a special lecture titled 'The Essence of Our Sound' is taking place.

This lecture, held every Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Suwon Hwaseong Museum from June 13 through July 11, is a very meaningful program jointly conducted by the Hwaseong Research Institute and the Jeongjo Humanities and Arts Foundation.

Two sessions have already been held—'A Musical Journey Through the Joseon Dynasty' (June 13, by Song Ji-won, Director of the Institute for Musical Humanities Research) and 'Korean Pansori' (June 16, by Kim Su-mi, Lecturer at Kyungpook National University)—and the audience response was enthusiastic.

Coming up are △Session 3 'Gagok, Gasa, and Sijo—Enchanted by the Three Charms of Jeongga (Refined Song)' (June 23 at 6 p.m., Moon Hyeon from the Academy of Korean Studies), △Session 4 'The Greatest Hit Song of the Korean Empire—Jangga (Miscellaneous Song)' (June 30 at 6 p.m., Song Eun-joo, Ph.D. in Korean Music), △Session 5 'The Oldest Comfort, Gut—Resolving Emotional Knots with the Sounds and Storytelling of Seoul Gut' (July 7 at 6 p.m., Choi Su-jung, Adjunct Professor at Dongguk University), and △Session 6 'The Curved Melody of Gyeonggi-do Folk Song and Arirang' (July 11 at 3:30 p.m., Kang Hyo-ju, Professor at Ewha Womans University), so I encourage those interested to attend.

In 1998, Kwon Young-bin, an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo, lamented through his history column 'The Increase of History Illiteracy,' saying:

'Classical Korean music and Korean history are both the same national studies containing the soul and spirit of our nation. If Korean history was neglected, classical Korean music was treated with contempt. As classical Korean music gained attention overseas through the tireless international activities of classical Korean musicians, our nation's own music was being reimported. Without the gatherings of activist students' clubs, popularizing classical Korean music would have been impossible.'

He further advised, 'Though it is late, I hope for the activation of systematic classical Korean music education now. To understand ourselves properly, we must learn our history and listen to our nation's sounds.'

While reading this article and attending the two sessions of the 'Finding the Essence of Our Sound' lecture, I felt deep shame about my ignorance and indifference toward classical Korean music. I also reflected on my shortcomings.

Song Ji-won, who led the first lecture, is a classical Korean music expert who has long hosted 'Song Ji-won's Classical Korean Music Walk' on FM99.1 Korean Traditional Music Radio. He introduced Joseon Dynasty music under four themes: 'Musical Journey—Departure,' 'A Musician's Musical Journey,' 'Music's Musical Journey,' and 'Musical Journey in Songs.'

The names of celebrated singers mentioned in his lecture such as 'An Min-yeong,' 'Lee Dong-baek,' and 'Song Man-gap,' and works like 'Yeongsan Hoesang' and 'Gagok Wonryoo' were names I had heard of once or twice in the past, but I did not know them in detail.

And 'Bird Song,' performed by Lee Dong-baek, which I heard for the first time, was so moving that it gave me chills.

Park Sung-hwan, Director of the Jung-go-je Pansori Promotion Institute, wrote this in the Daejeon Ilbo ten years ago:

'When listening to Lee Dong-baek's 'Bird Song' restored through an old phonograph record, from the very first note it pierces your ears and holds you captive until the end—there is an intense quality to it. His voice, which is powerful and elegant, possessing the tones of suryangseong, freely employs high and low, turbid and clear notes. Beginning simply and carelessly, as a cuckoo's cry becomes a cuckoo's sound and a nightingale's song becomes a nightingale's sound, his voice gradually produces exquisite tones, ultimately unveiling a truly sublime realm.'

Why am I only now hearing Lee Dong-baek's 'Bird Song' that reached this 'sublime realm'?

In a word, it is due to ignorance and lack of knowledge. On top of that, my misguided prejudice that classical Korean music is tedious must have played a role.

Director Song said, 'Sichangg (Poetry Singing), Gagok (Song), and Sijo (Poem Form) bestow upon listeners a generous emotional fullness as if one has traveled through a refined journey simply by listening.'

He explained that classical Korean music is a cultural passage that connects people and regions, literature and refined taste.

Yet here I am—someone who claims to be a poet, someone who has made my living in journalism my entire life—and I have been such a 'classical Korean music illiterate'...

I will continue to attend the remaining four sessions with diligence and reflect. I also hope that those who wish to join in this reflection will come.