Keith Howard

Korea music rhythm SamulNori ethnomusicology

An examination of the assumption that Korean music descends from rhythm is overdue. It is almost as if the belief in rhythmic primacy is so deeply embedded in Korea, and in writings about Korean music composed both in the peninsula and beyond, that it cannot be questioned. This is convenient, in that it sets up a contrast between Korean and Western music, the former based on rhythm and the latter on harmony. But it relies on a history that must be contested, not least since its very evolutionary nature—that rhythm came first and melody later in human development—was long ago undermined in academic discourse. The ancient history that related to rhythm in Korea starts with the interpretation of a single third-century Chinese historical text, and then requires interpretations of legend, in ways that often seem anachronistic. Centred on SamulNori, a Korean percussion quartet with roots both in local bands and itinerant troupes that first took to the stage in 1978, and comparing contemporary perspectives from elsewhere, this paper explores different facets of the constructions surrounding rhythm.