Variations in the Korean Classical Lyric Song (ka'gok)

Abstract

In Korea's classical lyric song with accompaniment, the ka' gok, there are twenty-six,different styles which seem as different as the the texts of the songs. There are two ways to classify these songs. One divides them into two groups: the u mode comprising eleven styles and the kyemyon mode comprising twelve styles; the remaing three styles turn from the u mode into the kyemyon mode in the middle part of the song, i.e. after the third of the five phrases. The other differentiates between the Saktaeyŏp on the one hand and Nong, Nak, and P'yŏn on the other hand, thus pairing the Saktaeyŏp, Nong, Nak, and P'yŏn in the u mode with those in the kyemyŏn mode. (See table 1). To these groupings the Ka'Gok Wŏllyu (Collection of songs with neumatic notations; 1875) in its postscript refers cursorily but pertinently : The songs in u mode and kyemyŏn mode are not fixed; they may well turn from one mode into the other, depending upon the singer; thus the u mode may change into the kyemyŏn mode and vice versa. Similarly, the Saktaeyŏp and the Nong, Nak, and P' yon vary in style. One should not be obsessed with these names in music.